April 29, 2024 3:40 a.m.
The Roseburg Community Development Department is encouraging local homeowners and other building owners in or near flood zones to make sure they have sufficient flood insurance and take other steps to protect their properties this spring.
A City release said homes and other buildings located in a Special Floodplain Hazard Area are designated as “high risk” to experience flooding and such buildings that also have government-backed mortgages are required by their lenders to buy flood insurance, which is not covered by most homeowners’ or non-residential building insurance.
However, the Community Development Department and the Federal Emergency Management Agency encourage even homeowners and other building owners without current mortgages to talk with their insurance agent about flood insurance to help protect their investment and community-wide recovery in the event of a flood.
Currently 1,405 buildings – including single – and multi-family homes, as well as non-residential, commercial, industrial, government/institutional, and even public park space – are considered high risk because they’re located in Roseburg’s Special Floodplain Hazard Area along the South Umpqua River, Deer Creek, or Newton Creek. However, only 173 of those buildings – or 12.3 percent – are protected with flood insurance, according to Roseburg’s Floodplain Administrator Mark Moffett, who is also a senior city planner.
Moffett said, “We are approaching almost 30 years now without a major flooding event in Roseburg, but it is inevitable that our creeks and rivers will one day flood again”. Moffett said, “More property owners having flood insurance will help Roseburg recover and rebuild as quickly as possible if there is a flood”.
The release said property owners inside the city limits can benefit from a 15 percent discount off full-risk National Flood Insurance Program policies because the city works hard to maintain Roseburg’s Class 7 rating and is among only 19 Oregon cities that qualify under FEMA’s Community Rating System. Communities earn city-wide discounts through such activities as public information campaigns, mapping, regulations, flood-damage reduction, warning, and response.
Learn more by going to: https://www.cityofroseburg.org/departments/community-development/floodplain-information