Follow-up to New Hillsborough County Flood Maps

New Flood Maps Have Now Taken Effect

As of Aug. 28, Hillsborough County's new flood maps have become official for flood insurance and development purposes. This process of updating the County's new flood maps, which has been going on for the past ten years, is part of a required update of flood maps across the United States. The last time the maps were formally updated in Hillsborough County was 1992 and some parts of the County have not been updated since 1980.
In all, approximately 18,000 properties moved into the high-risk flood zone for the first time and approximately 17,000 properties moved out of the high-risk flood zone. With these updates, more than 78,000 properties in Hillsborough County are now in the high-risk flood zone.
If residents have property that has moved into a high-risk area with the Countys new flood maps, they will now likely be required to have a flood insurance policy. Most mortgage lenders will require that they have such a policy as part of their loan agreement, if their structure is in the boundary of the flood zone. If affected residents have not yet been contacted by their lender, they probably will be in the coming months.
Property owners can view the new official maps online at:



http://www.hillsboroughcounty.org/pgm/hazardmit/floodMap/mapviewer.cfm



Users can search the maps by address or property folio number.
If residents still feel the flood map boundaries are incorrect on their property, they can apply for a Letter of Map Amendment from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) is a federal document that identifies that there should be no flood insurance requirement placed on the mortgage holder's structure because the primary structure and all attached areas (screen enclosures, garages, etc.) are out of the high-risk area. To learn more about the LOMA process, you can contact FEMAs Map Assistance Center at 1-877-336-2627 or visit the following FEMA website:



http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/ot_lmreq.shtm


The update of these maps is one of the County's many floodplain management activities. These activities are reviewed on an annual basis by the National Flood Insurance Program and result in residents receiving discounted flood insurance rates. Currently, residents within the unincorporated county receive a combined $5 million dollars in discounts annually on their flood insurance rates due to the Countys efforts.
For more information about this process, residents can visit the Flood Map website listed above or contact their lender, insurance agent or the Countys Building Services Division at (813) 307-4510.