Latest news with #floodplain
CTV News
12-07-2025
- General
- CTV News
FEMA removed dozens of Camp Mystic buildings from 100-year flood map before expansion, records show
Debris covers the area of Camp Mystic in Hunt, Texas, Monday, July 7, 2025, after a flash flood swept through the area. (AP Photo/Eli Hartman, File) U.S. regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic's buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors, a review by The Associated Press found. The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls' summer camp in a 'Special Flood Hazard Area' in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects. That designation means an area is likely to be inundated during a 100-year flood — one severe enough that it only has a one per cent chance of happening in any given year. Located in a low-lying area along the Guadalupe River in a region known as flash flood alley, Camp Mystic lost at least 27 campers and counselors and longtime owner Dick Eastland when historic floodwaters tore through its property before dawn on July 4. The flood was far more severe than the 100-year event envisioned by FEMA, experts said, and moved so quickly in the middle of the night that it caught many off guard in a county that lacked a warning system. But Syracuse University associate professor Sarah Pralle, who has extensively studied FEMA's flood map determinations, said it was 'particularly disturbing' that a camp in charge of the safety of so many young people would receive exemptions from basic flood regulation. 'It's a mystery to me why they weren't taking proactive steps to move structures away from the risk, let alone challenging what seems like a very reasonable map that shows these structures were in the 100-year flood zone,' she said. Camp Mystic didn't respond to emails seeking comment and calls to it rang unanswered. The camp has called the flood an 'unimaginable tragedy' and added in a statement Thursday that it had restored power for the purpose of communicating with its supporters. FEMA exempted buildings at old and new sites In response to an appeal, FEMA in 2013 amended the county's flood map to remove 15 of the camp's buildings from the hazard area. Records show that those buildings were part of the 99-year-old Camp Mystic Guadalupe, which was devastated by last week's flood. After further appeals, FEMA removed 15 more Camp Mystic structures in 2019 and 2020 from the designation. Those buildings were located on nearby Camp Mystic Cypress Lake, a sister site that opened to campers in 2020 as part of a major expansion and suffered less damage in the flood. Campers have said the cabins at Cypress Lake withstood significant damage, but those nicknamed 'the flats' at the Guadalupe River camp were inundated. Experts say Camp Mystic's requests to amend the FEMA map could have been an attempt to avoid the requirement to carry flood insurance, to lower the camp's insurance premiums or to pave the way for renovating or adding new structures under less costly regulations. Pralle said the appeals were not surprising because communities and property owners have used them successfully to shield specific properties from regulation. Analysis shows flood risks at both camp sites Regardless of FEMA's determinations, the risk was obvious. At least 12 structures at Camp Mystic Guadalupe were fully within FEMA's 100-year flood plain, and a few more were partially in that zone, according to an AP analysis of data provided by First Street, a data science company that specializes in modeling climate risk. Jeremy Porter, the head of climate implications at First Street, said FEMA's flood insurance map underestimates flood risks. That's because it fails to take into account the effects of heavy precipitation on smaller waterways such as streams and creeks. First Street's model puts nearly all of Camp Mystic Guadalupe at risk during a 100-year flood. The buildings at the newer Cypress Lake site are farther from the south fork of the flood-prone river but adjacent to Cypress Creek. FEMA's flood plain doesn't consider the small waterway a risk. However, First Street's model, which takes into account heavy rain and runoff reaching the creek, shows that the majority of the Cypress Lake site lies within an area that has a one per cent chance of flooding in any given year. In a statement, FEMA downplayed the significance of the flood map amendments. 'Flood maps are snapshots in time designed to show minimum standards for floodplain management and the highest risk areas for flood insurance,' the agency wrote. 'They are not predictions of where it will flood, and they don't show where it has flooded before.' An 'arduous' appeal process can help property owners Property owners challenging FEMA's map designations hire engineers to conduct detailed studies to show where they believe the 100-year flood plain should actually be drawn. That is a 'pretty arduous process' that can lead to more accurate maps while making it easier for future construction, said Chris Steubing, executive director of the Texas Floodplain Management Association, an industry group that represents floodplain managers. Pralle, who reviewed the amendments for AP, noted that some of the exempted properties were within two feet (0.6 metres) of FEMA's flood plain by the camp's revised calculations, which she said left almost no margin for error. She said her research shows that FEMA approves about 90 per cent of map amendment requests, and the process may favor the wealthy and well-connected. A study she published in 2021 with researcher Devin Lea analyzed more than 20,000 buildings that had been removed from FEMA flood maps. It found that the amendments occurred more often in places where property values were higher, more white people lived and buildings were newer. Camp expanded after 'tremendous success' FEMA had cautioned in its amendments that other parts of Camp Mystic remained on the flood map, and that 'any future construction or substantial improvement' would be subject to flood plain management regulations. County officials not only allowed the camp to keep operating, but to dramatically expand. Considered Texas royalty after decades of taking care of the daughters of elite families, Camp Mystic owners Dick and Tweety Eastland cited the 'tremendous success' of their original camp in explaining the need for a second site nearby. The expansion included new cabins and a dining hall, chapel, archery range and more. The camp had 557 campers and more than 100 staffers between its two locations when a state licensing agency conducted an inspection on July 2, two days before the tragedy, records show. FEMA referred questions about the expansion to local officials, who didn't reply to messages seeking comment. Steubing, a longtime municipal engineer in Texas, said the rain and flooding that hit Kerr County in a matter of hours were so much more intense than anything in its history that it's hard to call the flood plain management a failure. Local officials likely believed they were following existing regulations when they allowed the camp to keep growing, but 'then Mother Nature set a new standard,' he said. 'You could have built things two feet (0.6 metres) higher, three feet (0.9 metres) higher, and they still might have gotten taken down,' he said. Associated Press reporter Hannah Fingerhut contributed to this report. Ryan J. Foley, Christopher L. Keller, And Jim Mustian, The Associated Press
BBC News
24-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Broadway House flats in Bradford approved despite 'flood risk'
Part of a Bradford office building is set to be converted into flats despite a warning that it is unsuitable for residential use due to a "high risk of flooding".Broadway House, on the newly-pedestrianised area of Bank Street, is made up of ground-floor businesses and office spaces on its first, second and third this year, property developer Springer revealed plans to convert the upper floors into 28 works have now been approved by Bradford Council despite an objection from the Environment Agency, which said residential use of the building should be avoided because the site was within a flood plain. The agency told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the building's location meant there was a "high risk of flooding". "We recommend that planning permission is refused on this basis."We continue to urge planning authorities to follow national guidance to reduce flood risk and protect communities."When asked why the flats were approved despite the objection, a Bradford Council spokesperson said a flood risk assessment (FRA) had found the proposal "does not introduce unacceptable flood risks".They added: "The upper-floor location of the residential units significantly reduces vulnerability, and the development does not increase flood risk to the site or wider area."The FRA also sets out a number of flood risk mitigation measures that are to be implemented in order to ensure the impacts of any potential flooding are minimised. "Given these considerations, the proposal can be deemed acceptable in terms of flood risk." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Times
17-06-2025
- Business
- Times
No value for money from the office created by Rachel Reeves
T hink of three projects most in need of a value-for-money test and this trio are hard to beat: that blank cheque on wheels known as HS2; the Sizewell C nuke, nicely located on a Suffolk flood plain; and the Royal Navy's Dreadnought-class submarines, the biggest defence project presently under way. So how's this for a turn-up from the Office for Value for Money (OVfM)? It won't be reviewing any of them. No, as its chairman David Goldstone has just told the National Audit Office (NAO) chief, Gareth Davies, over five pages of total blather: 'In line with our principle not to duplicate the work of others we did not review HS2, Sizewell C and Dreadnought, as they are already subject to extensive [scrutiny]'. How convenient is that? Among her budget triumphs, the OVfM was invented by Rachel Reeves to 'root out waste and inefficiency' and 'help us realise the benefits from every pound of public spending'.
CBC
11-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Sackville floodplain home faces demolition after city rejects application to save it
Time may be running out for the tenant of a backyard, converted garage in Lower Sackville. The small home in question sits just a few feet away from the Sackville River on a flood plain. The landlord has applied for a permit to let the building remain as is - but the city has turned it down.
ABC News
05-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
A waterfront mini city in Liverpool, a campaigning council and a Sydney developer with a colourful past
Minutes after the Rosehill Gardens Racecourse mini city plan was scuttled, one council spruiked a solution. Half an hour south-west of the racecourse lies a large swathe of industrial land, ripe for rezoning, Liverpool City Council declared. A planning proposal for a $9 billion waterfront mini city was well advanced. It could be signed off 'with the stroke of the Premier's pen', the council's timely press release suggested. Mayor Ned Mannoun called for an urgent meeting with the NSW premier and followed up with a direct text to Chris Minns. He hasn't heard back. If the 31.4-hectare site is rezoned from light industrial to mixed use, major landholders Coronation Property and Leamac Property Group stand to make a windfall. The developers have been advocating for rezoning for a decade and are currently locked in final negotiations with the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI). If you have any information about a story, contact Amy Greenbank. They are proposing to build 11,000 apartments over 30 to 40 years, a large retail hub, a primary school, pedestrian bridges, and an 8-kilometre foreshore walk "Moore Point", as it will be known, is a "once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver Australia's next Great Riverfront City", according to exhibited planning documents. But the proposed high-rises will be built on a floodplain, as the site sits on a peninsula between the Georges River and Lake Moore. A 2022 flood study found that if the development went ahead it would likely generate 25,000 vehicles, but the roads only had capacity for 5,500 evacuating cars in a "probable maximum flood". "Noah's flood is not a planning benchmark," Mr Mannoun said, arguing the flood level criteria was unnecessarily restrictive and holding back housing. The DPHI has asked the developers to conduct further flood modelling. It's not the first time Mr Mannoun has publicly advocated for a Coronation project. While in office in 2016, he featured in two promotional videos for the developer, supporting an earlier Liverpool project called the 'Paper Mill'. "It's wonderful and it's so exciting, and it's great to be part of the project… Let's embrace it," he told viewers. The high-rise was later hit with a building work rectification order, including for "uncontrolled cracking" in four basements. Owners sued Coronation's building arm, MN Builders, and a subsidiary in the Supreme Court over alleged defects on common property. In 2021, the council took legal action against Coronation over unpaid rates at the Shepherd Street site. The matter was resolved out of court. Coronation also failed to deliver a promised boardwalk allowing direct access to the Georges River, which was a requirement under its 2017 voluntary planning agreement (VPA) with the council. "We don't have an issue with them [Coronation]," Mr Mannoun said, adding he was unaware of the alleged defects in the Paper Mill. A spokesperson for Coronation said it had largely fulfilled its VPA, and the "final portion" of the riverwalk works would be completed within three months, adding the rectification works on the Paper Mill site had been finished. Liverpool City Council said the boardwalk would be delivered in six months and Coronation "had not failed to meet its obligations", as it was a complex project. The VPA required the riverwalk to be completed before the Occupation Certificate was signed off, which was several years ago. Mr Mannoun said he "pitches and promotes" a range of developers who had "good quality" projects in his council area. He is not overly concerned about the optics of maintaining close proximity to developers, even with a looming inquiry into his council, which begins public hearings on July 14. "Define too close. What's too close? If people want to meet with the mayor, they meet the mayor," he said. In 2024 an interim investigation into Liverpool City Council by the Office of Local Government NSW alleged elected officials, "in particular the mayor", were intervening in the development assessment process. "Every mayor and councillor makes representations … no-one can produce where I've done something inappropriate," Mr Mannoun told the ABC. A spokesperson for Coronation said it maintained a "good working relationship" with local councillors and state and federal MPs. Australian-owned and operated Coronation Property has been plagued by controversy in recent years. The company currently has nine high-rise projects in the pipeline, which it estimates to be worth $5.7 billion. However, in 2022 its building arm, MN Builders, narrowly avoided being stripped of its building registration. After a brief Supreme Court battle, the company struck an enforceable undertaking with the Department of Customer Service and agreed to conduct an independent audit of its practices. The company was also named in the former NSW building commissioner's resignation letter in 2022. David Chandler briefly quit shortly after issuing MN Builders a stop work order over Coronation's Merrylands project 'Mason and Main'. In his resignation letter, which was sent to the anti-corruption watchdog, Mr Chandler raised concerns about an alleged relationship between then-minister Eleni Petinos' office and Coronation. He also stated he received a message from the former deputy premier John Barilaro, who had joined the Coronation board, shortly after issuing the order. A spokesperson for Coronation said its Moore Point project would be the "jewel in the crown" for south-western Sydney, where there is a dire shortage of housing. Coronation is represented by Premier Communications Group, where former NSW premier Morris Iemma is senior counsel.
