BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Hundreds of Brevard County homeowners suddenly found out their properties are located in a flood zone, despite the fact they have never flooded.
9 Investigates discovered residents along the coast are now facing the hefty cost of having to buy flood insurance. Investigative reporter Christopher Heath discovered even city leaders say this shouldn't be happening.
"This is a map of Three Meadows," Rockledge resident Susan Habenicht told Heath during an interview this week.
For the first time in a decade of living in Rockledge, Habenicht is paying for flood insurance.
"It's very upsetting," she said. "I'm a single mother of three and I can barely pay my mortgage now, and I don't know how I'm going to pay my mortgage."
And she's not alone. Almost two dozen homes in her neighborhood are facing the same cost.
"This neighborhood has been tested and there has never been a flood here," said fellow resident Chris Leffler.
Leffler was here for Tropical Storm Fay back in the summer of 2008, and never even faced pooling water.
"Twenty-two inches in three days, and unscathed as far as flooding is concerned," Leffler told Heath.
It's not even the entire neighborhood that's in the floodplain, Heath pointed out. He found houses on one side of a street are listed in the floodplain, but across the street, the entire block is outside the floodplain.
For the last three years, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been re-certifying floodplains. In Rockledge alone, 16 neighborhoods were suddenly added to flood zones, with little explanation, Heath discovered.
Residents just received a letter telling them they needed flood insurance.
"For two decades they've been outside the flood zone?" Heath asked Rockledge planning director Don Griffin.
Yes, since '89," Griffin said.
Griffin has been working with FEMA. He's managed to get 15 of the neighborhoods removed from the flood zones.
But not Susan Habenicht's.
"If they were to flood, there are a whole bunch of places in Florida that are going to be flooding," Griffin said.
FEMA has offered residents two options: They can either pay for their own survey and pay to re-submit the data, at a cost of at least $1,000; or they can continue to pay hundreds of dollars a month extra for flood insurance.
9 Investigates was still waiting to hear back from FEMA officials to hear their explanation for the sudden floodplain changes in Rockledge.
FEMA response to 9 Investigates story:
Hi Chris,
I hope I'm not too late getting this information to you— my apologies on the delay. I have attached two publications that provide more detail about how communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program adopt Flood Insurance Rate Maps. (Document 1 | Document 2) I also recommend you also visit http://www.fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program and www.floodsmart.gov. Both have a lot of good information on flood mapping and insurance. If you have any additional questions, let me know.
- How were these properties (people) put into flood zones?
FEMA worked closely with Brevard County and the state of Florida to update their Flood Insurance Rate Maps, and those maps are effective for flood insurance rating purposes as of March 2014.
- What data FEMA used to make that decision?
FEMA uses the latest available data from a variety of resources to update flood maps. Updated maps incorporate changes in topography, changes in water flow and drainage patterns—all of these can change dramatically because of surface erosion, land use (new development), and natural forces. In addition, FEMA always accepts additional, validated flood hazard information from property owners and communities so the flood risk is most accurately depicted.
Here is some additional background information you may find helpful:
As a result of updated FIRMs, some property owners will see that their risk of flooding has changed. The effects on residents will vary. Some floodplains will increase and some will decrease in size. For some, their property may be mapped into a high-risk flood area. This can mean that federally-regulated mortgage lenders may require flood insurance for buildings newly designated as being in a high risk flood zone. Other property owners might see that their flood risk has been reduced, although the lender may still require flood insurance. Maintaining flood insurance is still strongly recommended since the flood risk has not been eliminated just reduced.
WFTV
