Flood Protection Information
Typical backyard flooding |
Swollen creek during storm |
Community Rating System Program
Outreach Project for Floodplain Impacted Properties (PDF)
Flood Protection Information (PDF)
Most homeowner insurance policies do not cover damages caused by flooding from storm events. Properties that have been officially identified as being in floodplains are required by their mortgage lenders to have flood insurance.
All affected property owners should consider obtaining flood insurance, which is available at reduced cost to affected City residents and businesses. Properties in the City of Decatur are eligible for a 15 percent discount on the typical cost of flood insurance by virtue of the City's participation in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Community Rating System (CRS) program and having qualified as a category 7 community.
The Engineering Department provides general flood plain information free of charge to City residents to assist them in determining if their properties are affected by flood plains. If needed for insurance or other purposes, a resident can obtain an official flood plain determination letter for a $10 fee.
More information is available on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website. Or, you may contact your mortgage lender, insurance company or the Engineering Department at 404-377-6198 for more specific information.
New Floodplain Map
The City of Decatur has undertaken a detailed engineering hydrology and hydraulics study to remap the floodplain of the four drainage basins within the city. The study is a partnership with FEMA and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) as part of the nationwide map modernization initiative. The new mapping was finalized by FEMA review in 2007 and became effective on Feb. 20, 2008. The remapping project inventoried and analyzed the runoff generated within each of the drainage basins to current FEMA standards and criteria. This information will be used to develop new floodplain limits for the Base Flood Elevation (BFE), the 100-year storm return frequency used by FEMA for all floodplain mapping. The BFE floodplain limit means the flood has a one-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.
The city expanded its study to address future condition hydrology. Additional study has established the modeled limits of the floodplain to address the build-out state of development within the city in compliance with the zoning map approved by the City Commission. The new mapping eliminates all previously unstudied areas, shown as Zone A on the FIRM panel maps approved by FEMA in May 2001. The new floodplain map (see link below) can be used by individuals to view the extent of the floodplain’s impact on specific properties or within the city in general.
City Floodplain Map Overlay 2008 (PDF)
All elevation certificates produced or surveys conducted to establish the limits of the floodplain on specific parcels of land after Feb. 20, 2008 must utilize the data and elevation information contained within the approved Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) issued to the city by FEMA. The Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) panel maps, Flood Insurance Study (FIS) profiles, and flow rate data issued by FEMA on May 7, 2001 have been superseded by the City’s LOMR. Please open and review the complete LOMR information, data files, waterway profiles and FIRM panels list below that have the new map information approved by FEMA to obtain Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and any other data normally obtained from the superseded FIRM panels and FIS study. Copies of this information can be obtained from the Engineering Department. The cost of obtaining copies will be the cost of their reproduction. Should you require additional information or clarification on the impact of the floodplain for any property within the city please contact John F. Madajewski, Senior Engineer for the Engineering Department at 404-377-6198 or by email.
Letter of Map Revision (PDF)
Flood Insurance Rate Map Panel 66 (PDF)
Flood Insurance Rate Map Panel 68 (PDF)
Elevation Certificates
The Engineering Department also retains on file all Elevation Certificates for specific properties within the City that have processed a Floodplain Development permit, filed for Flood Insurance and provided the City with a copy of the Elevation Certificate that was filed within their insurance agent or coordinated Base Flood Elevation determination with the Engineering Department. These Elevation Certificates are available at the link below.
>Elevation certificates
Decatur Receives FEMA Flood Grant
November 2007 – The City of Decatur has received a $1,239,962 federal grant to purchase four properties on Westchester Drive that are seven feet below base flood elevation and have been flooded many times. The houses on the properties will be demolished and the land will be left as greenspace.
The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA has invested $3,240,053.95 in projects to reduce residential flooding in Decatur and three other Georgia communities: Savannah, DeKalb County and Douglas County. Decatur’s grant was the largest of the four awarded.