FIRM

What a difference a year makes. Last year it was hurricane Matthew. The majority of damage done by Matthew was vegetative. This year it was hurricane Irma and most of the damage was residential due to rain and storm surge.

This picture is the north beach parking lot which was filled with debris from Matthew. The light brown pile just past the buildings is trees that have been mulched. The two piles to the right are tree debris that still needed to be mulched.

The picture above is from next door to the fire station. It is household debris from Irma. This picture does not do the pile any justice. We went by there today and the pile is at least twice as large as this picture. Higher and extends out into the gravel driveway.

You might be wondering what the title FIRM has to do with this post. FIRM means Flood Insurance Risk Map. Houses in a flood zone are either pre-FIRM or post-FIRM. Pre-FIRM houses were built or substantially remodeled prior to December 31, 1974.  Post-FIRM houses were built or substantially remodeled after that date. So what the hell does that mean? We will use our house as an example. It sits three feet above sea level. Mean flood level for us is 11 feet. My understanding is that represents our house has a 1% risk of flooding in any year. More simply stated it would take a 100 year flood event to cause flood damage to our house. So at three free above sea level our first occupied floor must be a minimum of 8 feet above that. Many of the older homes on the island are on ground level. They are the beach cottages that give this place much of its charm. Last year many of them flooded due to the storm surge from Matthew. The storm surge from Irma was lower but the rain total was higher. The rain that fell couldn't move out into the ocean so it backed up into the marshes that surround the island. So more homes flooded this year. Strangely enough we got some minor flooding under the house last year. It was about 8 inches of water. This year we had no flooding. Don't ask me why. I don't understand what happened. Many of those who flooded when Matthew came through were just getting finished with repairs and getting back into their homes. Irma destroyed all that progress and set them back where they were a year ago. What does that mean?

If you noticed above post-FIRM homes were built or substantially remodeled after December 31, 1974. If your house was pre-FIRM you have rules. What does substantially remodeled mean? If the structure of your house is valued at $200,000 then during a 12 month period you are allowed to make repairs or improvements with a value of no more than 50% of the house value. In this example $100,000. If you exceed that value your home must comply with the post-FIRM requirements. That means your house that was on ground level must be raised above the 100 year flood level. So, many of those folks who houses were damaged last year and required extensive repairs are going to have to repair them again. They are going to run into this 50% rule. They will have two choices. Delay repairs past the 12 month period or raise their house to comply with post-FIRM requirements.

So when you sit back and look at this think about the human suffering. There had not been this kind of damage here since sometime in the 1990's. No one here remembers it happening two years in a row. When you look at the debris pile from this year it is beds, sofas, chairs, dishwashers, mattresses, drywall, hardwood flooring, rugs, and a variety of other household goods. The toll in human suffering is so much greater. I see what happened here and cannot imagine the level of suffering in Puerto Rico. They need more than our thoughts and prayers. So, if you can, donate.