19 Nov 2008
Thousands of Natomas residents are being required to purchase flood insurance because of safety concerns about the community's levees.
While the cost of that insurance is several hundred dollars for one year of coverage, failure to purchase it before Dec. 8 will cost homeowners much more.
Sacramento city and county officials are holding a community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday at Inderkum High School, 2500 New Market Drive, to answer questions about the flood insurance program. Here are frequently asked questions:
Who must buy the flood insurance?
Anyone with a federally insured or regulated loan. That's about 26,000 property owners in Natomas.
Why must Natomas residents buy the insurance?
Although Natomas has better protection than ever before, the federal government wants even stronger levees in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
How do I get the cheapest insurance?
To get the lowest available rate, purchase the flood insurance before Dec. 8.
How much will it cost?
Property owners who buy a year of flood insurance prior to Dec. 8 can get it at the Preferred Risk Policy rate of about $347. Preferred Risk Policies are about half the price of standard flood insurance policies.
What happens if I don't?
Fail to buy before Dec. 8 and your lenders may buy it to protect their investment. Lenders will charge you two or three times more.
If I buy a Preferred Risk Policy, what happens when the year is up?
After a year, the Preferred Risk Policy converts to a standard policy and premiums will go up by several hundred dollars.
Why do I have to have a more expensive standard policy after a year?
On Dec. 8, the federal government will issue new flood insurance rate maps for Natomas. The maps will change Natomas' designation from moderate risk to higher risk. If you buy flood insurance before Dec. 8, your property will not only be insured for about $347 the first year, but also will be grandfathered in for the standard policy in the coming years. Even the standard policy is better than the so-called "AE" policy you would have to buy in year two if you don't purchase before Dec. 8.
Give me the bottom line.
The remapping will require flood insurance for many homeowners until local officials are able to strengthen surrounding levees to provide 100-year flood projection, defined as the ability to withstand a flood that has a 1 percent chance of striking in any given year. Go to the same agent who writes your auto or homeowners insurance and buy flood insurance before Dec. 8.
When will the work be done to shore up these levees so I don't have to carry flood insurance if I don't want to?
The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency has begun work to bring the levees up to standards. It is expected that the levees will meet U.S. Army Corps of Engineers standards by 2012.
For more information, contact the city's flood plain hotline at (916) 808-5061. Be prepared to leave a telephone number, a parcel address and if possible a tax assessor's parcel number.
12 Nov 2008
The Sacramento police continued their investigation Tuesday into the suspicious death of a 3-year-old Natomas boy on Sunday – a case that began unfolding with a routine traffic stop.
The boy died at the UC Davis Medical Center about 9 p.m. Sunday after suffering undisclosed injuries Friday morning.
The Bee is not naming the boy because no crime has been alleged to date.
Sacramento police, however, have described his death as suspicious and are waiting for the Sacramento County Coroner's Office to determine how he died.
Authorities were first alerted to the boy's injuries Friday morning, when a California Highway Patrol officer made a traffic stop near the boy's apartment in the 2100 block of Zurlo Way.
The officer pulled over a car after its driver crossed double lines, said CHP Officer Lizz Dutton.
The boy's grandmother was a passenger in the car, and her boyfriend was driving, Dutton said.
They told the officer they were heading to the Zurlo Way apartment for a medical emergency.
They said someone already had called 911, but the officer could find no record of the call, Dutton said.
He followed the car to the apartment, where the grandmother was met outside by somebody carrying the boy.
He was breathing, but not well, Dutton said.
The officer called for medical aid, and the boy was transported to the hospital. Meanwhile, a Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District captain at the scene had concerns about the boy's injuries and asked for police to respond as well, said city fire spokesman Capt. Jim Doucette.
Doucette also could find no record of any emergency calls about the boy's injuries, other than the CHP officer's call to his dispatch.
Sacramento police declined to discuss the case in further detail, citing an ongoing investigation.
8 Nov 2008
Thirteen people are homeless after a fire destroyed four units of an apartment complex in South Natomas early this morning.
The three-alarm fire started about 5:30 a.m. at Point Natomas apartments and burned four upstairs units, said Capt. Jim Doucette.
Firefighters found flames shooting from the roof of four upstairs units and heavy smoke funneling skyward.
More than a dozen fire engines and trucks and 78 firefighters responded.
Firefighters were able to save the belongings of residents who lived in the four units beneath the ones that caught fire, but the structure suffered severe water damage, Doucette said.
One resident suffered minor fingertip burns and smoke inhalation and was taken to a local hospital for treatment, but all residents escaped from the burning units, Doucette said.
Fire officials said flames in a fireplace burned out of control and started the fire.
– Niesha Lofing
7 Nov 2008
Jacob Henson, right, holds a beam while Chris Sandner screws it in place. Alecia Smith, center, observes. All three are in construction school and were assigned to help put up the supports for the Fort Natomas play area, which was destroyed by arson in 2006 and again in May.
Volunteers Nicole Buenaventura, left, and Ruth Kiagiri clean up grout Thursday on a mosaic at South Natomas Community Park.
About 400 volunteers are erecting the Fort Natomas playground, which was moved from Jefferson Park to South Natomas Community Park after two arson attacks. A thank-you ceremony is planned Sunday.
An elaborate play structure that was burned twice by arsonists is being rebuilt – and moved to South Natomas Community Park.
Volunteers are relocating the Fort Natomas playground from Jefferson Park, where it was burned in 2006 and again in May.
On Thursday, volunteers completed decks of the fort and started working on its handrails, benches, cones and tunnels. They hung suspension bridges, finished tile wall mosaics and worked on other art projects.
Hundreds of volunteers began work on the play structure Tuesday and prepped for the construction project over the weekend, despite heavy rain.
About 400 volunteers have come out each day to work on elements of the project, said Chris McSwain, one of the Fort Natomas committee members.
Many volunteers who show up intending to help for a few hours, return to help day after day, he said.
"Some people start working on a certain part of the playground and it becomes 'theirs,' " McSwain said. "You kind of get hooked on it and want to finish it."
The play structure is scheduled to be completed Sunday, but the playground won't open until December, after a rubberized play surface is added.
Organizers are planning a celebration at the park Sunday to thank volunteers, McSwain said.
For more information, go to www.fortnatomas.org.
5 Nov 2008
Sacramento International Airport on Tuesday became the first major national airport with an emergency plan to move operations in case of flood.
Mather Airfield will become the Sacramento region's emergency commercial airport should the Natomas area flood, county representatives concluded after a flood contingency analysis.
Officials chose Mather over Sacramento Executive Airport and McClellan airfield because of Mather's runway capabilities, instrument landing system, active air traffic control tower, parking and mass transit access.
The flood threat in Natomas is real, officials said, but unlikely. The 41-year-old airport has never closed because of flooding, they said.
The plan is "for what we hope will never occur," airport operating chief Michael La Pier said.
Should levees fail along the nearby Sacramento and American rivers, it would take only 12 to 18 hours for all paved roads to Sacramento International Airport to be covered by a foot of water, forecasts show. Floodwaters also likely would inundate runways and airport grounds.
"Sacramento International would be impacted to the point it would not be able to function," La Pier said.
The airport is a major transportation hub for Northern California, carrying 10 million passengers a year, as well as freight.
The county uses Mather as a cargo shipping airport. Those operations have been a point of contention for Mather-area residents and officials. Local officials have expressed concerns about the added activity, should Mather be used for emergency commercial flights.
An analysis shows it could cost the airport department $1 million to transfer minimal operations to Mather, allowing up to four flights per hour. That may involve using a nearby hotel ballroom as a passenger ticketing and screening site.
To operate for an extended period, and 10 to 12 flights per hour, the set-up cost could be $11 million, including the cost of new infrastructure and temporary buildings.
Sacramento International handles up to 29 flights in its busiest hour of the day, 6 a.m. to 7 a.m.
"Hopefully, this (contingency plan) will never have to be used," county Supervisor Roger Dickinson said.
The airport contingency plan, which was approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, comes just one month before federal officials are expected to remap the Natomas basin as a floodplain, signifying that the area is at higher risk of flood than previously thought.
That remapping will require flood insurance for many homeowners until local officials are able to strengthen surrounding levees to provide 100-year flood projection, or the ability to withstand a flood that has a 1 percent chance of striking in any given year.
Upgrades on 25 miles of levees around Natomas are expected to be done by 2011, bringing the area back to 100-year flood protection.
16 Oct 2008
Sacramento County prosecutors filed a five-count criminal complaint on Wednesday against a 16-year-old boy suspected in last week's drunken-driving killing of a 58-year-old Natomas man.
The teenager, whose name is being withheld because of his age, is facing one count of gross vehicular manslaughter while under the influence of alcohol causing great bodily injury or death, two counts of driving while under the influence of alcohol, one count of felony hit-and-run and one misdemeanor count of driving without a valid license.
He will be arraigned and also face a detention hearing today in juvenile court, said Deputy District Attorney Rick Lewkowitz.
The youth is charged in Friday night's death of Aman Khanna, whose car was struck about 10 p.m. at the intersection of Cottage Way and Fulton Avenue.
Police said the 16-year-old ran a red light at the intersection while speeding at 80 mph – double the speed limit – then crashed into Khanna's vehicle and fled on foot.
Khanna was on his way to his night job as a hospital security guard. He also worked days as a security guard at another hospital.
He left a wife and three daughters.
16 Oct 2008
Anthony Johnson, 22, right, a River Terrace apartment resident in Natomas, says shattered glass and flames sent him out of his home Wednesday morning. Fire officials say they don't know the cause of the blaze that forced 16 families out of their residences. With Johnson at the complex's recreation room are his brother Calvin, 15, and cousin Maleak Cole, 19.
13 Oct 2008
Aman Khanna, who died in the crash, worked as a security guard for both the state and a hospital.
Since moving from India for a better life a decade ago, Aman Khanna rarely stopped working.
With three daughters and a wife to support, the 58-year-old Natomas man shuttled daily between two jobs.
Friday night, it ended in an instant.
As Khanna drove to his night job as a hospital security guard just before 10 p.m., he was killed, police said, by a drunken, unlicensed 16-year-old driver. The teen reportedly blew a red light on Cottage Way at Fulton Avenue at 80 mph – double the speed limit – crashed into Khanna's vehicle and then ran away from his victim's smoldering car.
California Highway Patrol officials say the youth was arrested shortly after the crash at his home and booked at Sacramento County Juvenile Hall on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter, felony DUI and felony hit-and-run.
Khanna leaves a wife, Shashi, and three daughters, Priyanka, 21, Palak, 11, and Payal, 9.
And a life unfinished.
"We couldn't even say goodbye to him," said Priyanka Khanna, a part-time American River College student and part-time worker.
Khanna lived a simple life, his daughter said. He bought little for himself, but would call from work to see if his wife or daughters needed him to bring something home, and to make sure everyone got home safely from school and work.
He and his wife recently earned enough to make a down payment on a house in North Natomas, and he was proud about that, but worried, too. To pay the mortgage, he worked days as a security guard with the state of California and nights as a security guard at Kaiser Hospital on Morse Avenue.
"He would work from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., then he would sleep some and go to work at noon and come home at 6 p.m.," his daughter said. "He never got a full night's sleep."
Friday night, Khanna's supervisor called the family, saying Khanna hadn't arrived at work, and wondering if he had gotten a flat tire. Khanna didn't carry a cell phone. The family hoped that all was well when the supervisor didn't call back.
The next morning, his daughter awoke to find a 2 a.m. phone message from the county Coroner's Office.
"We're in shock," she said Sunday.
She wants to know what the other driver was thinking.
"I don't understand why he drove without a license, and why did he drive so fast?" she said. "Did he even think that there could be someone he could kill? Then he tried to run away, leaving my dad there."
The family wonders what will happen to the other driver. Whatever happens, though, the young woman said, "it won't bring my father back."
10 Oct 2008
The Fire Department captain burned in a Natomas house fire earlier this week was released from the hospital Thursday, authorities said.
Capt. Jeffrey Helvin faces extensive rehabilitation and potentially more surgery after suffering burns to one hand, his face and neck, but the 39-year-old firefighter is in good spirits, department spokesman Capt. Jim Doucette said.
"He's glad to be out of the hospital," Doucette said.
Helvin and three other firefighters were burned Tuesday in an intense fire on Stilt Court. The other firefighters – Bruce Gee, 26, Christopher Berquist, 30, and Eric Ely, 24 – were treated and released from the hospital the same day.
Investigators have not been able to determine the cause of the fire but have ruled out arson, Doucette said. They believe it started in the kitchen, he said.
9 Oct 2008
Residents of City Council Districts 1, 2 and 3 are invited to meet their neighbors, police officers and elected officials at the inaugural Cops & Community celebration to be held Saturday at the William J. Kinney Police Facility, 3550 Marysville Blvd.
The event, which will run 2 to 7 p.m., is sponsored by council members Ray Thretheway, District 1; Sandy Sheedy, District 2; and Steve Cohn, District 3; and the Greater Natomas Crime & Safety Leadership Team.
It will feature free hot dogs and hamburgers, police demonstrations, car seat checks, fingerprinting, home safety and crime prevention tips, and games.
For more information or to reserve a table, contact Jeannette Bonner, Judy Kovanda or Kurt McCray at (916) 566-6401.
– Bee staff
