New Maps May Mean Your Home is Newly in a Flood Zone

From the office of Anne Arundel County Executive John Leopold and his South County constituent services liaison Bea Poulin:

After seeing the very high tides we had yesterday, I want to bring this meeting to your attention.  If you are not able to get to Severna Park, you can still go online or check with your insurance company about the updated floodplain maps from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Maryland Department of Environment (MDE).  The maps are available here.

If you don’t carry flood insurance you may want to see if it makes sense to do so now with this new information.

Anne Arundel County will be hosting an open house tonight, Wednesday, Sept. 19, at the Severna Park Middle School’s cafeteria from 6 to 8 p.m.  FEMA and MDE staff will be available to assist residents one-on-one and provide information to any questions regarding flood insurance requirements and opportunities, and  “grandfathering” options.

The FEMA and the MDE have recently completed a multi-year project to re-examine Anne Arundel County’s flood zones and have developed detailed, digital flood hazard maps.  Just released for public review, the new maps—also known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)—reflect current flood risks, replacing maps that were developed in 1983.

Properties in Anne Arundel County are affected by the new FIRMs. Some properties that were previously outside the designated flood zones will now be considered in a flood zone based on the new FIRMs, while other properties that were considered in a flood zone will now be eligible for removal from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).

Please check out the MDE website for an interactive map to determine your property’s impact.

I (Bea Poulin) will be attending this evening’s Open House and will be happy to share information with you and your community at one of your future meetings. Better yet, after the meeting, I will send your another email tomorrow for you to share with your community members and they can determine what is good for them.