VOLUME 1 OF 2 Notice This is a preliminary FIS report. WEBSTER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA AND INCORPORATED AREAS COMMUNITY NAME COMMUNITY NUMBER ADDISON (WEBSTER SPRINGS), TOWN OF 540204 CAMDEN ON GAULEY, TOWN OF 540205 COW EN, TOWN OF 540206 W EBSTER COUNTY (UNINCORPORATED AREAS) 540203 Webster County Revised: Month XX, XXXX Federal Emergency Management Agency FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY NUMBER 54101CV001A NOTICE TO FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY USERS Communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) have established repositories of flood hazard data for floodplain management and flood insurance purposes. This Flood Insurance Study (FIS) may not contain all data available within the repository. It is advisable to contact the community repository for any additional data. Part or all of this FIS may be revised and republished at any time. In addition, part of this FIS may be revised by the Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) process, which does not involve republication or redistribution of the FIS. It is, therefore, the responsibility of the user to consult with community officials and to check the community repository to obtain the most current FIS components. Initial Countywide FIS Effective Date: February 16, 1990 Revised Countywide FIS Date: [to be determined] TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents – Volume 1 Page 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Purpose of Study 1 1.2 Authority and Acknowledgments 1 1.3 Coordination 2 2.0 AREA STUDIED 2 2.1 Scope of Study 2 2.2 Community Description 4 2.3 Principal Flood Problems 4 2.4 Flood Protection Measures 6 3.0 ENGINEERING METHODS 7 3.1 Hydrologic Analyses 7 3.2 Hydraulic Analyses 11 3.3 Vertical Datum 13 4.0 FLOODPLAIN MANAGEMENT APPLICATIONS 14 4.1 Floodplain Boundaries 14 4.2 Floodways 15 5.0 INSURANCE APPLICATIONS 53 6.0 FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAP 53 7.0 OTHER STUDIES 55 8.0 LOCATION OF DATA 55 9.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES 55 i TABLE OF CONTENTS – Volume 1 - continued Page FIGURES Figure 1 – Floodway Schematic 16 TABLES Table 1 – Summary of Discharges 8-9 Table 2 – Summary of Stages 9-10 Table 3 – Floodway Data 17-50 Table 4 – Community Map History 52 EXHIBITS Exhibit 1 – Flood Profiles Back Fork Elk River Panels 01P-07P Big Ditch Run Panels 08P-09P Birch River Panels 10P-21P Table of Contents – Volume 2 Exhibit 1 – Flood Profiles (continued) Elk River Panels 22P-46P Gauley River (Lower) Panels 47P-49P Gauley River (Upper) Panels 50P-59P Grassy Creek Panels 60P-63P Hodam Creek Panels 64P-72P Laurel Creek Panels 73P-80P Leatherwood Creek Panel 81P Left Fork Elk River Panel 82P Left Fork Holly River Panels 83P-91P Price Glade Run Panel 92P Right Fork Holly River Panels 93P-105P Strouds Creek Panels 106P-107P Sugar Creek Panel 108P Williams River Panels 109P-111P Exhibit 2: Flood Insurance Rate Map Index Flood Insurance Rate Map ii FLOOD INSURANCE STUDY WEBSTER COUNTY, WEST VIRGINIA AND INCORPORATED AREAS 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose of Study This Flood Insurance Study (FIS) revises and updates information on the existence and severity of flood hazards in the geographic area of Webster County, West Virginia, including the Towns of Addison (Webster Springs), Camden-On- Gauley, and Cowen, and the unincorporated areas of Webster County (hereinafter referred to collectively as Webster County), and aids in the administration of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. This FIS has developed flood risk data for various areas of the county that will be used to establish actuarial flood insurance rates. This information will also be used by Webster County to update existing floodplain regulations as part of the Regular Phase of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and will also be used by local and regional planners to further promote sound land use and floodplain development. Minimum floodplain management requirements for participation in NFIP are set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations at 44 CFR, 60.3. In some States or communities, floodplain management criteria or regulations may exist that are more restrictive or comprehensive than the minimum Federal requirements. In such cases, the more restrictive criteria take precedence, and the State (or other jurisdictional agency) will be able to explain them. 1.2 Authority and Acknowledgments The sources of authority for this FIS report are the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973. The original countywide FIS dated February 16, 1990, was prepared to include incorporated communities within Webster County in a countywide FIS. The hydrologic and hydraulic analyses for the original countywide FIS were prepared by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under contract Inter-Agency Agreement No. EMW-84-E-1543. This work was completed in March 1987. For this revised countywide FIS revision, no revised hydrologic and hydraulic analyses were prepared; however this revision reflects more up-to-date stream channel configurations and floodplain delineations than those shown on the previous FIRM for Webster County. The floodplains and floodways that were transferred from the previous FIRM may have been adjusted to conform to these new stream channel configurations. Moreover, floodplains for approximate studies may have been adjusted in some areas to conform with statewide 3-meter Digital Elevation Model (DEM) topographic data from 2003. The Digital Flood 1 Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) database and mapping were prepared for FEMA by Marshall Miller & Associates (MM&A) under Contract No. EMP-2002-GR-3653, with Region 1 Planning and Development operating as the Cooperating Technical Partner. This work was completed in 2007. Base map information shown on the FIRM panels was obtained in digital spatial data format from Mapping On Demand Partners, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the West Virginia Statewide Addressing and Mapping Board (WVSAMB). Streamline files were provided by the USGS in 2006 and were compiled at a scale of 1:24,000 or better. Political boundary files were provided by Mapping On Demand Partners in 2006. The 2003 digital orthophotographs were provided by WVSAMB. Adjustments were made to specific base map features to align them to 1:4,800 scale WVSAMB digital orthophotos. The projection used in the preparation of this map is Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone 17, North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83), GRS80 spheroid. Road names were assigned from ESRI's Streetmap data set, without independent verification (Tele Atlas, 2005). 1.3 Coordination The purpose of an Initial Consultation Coordination Officer’s (CCO) meeting is to discuss the scope of the FIS. A final CCO meeting is held to review the results of the study. For the February 1990 FIS, an initial CCO meeting was held on January 17, 1985, and a final CCO meeting was held on October 17, 1988. Both of these meetings were attended by representatives of Webster County, FEMA, and the study contractor (USGS). For this [effective date] revision, a CCO was held on [to be determined] and was attended by representatives Webster County, the State, FEMA and the study contractor to review the results of the study. 2.0 AREA STUDIED 2.1 Scope of Study This FIS report covers the geographic area of Webster County, West Virginia. For the February 16, 1990 countywide FIS report, portions of the following streams were studied by detailed methods: Streams Limits of Detailed Study Back Fork Elk River from its confluence with the Elk River upstream to a point approximately 0.7 mile upstream of the confluence of Sugar Creek; 2 Streams Limits of Detailed Study Birch River from a point approximately 0.8 mile downstream of the confluence of Ming Run to the confluence of Johnson Branch; Elk River from a point at the gaging station just downstream from Webster Springs at mile 125.4 upstream to a point approximately 590 feet downstream of the confluence of Bergoo Creek; Gauley River (Lower) from a point approximately 400 feet downstream from Strouds Creek to a point approximately 0.5 mile downstream from the confluence of Big Laurel Creek; Gauley River (Upper) from approximately 50 feet downstream of the CSX Transportation Railroad bridge at Donaldson to a point approximately 400 feet downstream from the confluence of Laurel Creek; Left Fork Elk River from its confluence with the Elk River upstream to the divergence from the Elk River; Left Fork Holly River from the bridge at Pugh to a point approximately 0.5 mile downstream from the confluence of Johns Run; Right Fork Holly River from a point approximately 0.2 mile upstream from County Route 5-1 to approximately 1.2 miles upstream of the second crossing of County Route 18 The areas studied by detailed methods were selected with priority given to all known flood hazard areas and areas of projected development and proposed construction at the time of the original study. 3 In addition, the following streams were originally studied by approximate methods in their entirety or in part, but were found to have negligible flood hazards and no flood boundaries were shown on the map: Big Creek, Blue Creek, Brier Branch, Buncan Creek, Laurel Creek, Powley Creek, Red Spring Branch, and Tug Creek. Approximate methods of analysis were used to study those areas having low development potential and minimal flood hazards as identified at the initiation of the study. The scope and methods of study were proposed to, and agreed upon by, FEMA and Webster County. 2.2 Community Description Webster County is located in central West Virginia. It is bordered by the unincorporated areas of Lewis and Upshur Counties to the north, the unincorporated areas of Braxton and Nicholas Counties to the west, the unincorporated areas of Randolph and Pocahontas Counties to the east, and the unincorporated areas of Greenbrier County to the south.