LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TAKING ACTION ON FLOOD MAPS

In January, Wrightsville Beach voted to hire a firm to begin the process of challenging the new flood maps, specifically for Harbor Island.   According to the Lumina News, the Board of Aldermen are concerned about “illogically high-risk flood zones for much of Harbor Island” and have been carefully and thoroughly exploring the possibility of an appeal.

In the coming months, other local jurisdictions will join Wrightsville Beach by putting the maps through a 90-day public review by the local communities and public comment.  After the comment period expires, the maps any revisions will be considered.  After any proposed revisions are reviewed and remapped, the maps will only take effect when adopted and implemented by the local government.  The local government will then have 6 months to adopt the maps.  If not adopted, FEMA will automatically drop the community from the NFIP and existing flood policies will not be renewable.

As many local landowners know, the NC Floodplain Mapping Program has recently released Preliminary flood maps for Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties. To see your investment, visit http://rfris.nc.gov/fris/Home.aspx?ST=NC Once on the NC map, you can use the right hand menu to switch between “Effective” and “Preliminary.” This allows direct comparison of the present and proposed maps.

In September 2000, North Carolina, in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, began remapping the state’s floodplains using advanced digital floodplain mapping technology. Since then, flood maps for all 100 counties have been revised and are scheduled to be updated, on average, every five years.