Update 9:50 a.m. 9/1: Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has canceled the floodplain map open house scheduled for 4 p.m. Thursday evening at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall due to inclement weather as a result of Tropical Storm Hermine. The open house scheduled for 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Concert Hall, 1050 A1A North, will still take place. Additional meetings will bescheduled in the near future.
St. Johns County residents have the chance this week to give input on proposed updates to the floodplain map, which shows areas with the highest risk of flooding.
St. Johns County Floodplain Manager James Schock said the changes are based on a recent coastal study.
“We have about 10,000 properties that are coming out of the flood zone and about 1,600 that are going in,” he said.
Schock said property owners need to know if they’ve been reclassified as high risk and are required to buy flood insurance.
“If they ever refinance their house or anything like that, the mortgage company will require flood insurance on those properties they now do not require flood insurance on," he said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and St. Johns County is holding three public open houses this week, when people can look at the new maps, learn about flood insurance and find out how to appeal a flood-risk designation they feel is in error.
Schock says FEMA will collect and review the comments and decide if changes to the new floodplain map are in order.
It could be another year before the new flood designations go into effect.
FLOODPLAIN MAP OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE:
- St Johns County Permit Center, 4040 Lewis Speedway: 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday.
- Ponte Vedra Concert Hall / 1050 A1A North: 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Thursday.
Reporter Cyd Hoskinson can be reached at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-66351 or on Twitter at @cydwjctnews
