Cities still waiting on FEMA

KELLOGG –– Another year, another round of waiting as the city of Kellogg works to revise its aging flood maps. 

In 2021, the city first submitted their letter of map revision (LOMR) to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but the agency reportedly responded to the request with more questions.  

Under the supervision of local engineering firm Alta Science and Engineering, the city reportedly not only addresses the concerns, but had to then resubmit their request on FEMA’s digital portal in July of 2023.  

For decades homeowners living in Shoshone County along the I-90 corridor along the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River have existed within a FEMA-designated floodplain on its National Flood Hazard Map which requires them to pay for annual flood insurance. This mandatory insurance for properties with mortgages is expensive and directly tied to these flood maps, which city and county leaders feel are outdated.   

The maps show the possibility of significant flood events on 10, 50, 100, and 500-year year intervals. Each interval is measured as a one-in 10/50/100/500 chance that the river would hit various stages of flooding, with 10 being the most common, but also the lowest damage. 

The current maps say that any 100 and 500-year floods would be potentially disastrous to much of the Kellogg, Smelterville, and Pinehurst areas, and thus require flood insurance. However, data generated by the US Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), which had been monitoring the flows of the river for decades, reportedly determined that previously unmonitored water studies had led to erroneous predictions being made on these flood maps. 

According to the National Flood Insurance Program, the average annual cost of flood insurance in Idaho is $784. Reportedly, if the new data from ACOE is accurate and FEMA approves the LOMR and removes the areas listed from the National Flood Hazard Map it could save residents thousands of dollars.  

This prompted the formation of Silver Valley Technical Team, representing the county and the three major western Shoshone County cities, to submit the original LOMR. 

Kellogg’s Public Works Superintendent Mike Fitzgerald has been working on the project since his time as a Shoshone County Commissioner and feels that FEMA’s hurry-up-and-wait approach is growing old.  

“The Silver Valley’s Technical Team has patiently followed FEMA’s recommended path for the flood map update,” Fitzgerald said. “The team has repeatedly responded to FEMA’s technical questions. In short, it is time for FEMA to provide the community a resolution on the issue.”  

Representatives from FEMA did not respond to calls for questions regarding the delay.