here is the map key: You can look up which file is yours:

http://www.map9-m.com/projects/butte/documents/06007CIND0A.pdf

I find this flood plain stuff real amusing since I sold my house in the flood plain. I got another house, the plain is right across the street, but I'm off the hook.

It's not so funny when you get one of those letters from your mortgage company, saying you are required to spend a thousand or more dollars a year or they will buy an even more expensive policy and charge you for it. The basic policy only covers your mortgage, payable to your mortgage bank. If you want real coverage, you know, maybe actually rebuild or fix your house, that's a completely separate policy, costing at least as much money.

In fact, the mortgage policy only pays if your house is completely destroyed. My policy said it had to be ripped off the foundation.

Is that going to happen in Chico? Probably not. But how's the FEMA people supposed to know that? They know we have "a" flood threat, whether it's just rotten wall paper, or houses floating down the Sacto, they don't know. That's up to the local jurisdictions to figger out. But what FEMA also knows is, if there is a giant disaster (like one in West Virginia in the 1970's where a giant mining slag pile damming a creek suddenly let go and washed out 7 towns in the course of a few hours), they will be left holding the bag, like New Orleans.

And, I read in the report that the studies are necessitated by building that has happened in flood zones in Chico just over the last 10 years - areas that were "horse pastures" when they did the last study in the late 90's. And here the city is admitting that all of Barber Yard will be in a flood zone and everybody that buys a house there will be forced to purchase the insurance. And that zone is permanent, it won't go away with a levee study.

The worst damage in New Orleans was in a zone that had only recently been opened up for building. You've heard that old joke, about river front real estate. Just think of the money those developers made.

Meriam Park and Doe Mill are also in permanent flood zones, known flood zones.

My family lived along the river north of Princeton. Before the levees, our house, built about 1935, flooded about half a dozen times. My grandparents had a couple of big trucks, for hauling. They'd load up the household onto the trucks when they heard the warnings, and head for higher ground. My gramps would usually hang around to keep an eye out. I have a great photo of him, standing up to his hips in swirling water, in our driveway. When the water drained away, they'd clean up and move back. When I was a kid, the water marks were still on the wall paper from the last flood, pre-1945. Gramps had drilled holes in all the floors and plugged them with old corks. My grandma said the worst thing was getting all the dead animals out, from inside and under the house. That always made her so sad, she loved the little animals, even the skunk.

None of that would have been covered by flood insurance. Since their house was still standing when they got home, they wouldn't have received a dime.

Brian,

Thanks, I didn't have time before I left town on Friday to do more than throw the link to the maps up.

Lon