Flood Mitigation

     Flood mitigation is any action taken to reduce risk to people or property from flooding and its effects. The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) reduces flood risk to existing and future structures and their occupants, and is the foundation of most communities' flood mitigation efforts. In addition to being the state coordinating office for the NFIP, the Floodplain Management Program offers technical assistance to citizens and government officials undertaking flood mitigation efforts.

For more information, please see Mitigation section on the References page.

Increased Cost of Compliance

     The most effective time to mitigate flood-prone structures is immediately following a disaster event. All local flood damage reduction regulations require the floodplain administrator to inspect buildings following a flood event to determine if the structure has been substantially damaged. When a building covered by a Standard Flood Insurance Policy under the NFIP sustains a flood loss and the community declares the building to be substantially or repetitively damaged, Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC) will pay up to $30,000 to floodproof, relocate, elevate, or demolish the building in order to comply with local flood damage reduction regulations. The ICC Coverage Guidance for State and Local Officials describes the role of the local floodplain administrator, the policyholder, and the claims adjustor when filing an ICC claim. Please direct questions about ICC in Ohio to Christopher Thoms, CFM.

FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Program

      The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recently unified the guidance for its four pre-disaster grant programs into one document titled, Unified Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) Program Guidance. This guidance document contains requirements for projects funded through the four HMA programs, which include: Pre-Disaster Mitigation (PDM), Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA), Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) and Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL). The HMA Program Guidance and instructions for applying for these grants can be found on the Ohio Emergency Management Agency (OEMA), Mitigation Branch website.

• The Pre-Disaster Mitigation Competitive Program provides funding for cost-effective mitigation activities that are selected via a national ranking and evaluation process.
• The Flood Mitigation Assistance Program provides funding for planning and projects that reduce or eliminate claims under the NFIP.
• The Repetitive Flood Claim Program provides funding to acquire, relocate, or demolish structures with flood insurance policies that meet Repetitive Loss Property Criteria.
• The Severe Repetitive Loss Program provides funding to floodproof, relocate, elevate, or demolish structures with flood insurance policies that meet the Severe Repetitive Loss definition.

Post-Disaster FEMA Mitigation Programs

• The Hazard Mitigation Grant Program provides funding to reduce the loss of life and property due to natural disasters and to enable mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.