Arnold residents will have two chances to find out if revised flood plain maps will affect them and how to potentially save money on insurance if they will be affected.
The city will host two open house meetings to go over revised Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood plain maps.
The meetings are scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 9, and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 15, at Arnold City Hall, 2101 Jeffco Blvd.
Arnold City Administrator Bryan Richison said yellow signs advertising the open houses were placed throughout the city in areas likely to be affected by the new maps.
“We are trying to put signs up in areas where we think people will be affected,” Richison said. “A great majority of the city will not be affected. If you are in an area and you might be affected, it is important to (get information).”
Richison said target areas include those impacted by river flooding, especially the Meramec River flood events of 2015 and 2017, as well as homes that are near creeks or streams in the city.
He said an example of an area that was not affected by recent river flooding but that could still be in a flood plain is the Melody Lane neighborhood off Hwy. 141 and Old Lemay Ferry Road.
“There is a creek in that neighborhood that gets runoff from 141,” Richison said. “During heavy rains, they can experience flooding. There is a flood plain along the banks of the creek, and we are expecting the limits of the flood plain to expand.
“There are areas like that that people normally don’t think of being flood prone or being in a flood plain because they have not flooded from river flooding. But any kind of body of water has a flood plain.”
Richison said property owners can proactively purchase flood insurance before their homes are placed in a flood plain, which could possibly save them some money.
Though the federal government does not require flood insurance, people who want to obtain loan for a home in a flood plain must get the insurance, he said.
“If you know your property is going to become part of the flood plain with the new maps and you are going to have to get flood insurance, it could save you a good amount of money to get flood insurance now before the map is official,” Richison said. “You will get a better rate that you can lock in.”
He also said those who attend the upcoming meetings will find out about a program they can go through to try to prevent their home from being declared as part of a new flood plain.
Richison said if any part of a person’s property is declared to be in a flood plain, all of the property is considered to be in it and banks will require insurance for financing.
But homeowners can have their home surveyed and as long as the lowest part of a house is not in the flood plain, they can get a letter of map amendment from FEMA that shows the structure is not at risk of flooding.
“We want to raise awareness and make sure people are aware of their options,” Richison said.
He said it is not known when FEMA’s new flood plain maps will go into effect, although a previous target date was September 2018, which was not met.
“It is basically when FEMA gets done with their process, it will become official,” Richison said. “But I think we are getting closer to the end (and the maps becoming official).”
If homeowners are unable to attend either open house, Richison said, they may call the city’s flood map information line at 636-296-2100, ext. 1125.