MUNSTER | Some Munster residents, already suffering the after effects of the September storm that flooded their homes, may be surprised to learn they may lose their basements to a little-known town ordinance.

Munster Town Engineer Jim Mandon said the ordinance for areas of special flood hazard was incorporated into town code in 1985, enabling residents in the town to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Essentially, it says if the damage to a home is more than 40 percent of the market value of the home, the house has to be raised a certain amount of feet, eliminating a basement. In Indiana, it's two feet above base flood elevation. The elevation is determined by the location of the property.

Mandon said there are two ways to comply with the ordinance for people in the 40 percent bracket. First, they can knock the house down and build a new house at a higher elevation with no basement. Or, they can take the existing house and support it by raising the foundation walls and elevating the house to a higher level with no basement.

"We've always enforced this ordinance," Mandon said, adding officials mentioned the ordinance at a community meeting last month.

Mandon said they told people about the ordinance as permits were issued. However, as they begin to see "significantly" higher amounts on the building permit, town officials typed up a statement a couple of days ago about the ordinance and asked people to sign off on it.

"We aren't trying to make things more difficult for people, we're just trying to enforce the code," Mandon said. "If they want to keep the basement, we ask for an appraisal. If they want to argue about the value of the home and not use the assessor's records, we can take the most recent appraisal. They can get a new one done now but it should be based on pre-flood conditions."

Mandon said he doesn't know how many people fall into this category. He said he has personally talked to eight people.

Munster resident John Stamos is furious. He has a meeting today with Munster officials to discuss the issue. He said the repairs to his house are in excess of the 40 percent guideline, and no one made him aware of the ordinance when he got his permit Sept. 22.

Stamos and his wife, Kristine, live on Harrison Street. He said this is the first time the house has flooded since his wife moved into the house in 1963. He said they had flood insurance.

Stamos said his building permit carefully outlined of the work he wanted to do, including repairing the foundation walls and restoring the basement. He said he learned about the ordinance through his contractor, then verified it through Munster building officials.

"I think it's terrible that they've been stringing someone along for seven weeks, then tell them they can't get the work done," Stamos said.