A Chance to See New FEMA Flood Maps
(11/06/2008) The Federal Emergency Management Agency will hold an “open house” in Southampton next Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. It will be the only informational meeting on the South Fork to present the agency’s new flood insurance maps and address the concerns of homeowners.
County residents can see whether their house falls within a proposed flood zone by plugging in their address at www.suffolkfloodmaps.com. Houses within designated flood areas will need flood insurance for a mortgage and are considered a much higher risk for flood-related damage. Those homeowners will also be charged a higher rate for coverage.
The open house will precede a comment period beginning on Friday, Nov. 14, and ending on Feb. 11. During this time, affected property owners can submit comments or appeals so that the FEMA can consider them in making any modifications or refinements to the maps before they are finalized on Dec. 1, 2009.
In addition to the maps, representatives from the agency, the State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the Suffolk County Department of Fire, Rescue, and Emergency Services will also discuss the National Flood Insurance Program.
The towns are legally responsible for adopting the new maps to maintain their coverage under the National Flood Insurance Program. If a community does not participate or amend its existing regulations before the effective date of the new maps, it will be suspended.
Southampton Town Councilwoman Nancy Graboski said that the town would provide its own maps using the administration’s data, but with street names and in a more accessible format, on the town Web site, at the town clerk’s offices, and at town community centers.
She said a meeting between FEMA and town officials provided the towns with a better understanding of how disaster management works from the agency’s perspective.
“They are looking at it from the local level up to the top,” Ms. Graboski said. “They will be waiting for damage assessments to come in from local public safety administrators. It goes through us to Suffolk County to the State of New York.”
The way the hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas this year were handled by FEMA encouraged her, she said. “They were on the ground from the get-go. The whole system has been restructured.”
Ms. Graboski was less enthusiastic about how the maps have been handled. She said it was not clear if property owners whose flood status had changed had been notified or knew how such a change would affect them.
“It’s conceivable we could get a flurry of telephone calls seeking information on properties. We need to set up a response to that.” She said a letter may be sent out with tax bills to describe the process and the right to appeal a determination.
Back in September, when the maps were released, East Hampton and Southampton Towns found that their overall numbers of houses at risk of flooding had decreased. In East Hampton, the number went down from 1,632 to 1,512. In Southampton, it dropped from 3,579 to 3,104. At the time, a representative from the agency emphasized that the numbers could change at any point in the review process.
There were two possible exceptions, however, to the decreases. In Sagaponack Village, the maps showed an increase in houses in the flood plain from 46 to 119. In East Hampton Village that number rose from 60 to 146.
Next Thursday’s open house will be held at the Southampton Cultural Center at 25 Pond Lane in Southampton.