CHAPMAN ? The rebuilding process after a recent tornado hit Chapman will be affected by the central Kansas town’s low-lying terrain.

Gina Bell, a Dickinson County zoning administrator, said about 95 percent of the damage from the June 11 tornado is confined to the eastern side of Chapman, which sits in a flood plain.

This creates compliance issues for buildings with major damage.

Bell, a certified plain manager for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program, said that if a building’s damage totals less than half of its appraised value, the owner can repair what needs repairing.

But buildings in the flood plain with damage exceeding half the property’s value face compliance issues. The federal government underwrites insurance for buildings in flood plains and has rules limiting development there.

Some residents of the town of 1,400 have thought that might mean they won’t be able to rebuild damaged or destroyed homes in the flood plain. But Bell said that’s not the case.

“I doubt anybody is going to have to move,” Bell said.

Bell said property owners with damage exceeding half the value of their buildings have options to attain compliance. Owners can rebuild, but they may be forced to move to a different location or raise their lots out of the flood plain.

The latter option could get expensive. But Bell said up to $30,000 is available for what’s called “increased cost of compliance,” provided the structure has sustained substantial damage, has flood insurance and Chapman is declared a national disaster area.