FEMA Letter of Map Revision (LOMR)

Application Request Data and Other Information for a

Segment of Pinhook Creek and Huntsville Spring Branch 

Property Owners/Renters, 

The City of Huntsville has prepared revised Floodplain and Floodway boundaries, based on updated hydrologic and hydraulic data, along Pinhook Creek and Huntsville Spring Branch from the Abingdon Ave. crossing of Pinhook Creek south to the downstream side of the Drake Ave. crossing of Huntsville Spring Branch.  A draft Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) application package has been prepared to submit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to request legal revision of their existing/Effective Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) to reflect the updated conditions.  This application request package can be viewed in PDF format at http://www.hsvcity.com/pin_flood/PinhookLOMRApplicationRequestPackage.pdf. 

NOTE:  The PDF refers to the electronic file type that documents and mapping discussed on this website were exported to from originating software or scanned into from a hard copy.  Although it is quite common, it requires Adobe Reader to view.  If you have Adobe Reader, the documents and mapping should open up after selecting the link.  If you do not have Adobe Reader, it can be downloaded for free from many websites including http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

 As a part of the LOMR application, the City is required to inform specific property owners of certain proposed changes either by a Public Notice in the local newspaper/Huntsville Times (when a change in the Floodway is proposed) or direct mailing (in cases where Base Flood Elevations are increasing), both of which contain the link to this website.  The information on this website, and the various links provided, allow for viewing of the available mapping and other data, as well as answer general questions and concerns.

 There are other tributaries to Pinhook Creek and Huntsville Spring Branch in the reach of this revision (Dallas Branch, Dallas Branch By-Pass, Fagan Creek, and Broglan Branch).  The proposed boundary mapping for the Floodplains and Floodways stop where they are proposed to match the existing/Effective FIRM boundaries, but in general conditions along these tributaries will not change.

 Some areas may see an improvement to the conditions currently shown on the Effective FIRM, whereas others are adversely impacted, based on the updated and more accurate data used to depict the proposed conditions.  In areas where Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) have been lowered, the decrease may be enough to reflect a decrease in Flood Insurance rates subsequent to FEMA’s review and publication of a LOMR (although new Elevation Certificates will likely have to be done, at the owner’s/insured’s cost, to demonstrate the change to insurance companies/FEMA).

 Once the LOMR application request package is in FEMA’s hands for review, it general takes on the order of 6-months for review and hopeful publication; as this is a substantial revision request, there is a good chance it may take longer.

 If you are planning to investigate the draft mapping and other available data discussed above and in the following text, it is recommended that you print this page out to use as guidance while exploring the links, as you will likely have to refer back to it.  If questions come up regarding terminology etc., it is recommended that you refer to the City’s annual CRS Floodplain mailing in PDF format at http://www.hsvcity.com/gis/ald_crk_flood/CRSFloodplainMailing2006Final.pdf,; it may have the information you’re looking for or suggest other avenues to pursue.  However, following are two points to address frequently asked questions:  It is the City’s understanding from FEMA that if a structure is in the existing/Effective 100-yr. Floodplain, lending institutions should require the owner to carry Flood Insurance.  Additionally, if any portion of a property is in the existing/Effective 100-yr. Floodplain, the property falls under City zoning requirements for Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA).

 As this proposed revision is substantial and there are similar events occurring for other areas of the City, the ability of the one or two qualified City staff members to answer individual property/address questions is very limited with other duties and constraints, so your cooperation in trying to investigate the information being providing here and elsewhere online is very much appreciated.

 PDF Mapping

(Original 7/25/07)

http://www.hsvcity.com/gis/pin_flood/pinflood1.htm

This mapping is likely the simplest to view; however, it does not have a search mechanism to find specific addresses.  So, you will have to physically know the property/address you are seeking to investigate, and navigate there by scrolling up and down the pages and using the “Zoom In Tool.”  There are two maps; the first one starts at Abingdon Ave. and goes south to Governors Dr.  The Second map starts at Governors Dr. and goes south to about Island Cir. (which is about 2,200-ft. south of Drake Ave. on Leeman Ferry Rd.).

 When looking at the mapping, the blue colored area is the existing/Effective Floodplain and the darker blue lines represent the existing/Effective Floodway boundary.  Conversely, the pastel pink colored area represents the proposed Floodplain and the darker red lines represent the proposed Floodway boundary.  Where two Floodplains (i.e. color filled areas) overlap, the area is a violet/pale purple-ish color.

 Interactive Mapping

(Original 7/25/07)

http://maps.hsvcity.com/

To represent the same information as that in the PDF mapping, discussed above, is a bit more complicated in the City’s interactive mapping; however, the interactive mapping provides a search component, allowing individuals to go directly to an addressed location.

 When selecting the link, a Disclaimer page comes up; note near the bottom of the page that “Using a pop-up blocker or disabling Active Scripting will prevent this site from working.”  So, turn off any pop-up blockers you have on, alternately on some computer systems if you hold down the control (i.e. Ctrl on most keyboards) key while clicking Accept, pop-up blockers can be disabled temporarily.  Once Accept is clicked, the next screen should come-up, and once completely loaded a map showing the outline of Madison County should be in view.  It may take a minute or two to load, and if any warnings or requests come-up in the process, just click ok, yes, etc., as this is a safe City website.

 Once the Madison County outline is fully displayed, focus on the four primary buttons on the upper left quarter of the page.  Click the Add Feature button which is second from the top of the four; doing so pulls up a features selection box/drop-down list and another Add Feature button at the bottom of the four primary buttons.  Go to the selection box, click anywhere on it (including the downward pointing chevron) to open the list of features, and select Flood.  Once Flood is selected, click the bottom Add Feature button.  Once loaded, blue areas/lines should be visible in the Madison County outline.  Similarly to how the Flood layer was added, add the Flood DRAFT layer; once added some pale reddish area should be visible along Aldridge Creek.

 Now that the data is loaded, searching/zooming to a specific address can be done.  Click the Find Address button which is the top of the four primary buttons; doing so pulls up a Street Number and Street Name field, and Submit and Clear buttons at the bottom of the four primary buttons.  Enter the Street Number only in that appropriate field; if there are units or suites associated with the street number, then a selection on the right side of the page will be listed once the next step is complete, and at that point the appropriate unit/suite selection can be clicked.  Similarly, enter the Street Name only in that appropriate field; do not include the street type such as Drive, Circle, Lane, etc.  Then click the Submit button, and the system should take you to that address in the mapping.

 At this point all relevant data layers are on; however, with the interactive mapping, the ability exists to turn things on and off by checking and un-checking them in the Legend.  Somewhat similar to the PDF mapping, the pale blue colored area is the existing/Effective Floodplain, checked in the Legend as “FEMA 100-Year Flood Fringe.”  The standard blue colored area is the existing/Effective Floodway, checked in the Legend as “FEMA Floodway.”  Conversely, the pale reddish colored area represents the proposed Floodplain, checked in the Legend as “Pinhook Creek DRAFT 100-Year Flood Fringe.”  The darker red/salmon colored area represents the proposed Floodway, checked in the Legend as “Pinhook Creek DRAFT Floodway.”  The Huntsville Spring Branch is included in the Pinhook Creek data layers.

 Unlike the PDF mapping, the proposed Floodplain lies on top of the existing and a visible color difference is not displayed in this area of the overlapping Floodplains, only the color of the proposed.  However, lines representing the boundaries of both the existing Floodplain and Floodway are visible over the proposed color filled areas.  The boundary lines are the same colors as the existing areas are, as discussed above, and are checked as “FEMA 100-Year Flood Fringe Boundary Line” and “FEMA Floodway Boundary Line,” respectively, in the Legend.

 As a note, there is another layer of data called “Hydrography” that is just slightly darker than the “FEMA 100-Year Flood Fringe” and “FEMA 100-Year Flood Fringe Boundary Line”.  The “Hydrography” layer, in general, represents the boundaries of water bodies such as lakes and streams, as well as the location of some small streams and ditches.  So as not to get these similarly colored layers mixed up, you may want to turn off the “Hydrography” layer as discussed above.

 If you do not see all the data layers discussed above, nor see them listed in the Legend, then that means they do not exist in the area being viewed in the mapping.  Beyond the data layers discussed above, there are others (such as the dark blue existing/Effective 500-yr. Floodplain boundary line, checked as “FEMA 500-Year Floodplain Boundary Line” in the Legend) related to flooding concerns that aren’t discussed here, as they aren’t particularly relevant to the question of being in the existing or proposed 100-yr. Floodplain.

 Additionally, there are other tools on the webpage that can be used to zoom, pan, measure, etc. in the mapping view, as well as print.

 Property Owner/Address Look Up

(Original 7/26/07)

http://maps.hsvcity.com/PinhookCreek/

If you’d prefer not to look at the mapping, you aren’t sure which property you’ve been contacted about, and/or you don’t know the address of the property, there is a third option.  Based on the most currently available data from the Madison County courthouse (up to date to November 2006) and the City’s database of addresses, you can go to this site and look up a property by owner or address and find yes/no answers in regards to whether at least a portion of the property lies within the existing/Effective and/or proposed Floodplains and Floodways as discussed above.  

 Once at the site, there are two selection boxes/drop-down lists:  Select Owner and Select Address selections; click anywhere on the selection boxes (including the downward pointing chevron) to open either of the lists and make your selection.  Once a selection is made, the following data/answers to questions will be retrieved:  Parcel Personal Identification Number (PPIN), owner name, street address, and whether or not at least a portion of the property is in the current FEMA 100-Year Floodplain Fringe, current FEMA Floodway, Pinhook Creek DRAFT 100-Year Floodplain Fringe, and/or Pinhook Creek DRAFT Floodway.  Similarly as discussed in the previous section, the Huntsville Spring Branch is included in the Pinhook Creek data; in other words, although the property may be in the Huntsville Spring Branch area, it will be referred to as Pinhook Creek.

 If a street address is not available for you to use either of the mapping scenarios above, and you would still like to see exactly what it looks like on a specific property, you can document the PPIN and go to the following website, http://www.emapsplus.com/almadison/maps/, and select PPin to search based on the PPIN number.  The search results may provide an address for use in the Interactive Mapping as discussed above; or a link to one of the search results can be clicked and a map of the locations property will be displayed in that website’s system, which may provide enough detail (possibly use Zoom Tools to aid in this effort) to locate that property using the PDF Mapping also discussed above.  Beyond that, after a link is selected and the mapping comes up, you can also select Report to open up another page of information about the selected property link which may also provide a street address to use in the Interactive Mapping as discussed above.