Keys to success : Post-flood adquisition in Tulsa, Oklahoma

After two floods in 1994, the City of Tulsa set out to acquire 5 to 11 flooded houses quickly enough that residents could choose to sell their flood-damaged houses instead of repairing the damage. The city accomplished this by acquiring seven flood properties for $525,000 within one week to just a few months after the flood. This was a voluntary acquisition program and all properties were purchased at the fair market value. Property owners received modest relocation benefits and moving expenses. This program was funded and administered by the City of Tulsa with no state or federal assistance. Tulsa's experiences in planning and implementation are presented in the paper in order to assist other communities, and the state and federal government in the future. In the case of disasters, federally-declared or otherwise, communities must be prepared with adequate flood studies, funding, and staffing in order to be responsive to the immediate needs of their citizens. Funding to offer residents an alternative to rebuilding in the floodplain may be available from other sources in the long term but may not be timely or responsive enough in the short term

Before the storm : Pre-flood mitigation planning in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The best time to stop a flood-or at least to cut your losses-is before the storm. That's why the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is doing its flood hazard mitigation planning now, before the water rises again. Flood hazard mitigation has many current shades of meaning. As used in the Tulsa program and this paper, flood hazard mitigation is defined as "acquisition, relocation, floodproofing, and related actions taken before, during, and after a flood to reduce future danger, damage, trauma, and loss". It is also called "nonstructural mitigation". The planning is under direction of the Tulsa Mitigation Team (TMT). The TMT has found few model plans from other communities, although emerging federal policies tout the benefits of pre-disaster plannning and nonstructural mitigation. This paper highlights the Tulsa mitigation planning process, progress, and learned, which we hope may prove useful to others