Public Invited to Help Develop Flood Insurance Maps

The Southwest Florida Water Management District is gathering input needed to improve identification of flooding risks in the county.

The District is serving as a cooperating technical partner... to update and modernize the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs). Most of the current FIRMs are 10-30 years old and are outdated because of natural and physical changes caused by land use, development and erosion.

The District held the first open house for residents around Hudson and Whitaker Bayous on Dec. 9th, to present preliminary floodplain information and explain the basis behind the findings. This information will be used to identify areas of flood risk, which are based on watershed boundaries.

Future open houses will be scheduled for additional watersheds as preliminary models are completed. During each meeting, preliminary models and floodplain information will be presented to the public for review and comment.

For more information or to find out which watershed you live in, please visit www.WaterMatters.org/floodrisk/.