New FEMA map could alter residents' insurance needs - msnbc.com |
| New FEMA map could alter residents' insurance needs - msnbc.com Posted: Levittown — GRAPHIC Municipalities have received copies of an agency's proposed updates to local flood plain zones. Some Bucks County residents in flood-prone areas may have to buy flood insurance for the first time in the next year, while others who have been getting it all along may find they no longer need it. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is updating maps used across the country to determine who needs flood insurance and how much they need. Some residents will learn this spring that their status is changing. The news will likely come from municipalities which, along with the county planning commission, are helping FEMA with the update. "The process is important because we're trying to save lives and property," said Dave Bollinger, a FEMA regional mitigation coordinator. The average flood insurance policy in the United States is $595 a year, said Bollinger, who based the number on policies bought through the federally underwritten, FEMA-administered National Flood Insurance Program. Homeowners with federally backed mortgages - nearly all are - generally must buy insurance if the homes are in a flood plain. FEMA, county and municipal officials attended a pair of meetings last week to discuss the process and the preliminary map that FEMA completed two months ago and will spend the next four months tweaking it with help from the local communities and the county. Lynn Bush, county planning director, confirmed that some residents' statuses will change but could not estimate how many. That is something the communities are working to determine. "It's not as simple as it sounds," Bush said. "The old map was very inaccurate. The (two maps) don't line up." But details are beginning to emerge as towns study the preliminary map. Last month, Perkasie officials found that a location they were considering for a dog park now would be in a floodway - a portion of a flood plain that is more likely to have moving, active water - where FEMA would not want something built. A group of Perkasie dog owners has raised almost $30,000 over the past six years for the park. Officials have identified an alternate spot away from the floodway. FEMA's new flood plain maps will be available for inspection at township buildings and borough halls. Bush said people should be able to look at them and see whether they are within the updated flood plain boundaries. FEMA is performing Flood Insurance Rate Map upgrades all over the country, through the National Flood Insurance Program. Passed by Congress, it stipulates that if a community practices sound flood plain management, the federal government will offer flood insurance to its residents through a partnership with private insurers. "It's incumbent on the municipalities to live up to the (flood plain) ordinances," said Bollinger, who added the FEMA maps should guide municipal flood plain ordinance changes. "Their residents can get significant reductions in insurance rates if they follow them." Since 2003, the government has allocated more than $1 billion to the FEMA Flood Map Modernization Initiative to pay for the updates. Many of the flood plain maps were drawn decades ago when weather patterns and development levels were different. Meanwhile, digital technology has made mapping more precise. Montgomery County is in the midst of a flood plain map upgrade that is expected to shift more than 2,000 properties in Hatboro, Horsham, Upper Moreland, Lower Moreland, Abington and Upper Dublin into the flood plain for the first time. Meanwhile, about 2,300 will move out of high-risk flood areas. In Bucks County, the next 30 days will be spent tweaking basic map errors - like misspelled words and incorrectly labeled streets. After that, FEMA will begin a three-month appeal period during which residents and community officials can dispute the accuracy of base flood elevations. Once the appeals are resolved, FEMA will give the communities six months to adopt up-to-date flood plain management ordinances, which will allow residents to buy insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program. After that, the new map becomes effective. John Anastasi can be reached at 215-345-3067 or at janastasi@phillyBurbs.com Follow John on Twitter at twitter.com/buckscountybeat This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
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