Feds propose new flood maps for Morgan, Limestone

Jan. 05--Hundreds of property owners in Morgan and Limestone counties could face buying flood insurance as a result of proposed new federal flood zone maps.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has released preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps that show potential flood hazard areas in each county. The owner of a property not currently in a flood zone could be required to buy flood insurance if the proposed new flood zone includes that property.

Property owners have less than three months to contest the federal government's revised flood zones in both counties. A 90-day comment and appeal period began after a Dec. 28 legal ad was published in local newspapers.

More than 400 structures in unincorporated Morgan County that are not in a flood zone are proposed to be moved into a flood zone, according to Morgan County Engineer Greg Bodley. Some properties are proposed to be moved out of a flood zone.

"I think we're getting more in" the flood zone in the new maps, Bodley said.

Bodley said most of the structures added to a flood zone in the preliminary maps are homes. Large areas affected include the Cave Springs area of Priceville, Iron Man south of Alabama 36, and the Cotaco/Florette area, he said.

The last comprehensive update of Morgan County's flood zone maps was done in 2005.

Limestone County Assistant County Engineer Marc Massey said that some properties would be placed in a flood zone in the new maps and some would be taken out. But he added that most of the existing flood zones, adopted in 2009, will shrink in the proposed maps.

"The changes are not huge," he said. "It will just make the maps more accurate."

Wally Terry, Decatur's director of development, said most of the Decatur property proposed to be moved into a flood zone is vacant land.

"We didn't have a significant change that I saw," he said.

The 90-day appeal period is the time for property owners to raise objections if their property is proposed to be included in a flood zone, said Wanda Ervin, an environmental engineering senior specialist in the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs' Office of Water Resources.

The proposed flood maps for Morgan County are available for viewing in the Decatur Building Department on the fourth floor of City Hall; the city halls of Hartselle, Priceville, Falkville, Somerville and Trinity; and the Morgan County Engineering Department in Hartselle.

In Limestone County, the proposed maps are available at Athens' Engineering and Community Development Department, Ardmore Town Hall, Limestone County Engineering Department, Decatur Building Department, Madison's Engineering Department and Huntsville City Hall.

The maps can be found online at adeca.alabama.gov/floods and https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/prelimdownload.

Bodley said county officials are trying to decide how to notify the public of proposed changes in the county's flood maps. Possibilities include direct mail, the media or a public meeting, he said.

Terry and Massey said Decatur and Limestone County, respectively, do not plan to directly notify affected property owners of a change in their flood zone status.

Ervin said it is up to each community to notify property owners of any changes. She said ADECA will help local governments hold a public meeting if they wish.

"It's really up to the community if it wants to have a public meeting," Ervin said.

keith.clines@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438. Twitter @DD_KeithClines.

___

(c)2017 The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.)

Visit The Decatur Daily (Decatur, Ala.) at www.decaturdaily.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.