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1 Introduction
Pages 11-20

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From page 11...
... . Although community participation is voluntary, communities must agree to a floodplain management ordinance that requires that new buildings be built at or above the level of the one percent annual chance flood.4 In turn, FEMA will issue Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)
From page 12...
... The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) refers to properties in the one percent annual chance floodplain as those in the Special Flood Hazard Area.
From page 13...
... For example, from 44 CFR §65.10 when describing levee design criteria, "For levees to be recognized by FEMA, evidence that adequate design and operation and maintenance systems are in place to provide reasonable assurance that protection from the base flood exists must be provided." This type of language leads to the inaccurate conclusion that levees are "safe" and protect, without fail, to the one percent annual chance flood. However, all levees, even accredited levees, can fail or be overtopped -- that is, achieving zero risk is not a possibility.
From page 14...
... For example, a levee may provide benefits in the form of flood damages prevented, but such benefits must be balanced against the costs of building and maintaining a levee and the potential costs of a levee being overtopped or failing. If a levee is capable of controlling the water flow of the one percent annual chance flood event, there is still a 26 percent probability that the levee will be overtopped at least once in the next 30 years.
From page 15...
... Furthermore, nonstationarity means that the elevation of the one percent annual chance flood will change over time. For programs based on the one percent annual chance flood, this has the potential to cause conflict and confusion.
From page 16...
... For example, the report does not provide conclusions or recommendations related to the appropriateness of the current standard for the NFIP (i.e., the base flood elevation or the one percent annual chance flood event)
From page 17...
... • Existing Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) and their corresponding risk premium rates for areas behind accredited and non-accredited levees.
From page 18...
... Chapter 5 explores the program's current approach to setting flood insurance rates and provides advice for improving the approach in the context of the committee's vision for risk analysis in the future. Flood risk management strategies, including mitigation measures, are explored in Chapter 6.
From page 19...
... Accessed March 12, 2013. UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction)


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