DECORAH - Residents can purchase insurance to help recoup losses after high water, but coverage is limited.

Last week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency notified city officials that Decorah had been approved for participation in the emergency national flood insurance program.

The program provides less coverage than what is available under regular national flood insurance. Under that program, single-family dwellings can be insured for up to $250,000. With the emergency flood insurance only $35,000 is available.

City Administrator Jerry Freund said Decorah's emergency status is based on FEMA maps completed in 1976 that designate the special flood hazard area within the city. To be eligible for regular flood insurance, cities or counties must have flood insurance rate maps Freund said are "characterized by a more detailed, more sophisticated kind of study."

Decorah's FEMA maps simply show two categories.

"There's a Zone A and everything else - there is no gray area or in between," Freund said.

More advanced flood insurance rate maps show a series of zones with information about what can and cannot be constructed in those areas.

"What needs to be done to convert the flood hazard boundary map to a flood insurance rate map is more study and more detail," Freund said.

Now that the city is participating, property owners in Zone A could be forced to buy flood insurance if they have a mortgage.

Some properties that aren't prone to flooding, however, are mistakenly included in Zone A, and the City Council has agreed to provide up to $10,000 to assist property owners appealing that designation. About 40 locations should be exempted, according to City Engineer Lindsay Erdman.

The U.S. Geological Survey completed a study of Decorah's flood plain earlier this year. However, the information does not fulfill FEMA's requirements for flood insurance rate maps.

One requirement is obtaining a levee certification by a consulting engineer.

"Not many cities do this on their own. FEMA could do this if there's the money," Freund said.

He added what typically happens is Congress allocates money for flood studies around the country and a certain amount is designated for each state.

"We'll try to find out what it's going to take and talk to FEMA," Freund said.

Winneshiek County was one of 16 counties in Iowa that received money for FEMA to hire a consulting engineer to prepare flood recovery maps following flooding in June.

However, Freund said officials made it "quite clear that these flood recovery maps don't really have anything to do with the insurance part."

Freund said the flood recovery maps are for "mitigation purposes" to help cities and counties with planning.

Property owners in Decorah interested in flood insurance should contact their agents. For questions about whether a property is in Zone A, call City Hall at (563) 382-3651. Local banks and insurance agents also have the information.

Contact Sarah Strandberg at newsroom@wcfcourier.com.