The Water Information Program

Federal officials proposed rules Tuesday to limit building in a flood-prone neighborhood after concluding that levees protecting the area from the Sacramento River could be overwhelmed in a major storm. Construction in the Natomas area, where roughly 70,000 people live, can be allowed only if built 20 feet above the ground because the levees are too weak or too low, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said. The building restrictions are scheduled to take effect in December, when FEMA plans to release updated flood maps for the area. Homeowners with federally backed mortgages and businesses with federal loans or grants also must buy flood insurance. The assessment marks a shift in how the federal government is calculating flood risks to better gauge threats to homeowners around the country since Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005. "People need to be aware of what the risk is," said Kevin Knuuti, the Corps' chief of engineering in Sacramento. "One of the problems of Katrina was people said they didn't know it was that bad."  

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