Deputy Assessor, attends Flood Plain Administration Training, Feb 1998

    Last year the White County Quorum Court voted to give the White County Tax Assessors office the responsibility of Flood Plain Administrator. This action became effective on October 7, 1997.
    Debra Lang represented the assessors office recently in a training course sponsored by the Arkansas Soil and Water Conservation Commission. The course which was offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concentrated on basic concepts of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) with emphasis on review and permit procedures.
    The NFIP is a federal program enabling property owners in participating communities to purchase insurance protection against losses from flooding. This insurance is designed to provide an insurance alternative to disaster assistance to meet the escalating cost of repairing damage to buildings and their contents caused by floods.
    Participation in the NFIP is based on an agreement between local communities and the federal government that states if a community will adopt and enforce a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risks to new construction in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA), the federal government will make flood insurance available within the community as a financial protection against flood loses.
    The SFHA is defined as an area of land that would be inundated by a flood having a 1% chance of occurring in any given year ( also referred to as the 100 year flood).
    Development may take place within the SFHA, provided that development complies with local floodplain management ordinances, which must not meet the minimum federal requirements. Flood insurance is required for insurable structures within the SFHA to protect federal financial investments and assistance used for acquisition and/or construction purposes within communities participating in the NFIP.
    Debra has made some materials available to the public at the White County Library and encourages those with questions to contact her at the White County Tax Assessors office, 279-6208.

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