![]() ![]() “Floods don’t wait for new maps,” he said. ![]() Most property owners will be contacted by their mortgage provider after FEMA’s new flood insurance rate maps go into effect, Mast said, but they don’t have to wait. Properties with federally backed mortgages located within a floodplain are required to have flood insurance. What do the new maps mean for my property?īecause the new boundaries take into account recent data, residential property and businesses that have not been located in the floodplain in the past may now be in it, and vice versa, said Brian Mast, the river authority’s government affairs manager.Ĭapital improvement projects have shrunk the floodplain in some areas, he said, while new rainfall data, updated topography and new development have expanded other boundaries. The maps, which can be difficult for the layperson to decipher - hence the open houses - shows risk levels through different color blues and various hash marks. The river authority’s draft maps outline areas that would be inundated during a 100-year flood - a flooding event that statistically has a 1% chance of occurring in any given year. Insurance companies and lenders then use flood maps to determine flood insurance requirements and policy costs. FEMA defines a floodplain as “any land area susceptible to being inundated by floodwaters from any source.”īut officials from FEMA on down emphasize that flooding can happen anywhere the maps simply show where a community is most at risk of flooding. In the 1960s, to help communities understand their risk of flooding, the federal government instituted a national flood insurance program and began creating flood maps. ![]() “Where that really comes into play is at low water crossings people can get caught by surprise, especially if it’s dark, by how fast that water moves. “Our floods tends to be faster moving than places we see in the news a lot,” Cavazos said. Credit: Courtesy / San Antonio River Authority San Antonio lies near the tail end of what’s known “Flash Flood Alley,” which stretches from the top of the state to Medina County. The city’s rich history has been shaped by past floods - from the tragic flood of 1921 that destroyed the city’s West Side and killed 51 people, to the 100-year flood in 1998, during which much of downtown was spared severe damage thanks to a $10 million river tunnel completed just 10 months earlier. Flash Flood Alley is one of the most flood-prone regions in North America.Īnyone who has lived in San Antonio for any length of time knows flash flooding is as common to the area as drought. San Antonio lies in the middle of what’s known as “Flash Flood Alley,” a ribbon of the state from Dallas to Uvalde that consists of shallow soil, steep terrain and a lot of rainfall - when it’s not in drought (which paradoxically, can exacerbate flood conditions). Meanwhile, the river authority does its own outreach, which it’s beginning now to give the community plenty of time to review the maps. “Then they go through a very formal process of creating the flood insurance rate maps based on our data,” Cavazos said.Īfter it has created those, FEMA then launches its own process, issuing preliminary maps that go before the public, which then has 90 days to comment or appeal before the publication of finalized maps.įrom start to finish, the whole process can take 18 to 24 months, Cavazos said. To begin the process of updating it for the whole county (as opposed to the small day-to-day changes it makes regularly), the river authority first draws up a draft for FEMA, which it recently submitted. “In this case, the biggest driver was that the National Weather Service and released updated rainfall estimates.”Īs a “cooperating technical partner” of FEMA, the river authority is the official maintainer of Bexar County’s floodplain maps. While FEMA is required to review its flood insurance rate maps every five years, “there’s no set schedule for how often we update the maps,” said Erin Cavazos, a senior engineer with the river authority. “The new maps seem to be more accurate,” he said, “so I was glad to see that.” He seemed unbothered by that fact, but appreciative of the information. Nichols, who owns an investment property on the northwest side of the city and who works as a real estate developer and construction manager, told the San Antonio Report he had seen social media ads for the meetings, and had marked the first one on his calendar to see how his property might be affected.Īccording to the maps, Nichols’ property, which is undeveloped, is in the floodplain. ![]()
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