March 18 -- Feast of Saint Frigidian of Lucca

Funny rake, but as long as it trains the river

I read in the newspaper that my state's Floodplain Management Program is urging us to buy flood insurance.  They noted that 75% of homes and businesses in floodplains are not covered by flood insurance, and that March and April are the most common times for flooding around here. Of course they also said it can take about 30 days to get your flood insurance approved, so this probably would have been better advice in February or January, but hey, thanks for the helpful hint.  I could get covered for the last couple of weeks of April.

Taking the warning with a little more salt than just one grain, I meandered over to the state's Floodplain Management website.  They have a menu for floodplain maps, so I tried to scroll down to my city's map, but there was no map for Portland, Maine.  PORT-land.  A city where the entire waterfront and much of the margins of Back Cove were built on landfill in the nineteenth century.  A city bounded by the Fore River to the south and the Presumpscot River to the north.  Maine's largest city does not have a floodplain map, even though Maine has a Floodplain Management Program?

Public budgets being what they are, perhaps our best flood management plan is an appeal to Saint Frigidian of Lucca.  That sodden city was being flooded too often by the River Serchio, formerly called the Auser.  As a remedy, Frigidian picked up a rake and ordered the river to follow his new path.  He then traced a course away from the settlement; the river complied and Frigidian is honored as a co-patron of the town.  I tend to think that anyone living near a lake, river, or shoreline could stand a statue, or at least a holy card, of Saint Frigidian.  I'd say that anyone living in a floodplain could benefit, but how would you know if your state can't afford to make the maps?