Loss Avoidance Study: Oregon Property Acquisition and Structure Elevation

This Loss Avoidance Study (LAS or study) focuses on commercial building acquisitions and elevations in the City of Tillamook, OR, that took place between 1997 and 2007. Each of the nine buildings included in the study experienced repeated flooding from the Wilson River and associated sloughs. At least three of the buildings were considered repetitive loss properties, including one property that incurred at least eleven National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) losses over 20 years. As a result, three commercial buildings were elevated above the base (100-year) flood elevations (BFEs) for the area and six commercial buildings were acquired and demolished.

Following a major flood in Tillamook on January 8, 2009, FEMA partnered with the State of Oregon to conduct an LAS to assess the cost-effectiveness of nine of the flood mitigation projects. All nine projects involved commercial buildings along a 1-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 101, known as Main Street, within the City limits.

The City of Tillamook is located on the southeastern end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The locations of the nine properties assessed in this study are shown in Figure 1.

Graphic

This study was conducted to determine the ROI for the nine mitigation projects by comparing losses avoided in all floods since the project implementation to the cost of the mitigation projects.

The study shows that all of the projects resulted in losses being avoided from flooding. The majority of the projects were implemented after 2003, which is only 6 years into the useful life. The value of the losses avoided and, therefore, the ROI will increase in the future as other flood events occur.