FLOODSFEMA Maps Said They Weren’t in a Flood Zone. Then Came the Rain.
The most common reference for flood risk are the flood insurance rate maps, also known as 100-year floodplain maps, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, produces. They designate so-called special flood hazard areas that have a roughly 1 percent chance of inundation in any given year. Properties within those zones are subject to more stringent building codes and regulations that, among other things, require anyone with a government-backed mortgage to carry flood insurance. Flaws in federal flood maps leave millions unprepared. Some are trying to fix that.
As heavy rain drenched Barre, Vermont, last month, Kim Beinin was watching Thor with her two young children. About halfway through the movie, she peeked out the window and was startled to see water flowing over the road and into her neighbor’s driveway. Knowing her home was surely next, she gathered her children and fled.
When the rain stopped two days later, she returned to find her basement submerged in 5 feet of water. The heating oil tank lay on its side, the water heater was flooded, and the electrical panel had cut out, leaving the house without power.
“It was horrific,” she said. “My contractor was like, ‘I cannot believe your garage is still standing.’” The shock of seeing her house waterlogged was made worse by the fact that Beinin felt blindsided. “I was told I wasn’t in a flood zone.”
The most common reference for flood risk are the flood insurance rate maps, also known as 100-year floodplain maps, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, produces. They designate so-called special flood hazard areas that have a roughly 1 percent chance of inundation in any given year. Properties within those zones are subject to more stringent building codes and regulations that, among other things, require anyone with a government-backed mortgage to carry flood insurance.
The property information report that sellers include with most home sales in Vermont indicates whether a property is in a flood zone. But Beinin says she received no such warning because FEMA indicated that the house she bought in 2021 was well outside a high-risk area. Yet the entire area was walloped. The torrent washed away her neighbor’s driveway and left their garage broken, tilted, and cracked. A red “DANGER UNSAFE” poster remains plastered on the front of it.
Although the federal maps “can help communicate risk,” they’re often incomplete or outdated and don’t adequately reflect the threat, especially as the climate changes, said Chad Berginnis. He is the executive director of the nonprofit Association of State Floodplain Managers and also a member of FEMA’s National Advisory Council. Other experts echoed his opinion that FEMA’s assessments “are a good place to start but should never be the end point in knowing flood risk.”
