Federal flood administrator discriminating against Key West, according to city officials

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

Key West building and flood management officials are in “open revolt” against a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) specialist who they say is single handedly standing in the way of the city being admitted into a national insurance program that could save local property owners $1.5 million a year.

The city has “bent over backwards” to meet FEMA requests for information and policy change requirements over the past three years as part of the effort to be admitted into FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS), according to Ron Wampler, head of the city’s building department. The CRS program gives points to communities that actively work towards reducing flood risks for property owners. Those points are used to lower insurance premiums for all local property owners insured through the federal National Flood Insurance Program, a FEMA-offered property insurance plan.

Scott Fraser, Key West FEMA coordinator, has worked closely with Dr. Prasad Inmula, the FEMA emergency management specialist who has thus far refused to give Key West a “letter of good standing” allowing the city to take the next step towards applying for entry into the CRS program. Fraser called the requirements Inmula has demanded of the city “absurd.”

“We’ve been in open revolt with FEMA for the past 30 days,” Fraser said. “We came to realize that no matter what we did, we would never be found in compliance. We were given hurdles no other community needed to meet.”

 

One example Fraser gave was that Key West has had to undergo a flood plain operations audit every six months while the norm for other communities is once every five years. Inmula also wanted the city to redo 344 elevation certificates that were approved by city flood officials over the past two decades because those flood surveyors signed the paperwork once instead of twice, as the certificate requires, Fraser said.

“A constant stream of requests for decades-old documents to be revised, certifications for standards that didn’t exist at the time of construction, meeting unilateral standards beyond those required by the program, and unreasonable requests not applicable to the scenarios at-hand have reached an intolerable level,” Fraser wrote in an April 6 letter to Susan Wilson, a mitigation chief in FEMA’s floodplain management and insurance branch.

Inmula did not respond to requests from Konk Life for comment. Wilson’s external affairs officer, Danon Lucas, responded by email to questions concerning the delay in the city receiving the letter of good standing.

“The City of Key West has four (4) remaining compliance issues; once these four compliance issues are resolved, FEMA will provide the letter of good standing in the NFIP and invite the City of Key West to apply to join the Community Rating System,” Lucas wrote.

As to whether Inmula is deliberately using delaying tactics in Key West, Lucas disagreed.

“As a condition of the settlement of a lawsuit concerning the Endangered Species Act of 1973, FEMA is required to conduct visits every six months in each of the six Monroe County communities including unincorporated areas of Monroe County,” he said, adding, “FEMA Emergency Management Specialists, like Dr. Inmula, work closely with states and communities to provide technical assistance on floodplain management and to assure communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program meet compliance requirements.”

Fraser estimates that entry into the CRS program would save Key West property owners already insured by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) approximately $1.5 million a year in lower premiums. As to why he feels Inmula is denying the letter of good standing, Fraser says he does not know.

“Personally, I really like the guy [Inmula]. He is very personable. But he has this infinite focus on the things that don’t matter that is just stifling,” he said.

Wampler has his own theory. Currently, FEMA is running a deficit because insured storm claim payouts have cost more than the amount collected from NFIP policyholder premiums and investment income. That deficit currently totals $23 billion. Any discount granted to Key West or other municipalities is money right out of FEMA’s pocket, he said.

“FEMA is heavily in debt to the federal government. And the federal government isn’t going to give that up. I see this as their tactic to deny us entering the CRS program because it will enable us to get substantial insurance discounts,” Wampler said.

FEMA officials disagreed.

“FEMA is working with the City of Key West on resolving outstanding NFIP compliance issues. The sooner the City of Key West resolves these issues, the sooner FEMA can issue the Letter of Good Standing in the NFIP,” Lucas said.

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