The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is in the process of unveiling new maps that designate which homes and businesses are in a flood zone. Many other Michigan counties have already received new Flood Zone Maps and have accepted them as accurate and correct. As a result of this, FEMA has mandated extensive increases in the number of properties that are required to purchase Flood Insurance. The problem these citizens are facing is that many structures, which have never been in a flood zone, are all of a sudden designated as being in a flood zone. This means their insurance rates will increase dramatically. Once the local government accepts these maps as accurate and accepts the new FEMA Flood Zone for their area, it is up to each individual property owner to prove the FEMA maps are wrong and that their property should not be included in a flood zone. The price to challenge FEMA's new maps is costly, time consuming and very burdensome.

Franklin Township is challenging FEMA's new maps for its township, one lake at a time. They appear to have had great success in challenging the new Loch Erin area FEMA Flood Zone Maps. The new Loch Erin Flood Zone Maps included approximately 500 homes as properties that would require flood insurance. However, the Township challenged the accuracy of the FEMA maps with much more detailed information they received from Lenawee County Drain Commissioner, Steve May. As of two weeks ago, it appears the State ofl'vlichigan & FEMA will use the Lenawee County Drain Commission information and recalculate their Loch Erin Flood Zone Maps. If they do, Bruce Nickel believes it

will mean that very few Loch Erin homes will be included in the new Flood Zone.

So far, FEMA has not yet notified Franklin Township of their intensions to included Evans Lake in the new Flood Zone Mapping project; however!

Tim Walberg has introduced House Bill 700 in Congress to stop the FEMA maps from going into effect for homes and businesses newly deemed to be in a flood zone, until it can be determined if the new maps are accurate. Per Tim Walberg, "the last thing families need is to be hit with thousands of dollars in new costs due to faulty FEMA maps" .

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the process of re\ising floodplain maps across the United Stales. Since 1973, federal regulations have required flood insurance on ail structures located in the B;) annual chance floodplain (l nO-year floodplain).

Some property owners who were previously not identified as living in a floodplain will now be required to carry flood insurance. Since home owners insurance docs not include damage due to flooding, i1 must be pmchased through

the National Flood Insurance Program(N""FIP).

Tim Walberg said "I am very concerned about reported inaccuracies in these new maps, and that some property owners may be required to buy insurance -even though they do not face a real threat of flooding. To that end, I have introduced legislation called the "Floodplain Maps Moratorium Act'" (H.R. 700) which immediately suspends the requirement to buy flood insurance until FEMA addresses their mapping methods".

Flood zones are land areas identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEfAA). Each flood zone describes that land area in terms of its risk of flooding. Everyone lives in a flood zone-it's justa question of whether you live in a low, moderate, or high risk area.

Everyone lives in a flood zone. The fact h'1at a flood hasn't occurred within recorded history does not mean one hasn't happened in the past or that one will not happen in the future.

It's important to note that flood history is only one element used in determining flood risk. More critical determinations are made by evaluating your community's rainfall and river flow data, topography, wind velocity, tidal surge, flood control measures, building development (existing and planned) and community maps.

Hooding occurs in moderate-to-Iow risk areas as well as in high-risk areas. Poor drainage systems, rapid accumulation of rainfall, snowmelt, and broken water mains can all result in flood. Properties on a hillside can be damaged by mudflow, a covered peril under the Standard Flood Insurance Policy. Structures located in high-risk flood areas have a significant chance (26 percent) of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage. In a high-risk area, your home is more than twice as likely to be damaged by a flood than by fire. For these reasons, flood insurance is required by law for buildings in high-risk flood areas as a condition of receiving a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender.

Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) cannot reflect every vmiation in the physical geography of an area. Therefore, a FIRM occasionally will show a property as being in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), even though the building may be above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE).

However, there is a mechanism for resolving such a situation. A property owner can submit property and elevation materials in support of a request for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) to remove the property from the SFHA. This process involves the property OViller fu'1d Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). For detailed information regarding the LOMA process, call toll free at 1.877.336.2627.

Under federal law, the purchase of flood insurance is mandatory for all federal or federally related financial assistance for the acquisition and/or construction of buildings in high-risk flood areas (Special Flood Hazard Areas or SFHAs).

The amount of flood insurance coverage required by the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, is the lesser of the following:

If the property is not in a high-risk area, but instead in a moderate-to-Iow risk area, federal law does not require flood insurance; however, a lender can still require it It is also recommended since historically about one-in-four flood claims come from these moderate-to-low risk areas. Note that if during the life of the loan the maps are revised and the property is now in the high-risk area, your lender willnotuy you that you must purchase flood insurance.

FEMA publishes maps indicating a community's flood hazard areas and the degree of risk in those areas. Flood insurance maps usually are on file in a local repository in the community, such as the planning and zoning or engineering offices in the town hall or the county building.

A FIRM is a map created by the NFIP for floodplain management and insurance purposes. Digital versions of these maps are called DFIRMs.

A FIRM will generally show a community's base flood elevations, flood zones, and floodplain boundaries. As a property owner/renter, you can use this map to get a reliable indication of what flood zone you're in. However, maps are constantly being updated due to changes in geography, construction and mitigation activities, and meteorological events. Therefore, for a truly accurate determination, contact your insurance agent or company, or your community floodplain manager.

TIle National Flood Insurance Program has an arrangement with private insurance companies to sell and service flood insurance policies. A list of private insurance companies that sell and service NFJP flood insurance policies is available to you.

You may also contact your insurance agent or company to find out more about federal flood insurance or find an agent serving your area by filling out the Flood Risk Profile.