FEMA Flood Savings - A Lot of Money out of Your Wallet | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's note: This post appears courtesy of the Beaufort Observer.

    I estimate Beaufort County residents will save as much as 5 million dollars in flood insurance premiums each year when the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) are approved by the Beaufort County Commissioners. At five million per county the 20 coastal counties could save 100 million dollars each year. How would you like for that to circulate in our economy?

    There are a lot of people in Beaufort County who are paying more than $3,000 per year for flood insurance. Many of these rates will drop to less than $1,000 when the maps are approved.. Again this is my opinion. This opinion is based on the flood work I do in my business.

    We are getting new flood maps because the present maps were made based on the belief that the 1913 flood event was a 100 year flood. When the calendar rolled up in 2013 and the highest flood level was about three feet below the 1913 level, all of that belief went out the window. The new maps are based on the floods that occurred during the last 100 years, that is between 1914 and 20 13. This is why the 100 year flood level is lower.

    When the new maps are adopted into the building code flood insurance rates will drop.

    These maps have been finished for approximately two years. The public comment hearings were held more than a year and one half ago. So, why have the commissioners not approved them. In a single word the answer is ":bureaucracy". We have been given a lot of flimsy excuses by the State of North Carolina during the past two years. Such as: Now that we have maps on computers, the maps have to be seamless so we have to map more areas before releasing the maps. Think about that. To satisfy this condition the entire world would have to be mapped before the first map could be released for approval. Flood levels are enforced by counties not seamless maps.

    Beaufort County Commissioners have not been active much less aggressive in demanding progress to get the maps approved. I have advocated for almost two years that we direct our paid lobbyists to dig around in Raleigh and Washington, DC to find out where the bottle neck is. The gang of six Beaufort County Commissioners has shifted from one check to the other while they explained how important they are and why we need to spend 5 million dollars for new roof and remodeling county buildings, but nothing on saving our citizens money.

    I placed the flood map issue on the agenda, again, at the August meeting and hung as tough as I could while commissioners made every excuse under the sun to avoid doing anything. One rumor has it that the State of North Carolina has not even asked the Feds to present the maps to the county for approval. I heard things like "I am not going to vote for this because you (Hood) want it". Voters should watch this segment of the meeting to see how petty and un caring your elected officials are.

    The upshot of all of this is that the board is directing our paid lobbyist to find out where the bottle neck is so we can do something about it. Call the commissioners and complain about what this is costing you.