New federal flood plain maps challenged by North Carolina town
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)'s preliminary and expanded flood advisory maps continues to cause unrest for those areas now included.  As we highlighted last month, following a rise in floods in a series of areas across the US, FEMA has expanded its flood maps, which will result in those listed having to pay out more insurance, along with harsher building regulations.  A number of areas are challenging, including now officials in Wrightsville Beach, who argue that, following further consultation, they should instead be classified as lower risk, and that FEMA used incomplete data in determining the flood risk. 
Officials in Wrightsville Beach, N.C., plan to challenge new federal flood plain maps in a move that could save some residents thousands of dollars in insurance premiums.

The StarNews of Wilmington reports the town’s board of aldermen agreed Sept. 10 to challenge the maps prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The maps show that parts of the Harbor Island area are now at a high risk of flooding. But the town, working with a consulting firm from Charleston, South Carolina, contends that those areas should be classified as a lower risk.

An engineer told the board that the federal government used incomplete data in determining the flood risk and didn’t take into account things such as buildings and vegetation that can block flood waters.

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Topics Flood North Carolina