FEMA Floodplain Insurance Rate Maps
FEMA has recently announced that the new Flood Rate Insurance Maps will become effective on July 17th, 2024. These maps affect the ordinances of York and Cumberland County towns and cities.
Communities who do not update their ordinance prior to this date will be suspended from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Participation in the NFIP provides protection to those members of your community who may be affected by flooding and allows your community to be eligible for disaster funding and low interest loans when York County is in a declared disaster area. This is all possible by way of your community’s commitment to adopt, administer, and enforce its floodplain ordinance and your commitment to regulate development within flood prone areas.
The Maine Floodplain Management Program (MFMP) provides technical assistance and resources for updating your ordinance. Your community should have received communication from them with guidance and a model ordinance for your adoption. Below are some of their resources:
- Maine Flood Hazard Map & How-To Guide - this is an interactive map which shows the most recent data available from FEMA alongside other Maine specific layers.
- FEMA Map Service Center How-To Guide - this guide will assist you with navigating FEMA's database of Floodplain data directly from FEMA.
- See also, How to Make a FIRMette on the Map Service Center
- Click here to go to the FEMA Map Service Center.
- FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer How-To Guide - this guide provides instructions for navigating the FEMA interactive flood hazard map viewer. Click here to go to the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer.
SMPDC Flood Insurance Rate Maps Webinar with MFMP - 2.13.2024
We hosted an informational webinar with staff from MFMP to provide an overview, answer questions, and highlight opportunities for incorporating flood resilience measures in your ordinance updates.