Hundreds more properties in James City County have been added to flood risk maps, prompting local, state and federal officials to gather with citizens Wednesday at Legacy Hall in New Town to talk about their potential risk.
James City County and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have over the past several years studied local floodplains and identified properties at risk of flooding, producing a set of maps identifying properties at the greatest risk.
Since the maps were last updated in 2007, 551 properties have been added to the risk zone and 161 have been removed, according to James City County Proffer Administrator Christy Parrish. There are currently about 3,000 properties in James City County in the risk zone.
Dave Bollinger, a FEMA outreach coordinator who attended Wednesday’s event, stressed the importance of flood insurance as the best way to mitigate losses from flooding.
“If you don’t have flood insurance and you’re inundated, no FEMA program will make you whole,” Bollinger said.
Flood insurance was subsidized by the federal government, however recently passed legislation has started whittling away at the subsidies, which will ultimately disappear in the coming years to leave property owners on the hook to pay the entire bill. Bollinger said he has already seen cases where $1,500 annual flood insurance rates have soared to $4,000 to $5,000.
But the alternative is far more expensive.
Flooding can often wipe out a person or family’s largest investments: a house and its contents. Homeowner’s insurance policies do not cover damage from flooding and though there are FEMA programs that exist to help people work toward a new beginning, only flood insurance provides funding to help pay for repairs and potentially elevate a damaged property to mitigate risk of future flooding.
The latest maps take into account far more data than past maps, which relied on data showing previous flooding events. The new maps were run through a computer system that took data from dozens of weather events that have occurred in the county in recent years. The computer also modeled hundreds of potential deviations those storms could have taken to generate a comprehensive idea of which properties in the county are at the greatest risk of flooding, Bollinger said.
“Risk is what we’re showing,” Bollinger said of the data used to generate the latest maps. “It isn’t what happened yesterday, it’s what the data is showing happening tomorrow.”
Hampton Roads has in recent years experienced several destructive storm events, including Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003, Hurricane Irene in 2011 and nor’easters in 2006 and 2009. Research from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the College of William & Mary shows increased hurricane activity since 1995 as well as rising sea levels and sinking land, according to information posted on James City County’s website.
In the wake of the updated drafts of the maps, letters were sent to property owners in the floodplains warning them of the risk and urging them to consider protective actions like a flood insurance policy. Though many mortgages in floodplains require flood insurance, there is no requirement for someone who outright owns a property to maintain a policy.
The update to the maps is expected to be complete in 2015. Draft maps are available for review here.
In addition to plans from private insurance companies, the federal government offers coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program. That program is available to citizens in municipalities that have adopted certain floodplain management practices to reduce risk, something James City County has done.
James City County offers other resources to property owners, including reviews of floodproofing plans, names of floodproofing contractors and more. For information on these resources, contact the Office of Housing and Community Development at 259-5340. A website to educate county citizens about flood issues is also available.
