Elevated House Protects Couple From Flooding

Geneva County, AL - During the spring of 2009, heavy rains with damaging winds caused major flooding throughout Alabama. But Marjorie and Otto Wallace did not worry. They were sitting almost 11 feet above the level reached by the floodwaters.

“I just sat out here on my porch and watched the ‘gators and critters go by,” said Marjorie.

“It’s peaceful, that’s what we love about this place,” said Otto. “We always see the fox, the armadillos, and the deer and we feed them. We like it here.”

The Wallaces’ home sits majestic and tall a few yards from the Choctawhatchee River bank in Geneva County. Being this close to the river has created a lot of flooding problems for the area known as Simmons Creek. Major flooding occurred in 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2009.

Margaret Mixon, who has been the Geneva County emergency manager for 21 years, has been working with residents of Simmons Creek for a long time to make sure they are safe from flooding. Before any new building can take place, permits and elevation certificates must be obtained. “The residents are required to elevate at least two feet above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) and to abide by the flood ordinance,” said Mixon.

After the flood of 1994 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) bought some of the homes in the area through its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The homes were demolished and the areas were returned to open space. Otto said they were offered to participate in the buyout program. Instead of selling the property and moving somewhere else, the Wallaces decided to stay and build the strongest house they could afford.

They spent a lot of time researching building techniques for high risk areas. They knew the danger involved with living in a flood zone and they wanted to be prepared for it.

“You don’t cut corners when you’re building in flood areas or at the beach. There’s a reason for building codes,” said Otto. “I’ve seen what floods and hurricanes can do so instead of worrying about it, I decided to build as high and strong as I could.”

The Wallaces’ house is elevated 16 feet to protect it from a 500-year flood, which is defined as a flood that has 0.2 percent or greater annual probability of occurring. It is seven feet above the BFE and it stands on concrete and steel columns. Every stud is tied, the walls and ceiling are braced, and the entire home is bolted to its foundation. The house is designed to stand up to 140 mile per hour (mph) winds.