Homeowners have come to fear the words “substantial damage” in the aftermath of August’s historic flood, real estate appraiser Tom Cook writes in his latest column for Business Report.
If the Federal Emergency Management Agency decides a home was “substantially damaged” in the flood, the homeowner may have to raise the slab of their home above the base flood elevation before they can obtain a building permit, Cook says.
But as much as the phrase is used, it’s still unclear how FEMA determines “substantial damage.”
“If you Google ‘how does FEMA determine substantial damage,’ you’ll find a whole host of website information that, like much of the information disseminated by the federal government, is too complicated for most people to understand,” Cook writes.
Cook explains that FEMA representatives inspect each flooded structure and estimate damage for various building components, including foundation, structure and plumbing, among many others. FEMA uses that information and—based on a formula only it knows—spits out a calculation of a home or building’s damage.
FEMA compiles the information into a database and gives it to municipal building departments to use in determining whether to issue a permit with or without raising the slab elevation, Cook says.
Cook offers a case study of a flooded Sherwood Forest home that has a slab elevation a foot below the 100-year base flood elevation.
“Let’s say FEMA has determined that it was 65% damaged. In this case, the house’s slab would have to be raised two feet to get a building permit,” Cook says. “The needed repairs would most likely be cost prohibitive, rendering the home almost worthless. But because the final decision lies with the municipality, there is hope.”
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