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closeNew flood plain maps need revisions
Residents urge city of Puyallup to appeal preliminary maps
Chris Albert
Residents in the Meeker Creek area overwhelmingly want the city of Puyallup to appeal the Federal Emergency Management Agency Preliminary Flood Plain maps of their area.
“Bottom line is we need the maps to reflect the real flood risk,” said Mark Higginson, city stormwater engineer.
More than 70 residents from the Meeker Creek area met with Higginson and FEMA floodplain specialist with the National Flood Insurance Program, John Graves, to discuss what they thought about the preliminary maps on Feb. 19 at council chambers in Puyallup.
The maps use a new zoning called Zone X, which is low risk flooding and does not have a federal requirement to purchase flood insurance.
Some private lenders may require flood insurance depending on their own evaluation, Graves said.
Within zones that are marked A the risk of flooding is higher and flood insurance is mandatory for federally backed loans. The last time FEMA updated its flood plain maps was 1980.
“There’s been a number of issues as far as FEMA reevaluating the issues,” Higginson said. “There’s a number of people who are in flood plains that weren’t there before.”
The consensus from staff and residents was the map does not accurately reflect flood risk in the area.
The city has until March 19 to appeal for revisions. It will be reviewed by FEMA if they miss the deadline, but would take longer and require additional paperwork to be filed, Graves said.
Any information used to revise the preliminary map needs to have scientific backing to warrant consideration.
“It’s a big undertaking for the city,” Higginson said.
City engineers will be presenting information about appealing the maps for city council approval in the coming weeks.
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More information
> To find out more about FEMA and flood plain information go to www.fema.gov.
> To find an online copy of the flood plain map for your area go to www.msc.fema.gov.
> To provide the city with information regarding flooding in the area contact City Stormwater Engineer Mark Higginson at mhigginson@ci.puyallup.wa.us.