DNREC announces that federal flood insurance is now available in Kent County Town of Magnolia

DOVER – The Town of Magnolia has become the 50th Delaware community to participate in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship announced today – with flood insurance now available to all property owners in the town.

Staff from DNREC’s Floodplain Management Program assisted the Town of Magnolia in submitting its application to join the NFIP. FEMA, which runs the NFIP program within the Department of Homeland Security, approved Magnolia’s application to participate on April 5.
Magnolia residents can now purchase flood insurance up to the limits under the regular phase of the program. For single-family dwellings, the standard policy building coverage limit is $250,000, while the contents’ coverage limit is $100,000.

FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps indicate areas of low, moderate and high flood risk, and, in many cases, predicted flood heights. Delaware floodplain data can be viewed on DNREC’s website at http://de.gov/floodplanning.

Lenders must require borrowers whose properties are located in a designated Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) to purchase flood insurance as a condition of receiving a federally-backed mortgage loan in accordance with the Federal Disaster Protection Act of 1973. Property owners not located within an SFHA can voluntarily purchase flood insurance from any agent or broker licensed to do business in Delaware. There is generally a 30-day waiting period before a newly-purchased flood insurance policy goes into effect. DNREC’s Floodplain Management Program advises property owners to contact their insurance company for any exceptions to this policy.

FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program boasts over 5.5 million flood insurance policies in more than 22,000 participating communities nationwide.

Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 48, No. 108


Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps appeal period runs through Nov. 6 for parts of New Castle County

DOVER –DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship reminds residents of New Castle County that preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for portions of New Castle County released in December 2016 by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are currently in a 90-day regulatory appeal period ending Nov. 6.

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 a community in question. The preliminary maps will become effective six months after the Letter of Final Determination, currently projected to be Nov. 6, 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.

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.

Contact: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 47, No. 199

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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

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DNREC, FEMA to sponsor open house May 23 in New Castle on preliminary flood risk maps for parts of New Castle County

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will hold an open house Tuesday, May 23 about new preliminary flood insurance rate maps for parts of New Castle County. The open house will be held at the William Penn High School at 713 E. Basin Road, New Castle, DE 19720 from 4 – 7 p.m. The public is encouraged to attend to learn more about proposed flood risk map changes and to understand better how proposed map changes affect their property.

A cooperating technical partnership between the Division of Watershed Stewardship and FEMA aims to improve the accuracy of flood risk maps statewide. New preliminary flood risk maps for portions of New Castle County were released in December 2016. To get data for the preliminary flood risk maps, DNREC did hydrologic studies that determine water flows during flood events, base flood elevations and more accurate floodplain boundaries using newer elevation contours on about 150 miles of streams in New Castle County. The results enabled FEMA’s maps to show base flood elevations for many areas for the first time, providing property owners with more detailed and accurate flood risk assessments.

FEMA’s flood risk maps are used by insurance companies to establish insurance rates and by local communities to enforce local floodplain codes. Many communities have recently amended local codes to adopt higher floodplain development standards, in conjunction with the release of the new flood risk maps. Many of these higher standards – such as first-floor freeboard (building living space to a margin of safety above predicted flood levels), limiting development in floodplains, and flood resistant foundation designs – were recommended by the Floodplain and Drainage Advisory Committee formed as a result of Delaware Senate Bill 64 passed in 2011 to support more effective floodplain management standards.

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. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover damage caused by flooding, but all property owners and renters can purchase flood insurance. Homeowners interested in how the proposed changes could impact the cost of their flood insurance premium should contact their insurance agent.

Preliminary flood risk maps, as well as current maps, can be viewed at www.de.gov/floodplanning. For more information on flood risk maps, please contact Greg Williams or Michael Powell, Division of Watershed Stewardship, 302-739-9921. For information on the DNREC’s flood mitigation program, 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. 104

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DNREC offers new flood planning tool for determining risk for home and business development projects

Interactive website also helps on gathering information for insurance

DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship’s Shoreline & Waterway Management Section now offers an interactive Flood Planning Tool with up-to-date information for helping to determine flood risk for homes and businesses and for designing development projects in accordance with floodplain codes.

The Flood Planning Tool is designed to provide residents, businesses, floodplain managers, insurance agents, developers, real estate agents, engineers, surveyors and local planners with an effective means to make informed decisions about the degree of flood risk for a specific area or property. Flood Planning Tool users have the ability to look at the current effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) layer as well as the preliminary FIRM layer. The preliminary layer shows Delaware areas that will be revised with more detailed information as a result of flood studies that have been conducted.

DNREC’s new Flood Planning Tool website also displays FEMA’s regulatory floodplain boundary via aerial photography. Another feature is DNREC’s analysis of several special flood hazard areas that have not previously been studied in enough detail to establish a base flood elevation. The Flood Planning Tool can be found at http://maps.dnrec.delaware.gov/FloodPlanning/default.html.

Over the past 12 years, DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship has partnered with FEMA to improve the accuracy of Flood Insurance Rate Maps created in the 1970’s through a Cooperating Technical Partnership. DNREC completed floodplain mapping for all three Delaware counties in 2016. The improved flood risk maps incorporate the results of more than 330 miles of flood studies.

Property owners along Zone A floodplains have had a difficult time in the past at both understanding their flood risk and in getting properly-rated flood insurance. Base Flood Elevations and Advisory Flood Heights have now been determined in most of these areas, and a more accurate depiction of flood risk is now available. In the future engineers, developers and local officials will also be able to download HEC-RAS models (HEC-RAS is a widely-used computer program modeling the hydraulics of water flow).

Please contact Greg Williams or Janice Shute of DNREC’s Shoreline & Waterway Management Section for more information at 302-739-9921.

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

Vol. 47, No. 60

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