Mississippi’s Olive Branch to Contest FEMA Flood Maps

Olive Branch, Mississippi officials have agreed to hire a firm to help the city challenge Federal Emergency Management Agency maps that identify a number of homes as being in flood zones.

Being inside a flood zone results in homeowners being required to buy flood insurance.

Aldermen this week voted to hire ETI Corp. to examine the FEMA maps.

City officials say ETI’s initial investigation of FEMA’s maps determined that perhaps 200 homes out of up to 260 should not be in a flood zone.

Mayor Sam Rikard said in some cases FEMA’s information was incorrect about the number of culverts handling water or the size of the culvert.

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal

http://www.commercialappeal.com

Latest Comments

• March 20, 2009 at 8:00 am

  Artie Allen says:

  Correction- I meant to say storm surge IS NOT used to determine BFE. That why when a client tells me he's 10 feet above BFE I show him pictures from IKE where the only thing l... read more
• March 20, 2009 at 7:56 am

  Artie Allen says:

  So the fact FEMA came in and rezoned it provided the surveyor with the BFE so an elevation certif could be done to determine the top of bottom floor is at a positive elevation... read more
• March 19, 2009 at 3:54 am

  Sherinsure says:

  The area that I was speaking of was a B zone since 1978. They have been rezoned as A11. They have never been flooded, but nearby areas have. Under the new maps, the entire com... read more