UPDATE: (Tuesday, 10 a.m.) Annapolis residents living in what the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) deems the city flood zone may soon find themselves living adjacent to it.
FEMA's new, more accurate Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map will be finalized Oct. 16. Matthew Shanks, Annapolis' chief of code enforcement, said it's important for city residents to review this new map because they may find their homes inside the newly redrawn flood zone.
"For those individuals that currently fall outside of the flood zone, if they obtain their insurance now while they are still outside the flood zone, they will get a preferred rate," Shanks said. "They will not be paying the flood zone rate; they will pay the grandfathered rate."
About 1,500 residents live in or within 20 feet of the flood zone, said Maria Broadband, Annapolis' director of .
"To get that insurance is terribly important," Broadband said.
According to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), residents who find themselves in the flood zone will likely qualify for the NFIP Preferred Risk Policy (PRP), "which covers buildings and their contents for as little as $129 for the first year."
Residents can renew the PRP for the first two years. After that, people living in the flood zone will qualify for standard rates associated with moderate-to-low risk zones.
"This could add up to significant savings because otherwise, the property will be rated using the high-risk flood zone on the new map," according to NFIP.
The city has scheduled an informational meeting for residents from 2-8 p.m. Aug. 6 at the at 273 Hilltop Ln.
Representatives from the city, FEMA, Maryland's Department of the Environment (MDE) and Maryland Envrionmental Service (MES) will be at the meeting.
"The purpose is to assist the residents with on-site computers to determine if their property is in a flood zone, what flood zone they are in and how they can get insurance," Shanks said.
Officials will make presentations at 2 and 6 p.m.—both covering the same material.
Want to know where your property lies on the new map? Click here to see the new maps from FEMA. Or you can click here to use Maryland's outreach website for this issue.
