Valley eyes hazard mitigation grants
March 24, 2009
By Michael Rowe
About 50 Snoqualmie Valley residents attended a meeting March 17 at the Mount Si High School auditorium to hear about what the city and county are doing to help residents limit the damage caused by future flooding.
Snoqualmie is applying for hazard mitigation grant funds to elevate homes out of the floodway to buy properties that are habitually inundated with floods. The city hopes that it can receive about $1.5 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The money would pay for 12-15 home elevations. A second grant could pay for buying out flood-prone properties.
Reports from the January flood indicate that few, if any, of the homes that were previously elevated received flood damage to living areas.
According to Senior City Planner Lauren Hollenbeck, whether or not a property can be bought out is determined by a cost benefit analysis that assesses a variety of factors, such as the amount of damage caused by floods, the height of flood waters on the property, and the property’s previous history with flooding.
Property inventory forms must be completed and returned by March 31. The city expects to know next month if it will receive hazard mitigation grants. Hollenbeck said that about 60 area residents are interested in the hazard mitigation grant program.
Hollenbeck and a steering committee are also working on updating Snoqualmie’s Hazard Mitigation Plan. This plan identifies what hazards exist in the city, and can be used to help apply for additional grants to limit the impact of disasters, such as floods and earthquakes.
She said that there would be public meetings this year to gather citizen input on the Hazard Mitigation Plan. Citizens will be asked to share their local knowledge of the area’s vulnerability to natural hazards.
A 15-member steering committee composed of stakeholders has been formed to guide the development of the Hazard Mitigation Plan. Snoqualmie has also contracted with Tetra Tech, Inc. to facilitate the development of the updated plan. The update will be coordinated with King County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan, which is also being updated.
Information on the plan, including meeting agendas and minutes of the steering committee, are posted on the city’s Web site www.ci.snoqualmie.wa.us on the “Hazard Mitigation” page under the “City Projects” tab.
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