Area residents and business owners can see how their property may be classified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) now that the N.C. Flood Risk Information System has released the first version of new coastal floodplain maps for Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties.
 
Maps for other coastal counties will be released later, according to an email from Spencer Rogers of the N.C. Sea Grant program office in Wilmington. Rogers explained that FEMA gave North Carolina flood mapping authority for the state after Hurricane Floyd hit the North Carolina coast in 1999.

The maps are available online here. After selecting a county, users can click on a square “panel” to see current and preliminary flood zone for that area by choosing “Effective” or “Preliminary” from a menu on the top, right of the screen.
 
“Toggling between the two allows direct comparison of the present and proposed maps,” Rogers said in the email.

“The maps will be subject to a 90-day public review by the local communities and public comment,” Rogers said. “After the comment period expires, any revision to the maps will be considered. After any proposed revisions are reviewed and remapped, the maps will only take effect when adopted and implemented by the local government.”

When the maps are final, FEMA sends each affected local government entity a letter of final determination stating that a new Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) will become effective in six months. Any community that does not adopt its new FIRM ceases to be in good standing with FEMA will be automatically be dropped from the National Flood Insurance Plan and existing flood policies will not be renewable, according to the FEMA website.