Thomson flood insurance confusion cleared up

Talk about it

Worries that the city of Thomson would be ineligible for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid were resolved at the city’s Monday meeting after an article appeared in the Duluth News Tribune Saturday stating that the city had not signed up to participate in FEMA’s National Flood Insurance program.

The Thomson City Council voted Monday night to officially finish an application for inclusion in the National Flood Insurance Program, paving the way for its eligibility to receive flood aid through FEMA.

The resolution came after the city found out last week that paperwork achieving the program status had been held up by the Department of Natural Resources in 2009. The city resolution portion of the application was missing and the DNR never forwarded the application to FEMA or told the city the application was incomplete.

Without inclusion in the program, the city wouldn’t be eligible for flood aid after the June rainstorm and declaration last week that it was included in a federal disaster area eligible for aid.

“We passed it,” Thomson council member Heather MacDonald said Tuesday of the 2009 action. “The DNR misplaced it.”

“Our major concern is to let our citizens know that we took appropriate action in 2009 to enroll in the [flood insurance program],” MacDonald said. “Our application was not reviewed timely by the state.”

Apologies for the confusion about the eligibility came from the DNR, and FEMA has promised “they will expedite the process,” MacDonald said.

FEMA’s flood program marketer Judy Marvel assured the DNR and the city that the delay in officially being part of the flood program won’t hold up aid claims for public infrastructure or possible individual claims.

Tags: flood 2012, fema