Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps appeal period runs to Sept. 1 for parts of Kent and Sussex County

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship reminds residents of Kent and Sussex County that preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for portions of the two counties released last year by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are currently in a 90-day regulatory appeal period that ends Sept. 1.

Anyone who believes that the preliminary maps (found online at www.de.gov/floodplanning) may contain errors can submit an appeal to their community floodplain administrator. The floodplain administrator will review and consolidate all appeals before forwarding them to FEMA. Once FEMA has reviewed appeals and made a determination on their validity, the agency will issue a Letter of Final Determination to the communities. The preliminary maps will become effective six months after the Letter of Final Determination, currently projected to be June 15, 2018.

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program makes flood insurance available to local property owners. Mortgage lenders require borrowers whose properties are located in a designated special flood hazard area to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally backed mortgage loan in accordance with the Federal Disaster Protection Act of 1973. FEMA’s flood risk maps are used by insurance companies to establish insurance rates and by local communities to enforce local floodplain codes.

“Hydrologic studies that determine water flows, base flood elevations and accurate floodplain boundaries were performed by DNREC on about 200 miles of waterways in western Sussex and southwestern Kent Counties,” said Michael Powell, DNREC flood program manager. “With these results, base flood elevations for many areas are now shown on FEMA’s maps for the first time, providing property owners with more detailed and accurate flood risk assessments.”

For more information on the flood risk maps, contact Greg Williams or Michael Powell, Division of Watershed Stewardship, at 302-739-9921. For information on DNREC’s flood mitigation program, please visit DNREC’s website at http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/swc/Drainage/Pages/Flooding.aspx.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 151

-30-