Flooding in Foxboro

Residents of Foxboro neighborhood apply for flood relief from federal government

by Allen You editor in chief

In 1965, Category 4 Hurricane Betsy wreaked $1.42 billion worth of damage upon Louisiana and Florida, the most of any Atlantic hurricane until then. It washed away not only the possessions of the afflicted; for some, it took their lives as well. In response, Congress passed the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, which created federal flood insurance and mandated the mapping of floodplains (or areas highly prone to flooding) and restricted development along those areas. Many wisely avoided settling the floodplains, but many others were already there, including the Foxboro neighborhood of Ladue.

“The floodplain maps were developed in the 1970s,” Anne Lamitola, Ladue’s Director of Public Works, said. “That's when they were adopted by the federal government, and cities had to adopt them so that the residents of our communities could get flood insurance. Well,

Mapping out Deer Creek

Ladue's fight against troubling waters

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Foxboro was built 20 years before that. Ladue was incorporated in 1936 and a lot of the development occurred prior to the delineation of the floodplains.”

The neighborhood and many others were thus allowed to remain on the floodplain. And when the historic rainfalls landed July 26, 2022, Deer Creek swelled above capacity, drowning Foxboro.

“It was probably around 3 a.m. when [the firemen] told us to leave,” former Foxboro resident and senior Fischer Thompson said. “The rain was bad. It was coming down really heavy and the outside [of our house] was flooding, but at the time the inside of the house was not flooded.”

Despite surviving previous floods, this intense flash flood left the neighborhood in utter disrepair.

“We were really hoping that there would just be a little damage to the out- side and if there were to be water inside, it would just be on the first floor and minimal damage,” Thompson said. “But then as we came back, it was through the floor. In the basement, the water came up to the top step, basically to the first floor, and then the first floor height, [there was] maybe an inch or two of water.”

The severity of damage depended on elevation. Thompson reports that the house across from his own had water “up to their chest.” But more than just submerging the homes, the flooding destroyed livelihoods.

“It was really tough to see all of our belongings and all the stuff that we've worked for get destroyed,” Thompson said.

The residents hit hardest by the flood were forced to move wherever they could find shelter. With the Foxboro homes ir-

Close up aerial map of Ladue high school/Foxboro

built top of Deer Creek. "The City of Ladue is participating in two federal food buyout programs: Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Flood Mitigation Assistance (FMA)," Amanda Griffn, Ladue's Stormwater Engineering Manager, said. "Property owners that are included in the buyout programs appeared before Ladue City Council last year to request that their properties be included in the buyout programs. To be eligible, properties had to meet requirements set by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)."

Ladue high school Foxboro neighborhood

reparable, the former residents put together a plan to get emergency relief buyouts from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). This was only possible since President Biden approved a disaster declaration for the St. Louis flooding, which made them eligible for federal aid. To get to FEMA, residents had to ask the Ladue City government to step in.

“Several property owners came to the city council and asked for help,” Lamitola said. “They shared their stories and explained how horrific it was to have to be rescued by the fire department and everything through that flood. So the city said, ‘Yes, let's proceed with investigating.’”

A process like this, in total costing $5.13 million, is likely to take around two years, according to Lamitola. Papers must be pushed through federal and state offices before money can end up back in Ladue. But, if federal aid can come through, the city’s share would only be around $650,000, and the residents can be sure they’re fully compensated for flood damage.

“There's three Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) programs, but then there's also Flood Miti- gation Assistance (FMA),” Lamitola said. “And so we're working on both. Some of the houses qualified for Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and some qualified for FMA. There's different percentages of funding. FMA is the 90% or 100% that the feds will pay. We're trying to get as many of those but three of them are HMGP, which is 75% funding.”

With FMA and HMGP, the federal government agrees to grant state and local governments funding to mitigate risks of flooding and disasters. In this case, the Ladue City government is seeking to mitigate flood risk by demolishing the eligible Foxboro homes and compensating the resident’s financial losses. Once demolished, the city will decide how it wants to use the land for the future.

“We have a group called BOSTA, the Beautification, Open Space and Tree Advisory Committee, so I think that committee will evaluate options for the various uses,” Lamitola said. “It could be within the open space category. It could just be landscape. And then, ultimately, our city council, they're the ultimate decision makers, they will have to decide. The commit- tees make recommendations to the council.”

Some have advocated for a new parking lot for Ladue high school. However, FEMA restricts grant applicants from developing further on hazardous land, which disallows paving the land. Not only that, but the city would also be liable for any car damages that occur on that land. So the most likely option is that it will be converted into a trail, according to Lamitola.

“We're going to be building an eight- to 10-foot-wide trail along [the city’s molt site],” Lamitola said. “We're going to try to connect it up to our business district. So it could be something like that, but it also could just be a mulch trail or an aggregate trail in just more of a wooded state.”

For now, the homes stand in a state of limbo, uninhabited but also unable to be demolished.

"We've got to appraise the property," Lamitola said. "We have to make an offer. They have to accept. We have to close. Then, they record the deed restrictions, which has to be open space. Then, we get to clear the land. So 15 steps later, [we get to demo]. There's lots of red tape."

1% Annual Chance Flood Hazard Regulatory Floodway

0.2% Annual Chance

"Deer Creek is subject to fash fooding in Ladue," Anne Lamitola, Ladue’s Director of Public Works, said. "There is really not an enclosed storm surge system. There's some portions of the system that are enclosed. Deer Creek is an open channel, and there's been too much development so close to the creek."