Note: Could this happen to Burlington in a few years?

Lake Delton Officials Didn't Renew FEMA Flood Insurance

June 10, 2008

LAKE DELTON, Wis. -- Property owners who had their homes swept away or destroyed as Lake Delton flooded its banks won't be covered by national flood insurance because the Village of Lake Delton had suspended its participation in the National Flood Insurance Program.

Owners of the five homes that were lost in the Lake Delton disaster Monday are dealing with the shock of the loss -- both emotional and financial.

"It's devastating. We watched (the house) wash away. We were here when it cracked in half," said Tina Pekar, who lost her home in Monday's flooding.

WISC-TV has learned that the homes that were swept away or destroyed Monday would have been fully covered by the NFIP.

But the homes aren't covered because the Village of Lake Delton had pulled the plug on its floodplain designation by the Federal Emergency Management Agency seven years ago.

The director of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Bureau of Water Management said that the village had been a participating member in the NFIP since 1975, but failed to formally adopt a new floodplain the Federal Emergency Management Agency map in 2001. So the village had its eligibility canceled.

"The net result was they did not a  dopt the new floodplain map, so they lost their eligibility to continue to participate (in NFIP)," said Russell Rasmussen, of the state DNR's Bureau of Water Management.

The program is voluntary and any community can participate and sign up at any time. If a new map comes out, local officials have to formally adopt that new map within six months. However, Lake Delton officials didn't, WISC-TV reported.

When WISC-TV asked the village president why the village wasn't signed up for the FEMA flood insurance program, he flatly said he "won't answer that question."

Village Board president Frank Kaminski refused to answer any questions, and said WISC-TV should talk to the police chief.

Police Chief Thomas Dorner and the city engineer said the village had a problem with the FEMA's expansion of Lake Delton's flood zone, which can make building much more costly.

So far, village officials have pointed to a lack of flooding problems in the past as reasons for why the village wasn't signed up for the FEMA flood insurance program.

But the participation issue has enormous consequences for the property owners directly impacted by the catastrophic flooding that occurred at Lake Delton on Monday.

Five homes on the lake were lost or destroyed when the lake burst an earthen embankment and sent parts of homes and assorted debris careening down the nearby Wisconsin River after a new channel was carved through County Highway A, which divides the lake from the river.

Some of the owners of the destroyed homes said that they tried earlier to get flood insurance, but didn't qualify because their village wasn't a participating member of the NFIP.

"We were concerned about flooding and they said, 'That would never happen. It's never happened and we have control on both ends of the lake with dams and you're fine," Pekar said.

But with Pekar's home washed away, she said she has been left with enormous losses as questions linger about the village's decision.

Village officials said that a total of nine properties were affected by the break of Lake Delton Monday. Five of those properties were houses and the other four were vacant properties that were still worth money. The total market value for the losses is more than $2.3 million, according to village officials.

http://www.channel3000.com/news/16560561/detail.html