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| [ 12-Aug-07] | [Data & maps ] |
| FEMA has a Web site where you can make your flood plain map with your PC, a so-called “FIRMette” – Do-it-Yourself Flood Insurance Rate Map(ette). Our neighbor, Rose Marie Klee, comments:
“The 100-year flood plain is shaded in grey, and there are approximate water surface elevations along the main stem of Boggy Creek. The tributary along 34th Street does not have a detailed study, hence no elevation lines and a more approximate delineation. “Two tidbits about flood insurance: (1) I have heard that about half of the people who flood are not in the flood plain, and (2) flood insurance is cheaper if you are not in the designated 100-year flood plain. This implies that those in proximity of flood plains would be well advised to purchase flood insurance, and that they are fortunate to get a lower rate than someone whose property lies within the grey shaded areas of the maps. There is a degree of uncertainty about the whole mapping process, and without getting into the nitty-gritty about how and why the maps are made, I would suggest that an easy analogy would be predicting hurricanes--just as we have a lot of uncertainty about how and where a hurricane will hit/move, we are making a lot of assumptions when we delineate a flood plain. “Perhaps some of this discussion was provoked by the threat of Rita? I am not sure that one can get flood insurance that is effective immediately, except when the house is first purchased, however while the fear is fresh it is a good time to encourage people to evaluate their risk in terms of probability of flooding (i.e. elevation and proximity to drainage features), the cost of flooding, and the cost of insurance.” |
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