Floodplain Property Restoration in Syracuse

What did FEMA's 2016 maps change in Syracuse?

FEMA's 2016 maps expanded the Special Flood Hazard Area on Onondaga Creek in Syracuse by 175 acres and added hundreds of residential and commercial structures to the regulated floodplain. Owners whose buildings were newly mapped face rules they may not have expected.

The change is a matter of the map, not of the building. A house that stood unchanged through the years may now sit inside a mapped area, which brings the floodplain rules into effect when the house is repaired. The city attributes the higher flood risk on the creek to sediment and to more intense short-duration storms, and the maps are the regulatory record of that risk.

An owner should check whether the building falls inside the Special Flood Hazard Area, and should do so before the rebuild is designed. The panel for the address is the document to read, and the city's floodplain page tells the owner which maps the city uses.

How do floodplain rules shape a repair?

Floodplain rules can limit how a building is repaired, particularly where the lowest floor is rebuilt, where the damage is substantial, or where new work changes the building's footprint. The office that issues floodplain permits for the property applies the standards that go with its zone.

Where a building is inside the mapped area, a repair may need a floodplain permit before the work starts. The permit reviews the design against the standards for the zone, and it can require the lowest floor to be raised or the materials below the flood level to be flood-resistant.

This page does not state the thresholds for substantial damage, because the sourced material does not give them. Ask the office that issues the permit which thresholds apply, and keep a written answer in the file.

Which materials can stay, and which must go?

Materials that are wet to the core, such as carpet, pad, paper-faced drywall and some insulation, usually cannot be dried in place. Masonry, framing and some finished surfaces can often be cleaned and dried, provided the readings reach a dry level.

The crew measures each material at several points and writes the readings down. A material that dries to a safe level and can be cleaned can stay, and one that holds water or is contaminated must come out. The decision is recorded so the owner can see why each item was kept or removed.

In a building inside the floodplain, the owner may choose materials that tolerate water in the lower rooms, such as masonry or concrete in place of paper-faced drywall. The choice is made with the rules in mind and should be checked with the permit office before it is installed.

• Carpet and pad that are wet to the backing: removed
• Paper-faced drywall wet above the base: removed to the wet line
• Framing and sill plates: dried and checked, replaced if they stay wet
• Masonry and concrete: dried and read at several heights
• Cabinets and built-ins in a flooded room: assessed item by item

What does the owner need in writing before the rebuild?

The owner needs the drying log, the map panel, the list of removed materials and the permit answer for the property. Those documents show what happened, what the rules are and what the rebuild must meet.

The drying log shows the readings from each visit. The panel shows the zone for the address, and the permit answer shows which standards apply to the repair. The list of removed materials shows what was taken out and why, and the photographs show the water line on each wall.

Keep the documents in one file. A lender, an insurer, an adjuster or a future buyer may ask for them, and a complete file answers the question faster than a memory of the flood.

How does an insurer look at a floodplain repair?

An insurer looks at the cause of the water, the flood terms of the policy, the drying record and the scope of the repair. Standard homeowner policies often exclude flood water, so a separate flood policy or endorsement is often the question that decides the claim.

The insurer will ask whether the building was inside the mapped area and whether the owner held flood coverage. Those questions are answered by the policy and the map, not by the crew. A complete record of the water line and the drying helps the adjuster see the extent of the loss.

For a dispute over the handling of a claim, the New York State Department of Financial Services is the state regulator for insurers. The owner should keep copies of all correspondence and ask the insurer to explain any denial in writing.