FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 22, 2020
Contact:
Alan Pugh
Staff Engineer
Engineering Division
479-575-8206
apugh@fayetteville-ar.gov
Fayetteville Property Owners Invited to Review FEMA Flood Map Changes
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.— Many Fayetteville residents may not be aware that the City is in the process of working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to update Washington County’s flood risk maps. The process takes several years and involves state, regional, and local governments and agencies - as well as the public at large. The Fayetteville City Council authorized this process to begin in 2015, and a public meeting was held in 2017 to allow residents and property owners to ask questions and provide input. Now FEMA has made a draft of the city’s new flood risk maps available online for public review and input. Drafts of the new Washington County Flood Insurance Study (FIS) and Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) can be viewed at https://www.msc.fema.gov/fmcv.
Tips for navigating the map:
- Open the map and search for Fayetteville, AR or a specific address in the search box in the upper left corner.
- Click the “Layer List” icon in the upper right corner (it looks like a stack of papers)
- Turn off, by unchecking, all layers with the exception of “Preliminary Changes Since Last FIRM” and “Preliminary National Flood Hazard Area”
- The map will now display only the preliminary maps with the areas of proposed increase (yellow) and decrease (purple)
- Display the legend by clicking the “Legend” icon in the upper right corner
Many things have changed in Fayetteville since the last map update was completed in 2008, and it is important that the updated maps reflect these changes so that property owners can be more accurately informed about their risk in case of a flooding event. Property owners in Fayetteville are urged to review the new maps to see if their property has been affected by the changes, and to notify FEMA if there are any needed corrections, such as road or street names, corporate limits, etc. Comments should be made directly to FEMA by email to John Bourdeau, Jr. at john.bourdeaujr@fema.dhs.gov; or by mail to:
Sandra Keefe, Mitigation Division Director
c/o Diane Howe, Appeals Coordinator
FEMA Region 6
Federal Regional Center
800 North Loop 288
Denton, TX 76209-3698
The last day to make comments on the draft maps is January 16, 2021.
While the City has provided feedback to FEMA throughout the process, the actual adoption of the mapping is entirely up to FEMA. To learn what goes into making the flood plain map, check out this infographic from FEMA.
For more information about Fayetteville’s flood plain management , visit https://www.fayetteville-ar.gov/402/Floodplain-Management.
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