FEMA schedules open houses on revised flood maps for Palm Beach County

By Christine Stapleton, The Palm Beach Post, Fla.

McClatchy-Tribune Information Services Aug. 26--The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released a new set of preliminary flood maps for Palm Beach County after an outcry last year from property owners, local governments and elected officials who claimed the maps contained errors that put huge swaths of the county in high-hazard flood zones requiring costly insurance. To ease public concern about the new maps, the agency has scheduled public meetings from 4-7 p.m.Sept. 8-11 at four locations in the county. Property owners can learn about changes to the maps and how those changes will affect their property, and insurance experts will be present to explain flood coverage and costs at these open houses. FEMA released preliminary versions of new flood maps in June 2013 after updating the county's flood maps for the first time in 30 years. Large areas that once appeared relatively free of major flood concerns -- including Wellington,Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee and The Acreage -- were now in various levels of high-risk flood zones on the preliminary maps. Banks generally require mortgage-holders in high-risk zones to obtain flood insurance. In response, the county's congressional delegation sent a letter to FEMA Administrator W. Craig Fugate, saying the proposed maps could harm the county's real estate market and would have "far-reaching negative economic impacts" that could devastate the county's tax base. Ken Todd, the county's water resource manager, also sent FEMA a letter, complaining that FEMA did not take up offers by local officials to provide technical and anecdotal input about flood control in the county. FEMA listened and allowed local engineers, water managers and building officials to reveal present new data to dispute the maps, including any errors and miscalculations they believe existed in the 2013 maps. The new preliminary maps were released on Aug. 18 and appear to have removed many properties in Wellington and Royal Palm Beach from the high risk category. At a West Palm Beach Commission workshop on Monday, officials were given a brief overview of the new maps. More than 7,200 parcels in the city were affected by the 2013 preliminary maps. After presenting new data to FEMA, the city successfully removed 4,990 parcels from high-risk flood zones. In particular, Baywinds, RiverWalk, Andros Isle, Oakton Preserve, and many Eastern Residential Areas all received relief with the new maps. The annual city-wide savings is estimated between $6 million and $7 million, according to the presentation by city officials on Monday. "With the incorporation of the South Florida Water Management District's recent basin study and other data submitted by the county and municipalities, the preliminary maps significantly improve the depiction of flood risk in Palm Beach County," said Mark Vieira, senior engineer at FEMA's Risk Analysis Branch inAtlanta. "We encourage residents-- including homeowners, business owners, insurance agents, and real estate agents -- to attend the open houses the week ofSept. 8 to get their questions answered." Staff writer Eliot Kleinberg contributed to this story.