DENTON, Texas – Revised Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate maps are ready for residents and business owners in four Saline County communities to review. Those communities include Alexander, Bauxite, Benton and Bryant.
Residents are encouraged to examine the maps to decide whether they need to buy flood insurance. Additionally, the flood maps allow residents and community leaders to make informed decisions about future building and development.
A team of local and state government officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency worked together to develop the revised preliminary maps.
The public can submit comments and appeals until July 5, 2017.
Appeals are formal objections to proposed base flood elevations or flood depths. They can also be made to Special Flood Hazard Areas boundaries and zones, or floodways. Appeals must be based on technical data showing proposed maps to be scientifically incorrect. Anyone making an appeal must include the method, data and analysis used to support the claim.
Comments are objections to a base map feature change such as labels, incorrect roads or jurisdictional boundaries. The public can send comments and appeals to their local floodplain administrator, who will forward them to FEMA for final resolution.
To see the revised flood maps, please contact the local floodplain administrator. Residents can also visit
http://maps.riskmap6.com/AR/Saline/. An online live flood map chat service is available at go.usa.gov/r6C. To contact a FEMA map specialist, call 1-877-FEMA MAP (1-877-336-2627), or send an email to FEMAMapSpecialist@riskmapcds.com.
The next step is the resolution of all the comments and appeals. When that is complete, FEMA will notify communities of the effective date of the final maps.
When a flood risk is identified, the next step is to consider purchasing a flood policy. Flood insurance is available through the National Flood Insurance Program. Contacting a local insurance agent is the first step to gather information about insurance. For more information on the National Flood Insurance Program, contact the NFIP Call Center at 1-800-621-3362, Option #2.
FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards. Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/femaregion6 and the FEMA Blog at http://blog.fema.gov.