Newington formally joined the National Flood Insurance Program on July 27, 2006.

During the past two years, financial institutions contacted a number of Newington property owners, and informed them that mortgages and home equity loans would be cancelled unless the property owner acquires flood insurance.

Among the many property owners who came to Town Hall seeking assistance in responding to the financial institutions, none were actually in a floodplain.

The banks assert that they are being forced to require flood insurance by increasingly stringent regulations promulgated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the same agency that recently oversaw the evacuation of New Orleans.

Prior to July 2006, flood insurance was not easy to obtain in Newington because the Town was not a member of the National Flood Insurance Program. Some insurance companies issued such policies to Newington homeowners at three times the going rate. Other insurance companies declined to issue flood policies to anyone in Newington.

Newington's first floodplain map was issued by the federal government in 1975. Although the map purports to depict the worst flood in 100 years, what the map actually delineates is the 20-foot contour on a United States Geological Survey (USGS) map. From the outset, federal officials declared this 20-foot contour to be the high water mark for the 100-year flood. They had no scientific basis for doing so.

In fact, the worst flood in several thousand years would be necessary in order to bring flood waters to an elevation of 20 feet.

A USGS map is depicted below.

The extent of the actual 100-year flood can be extrapolated from data provided by Stone & Webster Engineers. During the 1980's, that firm took spot elevations along Newington's shoreline while preparing federally funded floodplain maps for the nearby estuarine communities of Dover and Exeter. Stone & Webster concluded that the 100-year flood would rise to the elevations noted below at the following shoreline locations:

6.73' at Gosling Road

6.68' at the General Sullivan Bridge

6.83' at Fox Point

7.00' at Newington/Greenland boundary

These elevations are referenced to National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD 29).

Stone & Webster's data is consistent with FEMA's 2005 Flood Insurance Study of Rockingham County. Data on page 31 of the FEMA study pegs the 100-year flood along the bay at 7.2 feet. That is a far cry from the 20-foot contour that FEMA requires the banks to utilize.

FEMA offers no explanation for the discrepancy between their official study and their official map. The former is based on scientific analysis; the latter has little rational basis.

The discrepancy is significant for Newington because approximately 40% of the town's residents reside between the 7-foot contour and the 20-foot contour. We estimate that there may be half a dozen households situated below the 7-foot contour.

FEMA officials have expressed no interest in spending federal funds to re-map an entire municipality so as to make the maps consistent with the FEMA flood insurance study.

The floodplain map's lack of credibility is the reason Town officials repeatedly declined to join the National Flood Insurance Program.

In a November 2004 letter to "Mr. Jan Stuart", FEMA officials asset that their new revised floodplain map more accurately depicts the extent of the 100-year flood. Alas, the new "improved map" depicts the same old 20-foot contour. FEMA continues to disregard its own floodplain study while forcing property owners to purchase expensive flood insurance based on an inaccurate map.

What can be done?

Individual property owners have but one option: Pay a qualified land surveyor to prepare an application to amend the FEMA floodplain map to prove that the property owner's building is not located in a floodplain. That is a cumbersome and expensive undertaking.

The Newington Planning Board hopes to assist all local property owners by preparing a map of the entire town that shows the 7-foot contour. The board will then attempt to convince FEMA to substitute such a map for FEMA's 20-foot contour map. There is no guarantee that FEMA can be persuaded to make the switch.

The Planning Board is presently researching the most cost-effective technology to get the job done.

An accurate map would improve the situation, however it is no cure. An accurate map, for example, will not improve the banks' ability to read maps. Many of the banks rely on a Texas company that claims expertise at interpreting floodplain maps. The Texans routinely place Newington homeowners in the FEMA shoreline floodplain, even those who are situated 60 feet above sea level and half a mile distant from the bay. It is very difficult to appeal such designations because the banks, being banks, rely on their paid "experts" to steer them right.

As always, the Planning Board welcomes comments, questions, and suggestions from Newington residents.