In Texas in 2016, there were restrictions on using fill for housing construction in the 100-year floodplain. In the case of the Houston subdivision, the land had previously been a golf course. “The result is developed areas with increased flooding.” The problem is even more urgent against a backdrop of increased heavy rains and more intense flooding across much of the United States, aggravated by climate change.ĭevelopers often use FEMA map changes to “maneuver around floodplain management standards,” said Joe Rossi, a flood specialist with insurance company RogersGray who serves as a consultant to the National Flood Insurance Program and co-chairs the National Flood Association’s legislative committee. In many cases, they say, these former floodplains can also increase the risk nearby. About 90 percent were approved.īut flood experts and community groups argue that promises from developers and permission from FEMA are not always enough to prevent flood risk. From October 2019 through September 2020, FEMA considered 3,128 map change requests that involved developers using fill, an agency spokesperson told FairWarning. FEMA requires such changes if development will raise the flood level in the floodplain by more than a foot. The land was no longer deemed to be in the floodplain, and building eventually commenced on hundreds of homes.Īcross the country, developers regularly use flood map changes to build in areas vulnerable to flooding after getting FEMA to approve measures such as elevating homes, building retention ponds and raising the land with fill. In July 2015, over objections from community members, the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved it.
developers routinely do: it made a request to change the federal flood map. So before real estate developer MetroNational put the land on the market, it did what U.S. Thousands of homes near the gully flooded in 2017’s Hurricane Harvey, the Houston Chronicle reported. During big storms in hurricane-prone Houston, a gully just north of the neighborhood often overflows, and water runs through the area “in a sheet,” according to one expert. Buyers might have been persuaded by the attractive single family townhouses, two-car garages and the seller’s promise of “clear pricing and no surprises.”īut what might surprise them is that before it became a neighborhood, this land was smack in the 100-year floodplain-limiting the development potential. The freshly paved street is lined with tiny saplings, and a sign posted at the entrance displays dozens of little red “sold” labels on a map of the many lots inside. In addition, the FEMA website is a comprehensive source for the latest information on floodplain maps and Letters of Map Corrections (PDF) (LOMC).Homeowners moving into the brand-new Spring Brook Village subdivision in northwest Houston enter their neighborhood through a gate on Preservation Lane.
An alternate way to view floodplain maps in your area is to go to the city’s Interactive Floodplain Map.
See below the list of maps: FIRMsįor flood-related information outside of the city limits, please contact your local floodplain administrator. Information related to new Letter of Map Changes (PDF)Įxisting Harris County FIRMs and updated FIS (effective June 9, 2014) are available. Updated maps for Fort Bend County are effective as of April 2, 2014.
HOUSTON FLOOD PLAIN UPDATE
The city has been working in conjunction with Fort Bend County, Harris County, and FEMA to update the official FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).
0 kommentar(er)
