Representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will host a Flood Map Information Open House for communities in Wright County on Tuesday, Aug. 2. The public open house will be conducted from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in Room 1105 of the Wright County Government Center (3650 Braddock Ave. NE, Buffalo). The open house will be preceded by a meeting for elected officials, community officials and staff and community consultants from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the same location.
The open house will give residents a chance to review preliminary versions of the recently completed Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report and its accompanying preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).
The FIS and the FIRMs provide base flood (also known as the 1 percent annual-chance event) information, designate areas that are subject to significant flood hazards within county and offer information that public officials may use to guide development in the floodplain.
At the open house, representatives from various local, state, and federal agencies will provide the most current information about flood risk, flood insurance, floodplain development regulations, and the process for floodplain mapping within Wright County. The newly prepared preliminary floodplain maps can also be reviewed at the meeting. Once the maps become effective, they will be used as the basis for flood insurance ratings as well as local flood protection regulations adopted under the National Flood Insurance Program. FEMA also intends that they be used as tools to assist planning processes and outreach efforts to quickly respond to and recover from future events.
Property owners, realtors, lenders, and insurance agents are urged to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about flood risk and hazard mitigation within their community. Digital files of the Preliminary FIRM and FIS report can be downloaded from www.fema. gov/ preliminaryfloodhazarddata.
If you need a reasonable accommodation (sign language interpreters, Braille, CART, etc.), please send an e-mail to FEMA-Region5-Floodlnsurance0utreach@fe ma.dhs.gov at least 48 hours before the event. Last minute requests will be accepted but may not be possible to fulfill.
For more information, contact the FEMA News Desk at FEMA-R5-News-Desk@fema.dhs. gov.