U.S. Flood Insurance Mandate Ends in Southeast L.A. County

About 50,000 property owners in southeast Los Angeles County will no longer be forced by the federal government to maintain costly flood insurance now that a $210-million restoration project along the Los Angeles River has been completed.

The project, launched in 1996 and finished five years early and $154 million under budget, reduced the flood risk for property owners in 11 cities and unincorporated county areas from Downey south to Long Beach Harbor.

About 250,000 property owners around the Los Angeles River and the Rio Hondo have paid an estimated $22 million collectively for flood insurance that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had mandated since 1998.

That is when the Army Corps of Engineers determined that the lower river could not contain a so-called 100-year flood. FEMA maps were redrawn to indicate the increased flood risk, and lenders insisted on insurance to protect their interests. The premiums averaged $400 a year.

Irate policyholders, who consider the premiums a “flood tax,” have badgered politicians ever since.

In blue-collar Paramount, nearly every property owner was affected, said Mayor Manuel Guillen, who got his own renewal notice for his flood insurance Thursday.

“We have very-low-income people who are the least able to pay for it. They’ve been knocking on our front doors about this,” he said, referring to the City Council. “So it’s a real monkey off our backs.”

The Los Angeles County Drainage Area Project was created by Congress in 1996 to better protect citizens from a potential 100-year flood--an event with a 1% chance of occurring in any given year.

From the beginning, it was championed by Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Long Beach), who has worked with federal, state and local officials to lobby for the project.

Horn was praised for his commitment to the flood-control project by a parade of public officials at a news conference at Downey City Hall.

“I know it’s hard to get excited about . . . flood insurance,” said county Supervisor Don Knabe, whose 4th District includes most of the affected area. But he noted that for the people involved, “it’s a big deal.”

As originally envisioned, the project called for raising the river banks, or levees, by four feet or more on each side. The new levees would allow a third more water to flow in the Los Angeles River, which acts as a mega-flood-control channel dumping into the Pacific Ocean.

The restoration was expected to cost $364 million and take 10 years to complete. A big part of the cost and time would have come from raising 23 bridges--most of them vehicle overpasses--along with the riverbanks.

But the Army Corps of Engineers came up with an ingenious way to avoid some of that work. Although levees were raised in some areas, most of the bridges were not. Devices to streamline water flow were attached to the bridge support pilings, which allowed more water to move faster downriver, eliminating the need to raise the banks in some areas.

The work was done in three phases, as federal funds budgeted by Congress allowed. The first phase was finished Feb. 25, 2000, and property owners in its vicinity were released from the flood insurance mandate. The second phase was completed May 24, 2001.

The project was completed just weeks ago. Price tag: $210 million. The Army Corps did the work along with crews from the county Department of Public Works.

So what actually happened Friday? FEMA redrew its flood insurance rate maps. And that set into motion the prospect of 50,000 policyholders seeking government help to be released from the insurance mandate and to seek refunds.

This being a federal project, many acronyms and maps with expressions such as Zone X are employed to help guide property owners.

FEMA’s Web site, https://www.fema.gov, has information on the project, as do the offices of Rep. Horn, Supervisor Knabe and most of the city halls in the communities affected--Bellflower, Carson, Compton, Downey, Lakewood, Long Beach, Lynwood, Montebello, Paramount, Pico Rivera, South Gate and the unincorporated area of Rancho Dominguez.

Property owners can find out if they are still required to have flood insurance from FEMA or their local government. If the insurance is no longer mandatory, they should contact their mortgage lender or bank and request the all-important “Letter of Map Revision.” Only the lender can provide it.

An important note federal officials made Friday: A lender may still demand flood insurance.

But “a vast majority of the lenders will not require the flood insurance,” said Michael Shore of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. All premiums are deposited in the program’s trust fund. It may refund a property owner’s last annual premium; form letters are available from Horn, FEMA, Knabe or city offices.

“It will be a pleasure tomorrow to go down and apply for my rebate,” Bellflower Mayor Ray Smith said.