FEMA revising FIRMs; City properties impacted

Editor’s note: The following are edited excerpts from the FEMA Flood Hazard Mapping Fact Sheet prepared for New Castle County. This entire publication and a great deal of other detailed information, including draft maps, are available online at www.rampp-team.com/de.htm. (Note the map sections for the City of New Castle are numbered 0162, 0164 and 0166.)

FEMA manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). This Federal Government program makes flood insurance available to residents in communities which meet certain criteria, including the City of New Castle. Maps created by FEMA include the Special Flood Hazard Area, which is the area that has a 1% or greater chance of flooding in any given year.

When FEMA maps flood hazards in a community or county, two products are produced:

• a Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report; and
• a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

An FIS is a narrative report of the community’s flood hazards that contains prior flooding information, descriptions of the flooding sources, information on flood protection measures and a description of the hydrologic and hydraulic methods used in the study.

A FIRM illustrates the extent of flood hazards in a community by depicting flood risk zones and the Special Flood Hazard Area, and is used with the FIS report to determine the floodplain development regulations that apply in each flood risk zone and who must buy flood insurance.

FIRMs for New Castle County are being revised using the latest technologies and the most current data so residents, homeowners, business owners and community officials may understand the local flood risk and keep people and property safe from floods.

Large printed color draft maps can be viewed at the Public Services Department at the Trolley Barn at 900 Wilmington Road. For more information go online to the above Web site, call the FEMA Map Information eXchange (FMIX) at 1-877-336-2627, or locally contact New Castle City Building Official Jeff Bergstrom at 322-9813.

As the City receives new information from FEMA, that will be publicized to City residents through this newsletter, the local newspaper and on the City Web site at newcastlecity.delaware.gov.