Higher ground: FEMA asks Collin County residents for feedback on flood maps

After months of collaboration and information sharing, Collin County officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are asking the public for feedback on new flood maps that may require more homeowners and businesses to purchase flood insurance.

In an announcement released on Tuesday, the agency encouraged residents of McKinney, Frisco, Fairview, Allen, Plano, Richardson, Dallas and the unincorporated areas of Collin County to view the maps within a 90-day period to gain a better understanding of what areas are considered prone to flood risk. Residents have until Dec. 19 to file comments or objections with the agency.

Appeals to proposed flood depths, zones or floodways must be sent to FEMA through the local floodplain administrator. Appeals must be based on technical data and include the data used to support the claim, according to the release.

After a number of memorable natural disasters in the 1970s, the federal government became a guarantor on flood insurance policies, which in turn required jurisdictions to begin managing their floodplains. This led to drawing up the first floodplain maps, said Jason Lane, assistant emergency management coordinator with the Collin County Department of Homeland Security.

Advances in technology and development have created a greater need to redraw the maps, especially in Collin County where growth has grown exponentially in the past 15 years, Lane said.

Developing in the floodplain is restricted in Collin County. Many jurisdictions, like McKinney, restricts not only the type of building allowed in a floodplain, but also calculate what the flood "out" plain looks like in order to control what is built around it, Lane said.

"When someone wants to build something and it butts up on a floodplain, you have to show how that structure is not going to disrupt the floodplain," Lane said. "This is the right, [and] as a result of that they don't have big flooding issues in McKinney, even when we have a lot of rain."

Because topographical mapping is expensive, it is not done on a regular basis, which is why it has been roughly 15 years since FEMA released floodplain maps for this area, Lane said.

"As you can imagine, there's been a lot of development in Collin County in the past 15 years," he said. "What's going to happen as a result is some areas that used to not be in a floodplain are now in a floodplain. And we'll have some that were and now they're not. It's the ones that are going to be in a floodplain who will have issues and won't be happy."

In Texas, flood insurance is only required when landowners live in a high-risk flood zone, and they purchase their property with a federally insured mortgage. Traditional homeowner's insurance policies do not include flood insurance, and it is up to the homeowner to purchase additional coverage.

Although the county does not calculate impact in the "out" plains like McKinney does due to expense, Lane said a hazard mitigation study for its unincorporated areas from 2009 revealed only one residence which suffered serious loss from flooding. While those are pretty good odds, Lane encouraged vigilance in knowing one's location as it relates to flood risk.

"We recommend having some sort of insurance," Lane said. "That 100-year floodplain is not as set in stone as everybody thinks it is."

Anyone who hasn't had a chance to participate in local flood insurance meetings or to review the new maps is encouraged to contact their county or community floodplain administrator, according to FEMA.

Once all comments and appeals are resolved, FEMA will notify communities of the effective date of the final maps. For information visit fema.gov or FEMA's blog at blog.fema.gov. A copy of Collin County's current map can be found on the Collin County Engineering Department web page at co.collin.tx.us.

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