The Alphabet Soup of Delaware County Flood Maps

While I was recently reading  a notification from Delaware County Economic Development in regard to new preliminary flood maps being considered, I realized I first had to educate myself.

The abbreviations used were at first confusing. First there is the F.I.R.M. (Flood Insurance Rate Maps) then there are Special Flood Hazard Areas or S.F.H.A.s,  as well as F.I.S. (Flood Insurance Study) reports. And of course we all know F.E.M.A. or the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The notification stated, "Flood maps are changing, and it may impact your property. Being located in a S.F.H.A., which is the area which has one percent or greater chance of flooding each year, requires flood insurance for all structures with mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders."

The notification also stated that these maps were preliminary and subject to a 90 day public appeals period along with the L.O.M.R. "Letter of Map Revision" would be available to view on F.E.M.A.'s Map Service Center(M.S.C.)

So as I see it:

1. The D.C.E.D. lets us know that if you live on or own property in a S.F.H.A.

2. A new  F.I.S. based F.I.R.M. from F.E.M.A may subject communities to additional costs for flood insurance.

3. You can check out the L.O.M.R. for your property at the F.E.M.A. M.S.C. website.

4. Prior to a L.O.M.R. becoming effective, a 90 day public appeals period is provided to appeal the L.O.M.R.

To find out how these preliminary flood maps may impact your property, you can review them at http://bit.ly/1kdXZdY. For more information or consumer help, contact FEMAMapSpecialist@riskmapscds.com or call 1-877-336-2627.