City of Altoona Community Rating System (CRS) Program, Blair County
Category: Local Preparedness/Mitigation
Point of Contact: Jane Gill, Floodplain Administrator; (814) 949-2449; jgill@altoonapa.gov
Project Description: The City of Altoona joined the Community Rating System (CRS) in October 2012 at a Class 8 rating. The Class 8 rating was achieved due to the current regulations and practices that were already in place, and the mitigation of 24 properties over an 8 year period (1999-2007).
The City acquired 11 properties in 1999, 1 house in 2000, 9 houses in 2006, and 3 houses in 2007. Eighteen properties were in one problem area and 6 were in another. Both locations are along the same stream, approximately 1 mile apart. These two areas were notorious for flooding problems for years. The January and July flooding of 1996 were the deciding factors for the City of Altoona, through PEMA, to offer buyouts.
The City received CRS points for mitigating the properties. Additional points were awarded because 5 of the properties were repetitive loss properties, and because the total square footage of the 24 properties was more than 5 acres. Regulations state that mitigated properties’ titles remain green space forever. The City also took it a step further and planted trees on those empty lots in 2011-2013.
Issues Encountered: None
Funding Stream(s): Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) for buyouts
Floodplain Management and
Mitigation Success Stories
Drainage Improvements and Floodplain Enhancements
Dauphin County -Township of Derry Drainage Improvements
Emergency Management/Planning
Luzerne County - Wyoming Valley Emergency Action Plan
Emergency Management/Warning Notification
Northumberland County - Sunbury Flood Operations Center
Flood Risk Management
Columbia County - Flood Risk Management project for Kawneer Company, Inc.
Northumberland County - Sunbury Flood Risk Management System
Columbia County - Bloomsburg Airport Elevation
Columbia County - Design and Construction of a Flood Control System for Autoneum North America, Inc. and the Windsor Woods facility
Montour County - Danville Area Middle School
Hazard Mitigation
Venango County - Oil City Ice Boom
Local Preparedness
Allegheny County - Etna Borough Municipal Building Floodproofing
Blair County - City of Altoona Community Rating System (CRS) Program
Local Preparedness/Mitigation
Butler County - Harmony Junction Dam Removal, Connoquenessing Creek, Jackson Township
Mercer County - Cunningham Memorial Dam Removal, Grove City
Dauphin County - Stage Inundation Map Library for the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg
Union County - Acquisition and Demolition of Ten Flood Prone Properties located on South Sixth Street in the Borough of Lewisburg
Local Preparedness/Warning Notification
Cameron County - Outdoor Siren Warning System at the George B Stevenson Dam
Planning
Spatial Data Survey of 67 counties
Risk Communication/Outreach
Pennsylvania Silver Jackets’ Flood Risk Management Resources Website