Floodplain expanded in Woonsocket

Few people would consider Woonsocket, far from the ocean in the northern part of the state, susceptible to flooding.
But talk to some of the old-timers about the 1955 summer floods, caused by back-to-back hurricanes, and they will tell you about the caskets unearthed from Precious Blood Cemetery that came floating down the river to the Social Flatlands. Much of the city was several feet underwater due to the rising Blackstone River and its tributaries.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) need no such history lesson. As a result of post-Katrina action taken by the two federal agencies that expanded a high-risk flood area, the owners of approximately 300 residential, commercial and industrial properties in Woonsocket for the first time are required to have flood insurance if they have mortgages from federally regulated lenders. The change took effect last month.
The annual cost of flood insurance is approximately $500 for a homeowner and several thousand dollars for a factory, on top of the cost of routine property insurance, according to local insurance agents.
David Soucy, owner and operator of Soucy Insurance Agency in Woonsocket, says property owners haven’t been lining up at his door demanding flood insurance. “I’m not sure how many people jumped on board [to buy flood insurance],” he said. “It’s not an easy sell. My feeling is a lot of people are still waiting.”
Soucy said he and other insurance companies are required to recommend that property owners in the newly defined floodplains acquire flood insurance even though “it’s been a long time since there were any major flood issues here” and property owners by now probably feel they are immune to such disasters.
A key reason for that feeling of comparative safety is the Blackstone River Flood Protection Project in Woonsocket, constructed by the federal Army Corps between 1963 and 1967 at a cost of $8.3 million and consisting of dams, pumps and miles of levees in the form of earthen berms. As Soucy noted, the Woonsocket flood control system was considered one of the best in the nation in its day. But that day is over. In a report issued in February 2007, the Army Corps of Engineers rated the entire system in “fair” condition, but found problems with the earthen levees. The Army Corps found that untended vegetation weakened the berms along the river and its tributaries, and it called for improved maintenance of the Woonsocket Falls Dam on South Main Street.
The Army Corps decertified the levees, Woonsocket City Planner Catherine Bell said, leading FEMA to review and add more properties to the scope of the floodplain, which would be affected by a failure of the levee system. Benjamin Tavares, civil engineer with the city, said approximately 300 parcels were added to high-risk flood areas as a result of FEMA’s revisions.
The area most affected – the same location that took a pounding during the 1955 floods – is the Social Flatlands, a low-lying business and residential district between Clinton and Social streets where the city library, police station and a number of financial institutions and restaurants are located, near the Blackstone River. After the 1955 flood ravaged the district, the area was rebuilt as an urban redevelopment project in the 1960s.
Because it had early notice of the revised floodplain maps, the city in November was able to begin alerting affected property owners through mailings, news releases, posters, public meetings and, Tavares said, even through use of the reverse 911 system. The sooner property owners knew of the coming changes, the better – in terms of what they would pay for flood insurance.
The FEMA maps extending the high-risk flood zones took effect March 2. So, any property owner in the newly designated flood district who purchased flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) before March 2 was grandfathered in, paying the lower rates in place before the area was reclassified. The NFIP is administered by FEMA, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Cristie Hanaway, owner and operator of the Hanaway Insurance Agency Inc./Gencorp Insurance Group in Cumberland, says the lower rates helped an owner of industrial property in Woonsocket whose factory all of a sudden was located in a floodplain.
By purchasing a $500,000 policy with $10,000 deductible – the maximum amount of flood insurance allowed for a commercial building, Hanaway said – before the new FEMA maps took effect, the factory owner paid $1,895 for one year’s coverage. As of March 2, the cost would have been double, $3,891, Hanaway said. The coverage at the lower rate will stay with the property and can be transferred to a new owner, as long as the policy remains in effect without interruption, she explained.
The maximum amount for which a home can be insured through NFIP is $250,000, according to Hanaway. Soucy said the cost of flood insurance for a home typically is about $500 a year, on top of routine homeowner’s insurance, although rates can vary. He warned of a 30-day waiting period between obtaining the flood policy and its effective date. Flood insurance makes up only “a fraction” of his business, he said.
“I definitely can attest to the fact that the river can rise if there is a significant storm event,” Tavares said. “Even though major flooding is not very likely, minor flooding does happen.”
Bell said the expanded floodplains also affected property owners in other communities, including Cumberland, but the changes are the greatest in Woonsocket. The Army Corps of Engineers after its 2007 report had turned the flood-control system over to the city for maintenance and operation, but as of January, the Army Corps has taken it back in response to a request from the city and the assistance of U.S. Sen. Jack Reed’s office, Bell said. •