Unsecured Propane Tanks a Community Hazard
Enforcement Aims to Reduce Flood Insurance Costs

What’s worse than having your home or business flooded? Watching large hissing propane tanks floating down your street or slamming up against your home.

Eighty percent of our city sits within a flood zone, where some 90 percent of propane tanks sit unsecured ready to break free and float away. Even without a flood, the visible plethora of unsecured tanks could quash the City’s efforts to reduce flood insurance rates.

“A year from now, we hope to have an evaluation team here to qualify our community for flood insurance discounts,” said Scott Fraser, the City’s Floodplain Administrator. “One of the things this team does is drive around town looking for visible signs of compliance. They’re not likely to give us any discount for advanced prevention measures if we fail with the very basics.

“Property securing propane tanks in a flood zone is about as basic as it gets,” Fraser said. “Yet drive down most any street, and you can see one tank after another, just sitting there. If we can see it, so too will the evaluation team.”

Propane and other fuel tanks are normally heavy bulky things to move around, but under flood conditions they become very buoyant. In flood zones, they’re required to be anchored down, sturdy enough so they can’t float when flood waters rise. This usually involves pouring a concrete slab heavy enough to counteract the buoyancy of a given sized tank, then strapping the tanks to the slab.

“We’re not talking about those small tanks for a grill,” Fraser said. “It’s those 100-200 gallon and larger sized tanks.”
It’s the property owner’s responsibility to provide the slab and tie-down cables, and the propane company’s job to ensure tanks they place in flood zones are properly secured.

Property owners and propane companies can expect stepped-up enforcement during the year to come, beginning with the most flood-prone areas.

“Discounts to flood insurance would be a welcomed relief,” Fraser said. “Not having someone else’s propane tank bobbing up and down in your yard, and being able to cook while the power is out are other welcomed benefits when storms threaten.”

Do…

– Have your propane tank filled before a tropical storm arrives. The tank will not float if the water level is below that of the propane liquid level.

– Close the propane tank service valve by turning the hand-wheel clockwise. If the fuel line breaks, having this valve closed prevents the fuel from escaping and igniting.

– Do not relocate cylinders to a garage or indoors, nor under stairs or porches.

– If you feel that your tank is subject to floatation, contact your propane company for a qualified recommendation.

– Apply for a building permit before constructing a tank’s concrete slab, so you know the location is acceptable before you do the work.

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