New flood insurance maps for Palm Beach County remain on hold as federal officials review appeals claiming that flood risks for thousands of properties in the central region of the county are overestimated.
The appeals, by Palm Beach County, plus West Palm Beach and other cities, are based largely on revised land and water elevation estimates in a study completed this spring by the South Florida Water Management District, said Ken Todd, Palm Beach County Water Resources Manager.
The revised estimates show that peak water elevations after a particularly severe storm would be lower than the Federal Emergency Management Agency estimated in areas affected by the C-51 canal, which runs through the middle of the county between Lake Okeechobee and the Lake Worth Lagoon.
“In a couple areas, it’s as much as a foot difference in water elevation levels. In other areas, it’s six inches,” Todd said.
The estimates apply to a storm so big it has just a 1 percent chance of hitting in a particular year.
The proposed revisions were submitted to FEMA in April. If approved, thousands of properties would be considered at lower risk of flooding and homeowners collectively would save “millions” of dollars on flood insurance premiums, Todd said.
Several cities filed individual appeals, along with the county and West Palm Beach, Todd said. He said he did not have documentation of which cities appealed on their own, but a report issued by FEMA in 2014 said the C-51 canal affects West Palm Beach, Cloud Lake, Glen Ridge, Greenacres, Haverhill, Lake Clarke Shores, Lake Worth, Loxahatchee Groves, Palm Springs, Royal Palm Beach, and Wellington, along with unincorporated areas.
Affected properties are located not just adjacent to the canal, but throughout the network of secondary canals, tertiary ditches and drainage pipes. “It’s probably the largest basin within Palm Beach County,” Todd said.
Jody Cottrill, spokeswoman for FEMA’s Southeastern District, said the agency is awaiting information requested from the county about the appeals. The agency’s final determination could be sent to the county and its 31 municipalities by late fall or early winter, Cottrill said. The new flood map will take effect six months after the letters are issued.
While the appeal process is underway, flood insurance rates in Palm Beach County remain based on a flood zone map in use since the 1980s. That’s to the benefit of thousands of property owners because the proposed new map, released to the public in 2014, added 62,041 properties to flood zones while removing just 35,891.
By contrast, Broward County‘s new flood insurance map, finalized in 2014, removed about 266,000 parcels from mandatory flood insurance zones while adding just 31,000.
Properties with mortgages from federally regulated or insured lenders must purchase flood insurance if FEMA’s map determines they are inside flood zones affected by a 1 percent-annual-chance storm.
Properties outside such flood zones aren’t required to carry insurance, although insurance experts note that 25 percent of claims paid by the National Flood Insurance Program have been for properties outside mandatory flood insurance zones. Traditional property insurance does not cover flood damage.
