U.S. Water News Online
ATLANTA -- Many Georgia homeowners have learned the hard way recently that their property is not as safe from flooding as they once believed.
Flood plains have changed in many fast-growing counties, and state environmental officials are busy updating flood plain maps for all 159 counties.
As a result, some homeowners may soon find their homes are in a flood plain, and that the designation could cost hundreds of dollars in additional insurance costs each year.
The process of updating the flood plain maps is already under way in most of Georgia's fastest-growing counties, including Fulton, Cobb, Cherokee, Henry and Paulding.
For developers, the flood plain designation could bring additional costs and delays for building under stricter flood plain regulations.
Flood plains can shift and expand as developers clear-cut trees for buildings and roads. Homes become more vulnerable to rising water, making the old maps obsolete, officials say.
"With all the development going on, many flood plains shift within just a few years," said Collis Brown, flood plain management coordinator with the state Environmental Protection Division.
Many Georgians had their homes severely damaged by floods spawned by heavy rain from Hurricane Dennis.
Homeowner Sheldon Vick, who lives in south Cobb County, said he was "overwhelmed" as the rising water inundated his ranch-style house and those of his neighbors on Clay Road. Vick, 39, said he didn't get flood insurance when he bought his home last fall because he wasn't told that his property was in a flood plain.
"This was my first home," Vick said. "I'm not sure I'll be able to return to it."
Gov. Sonny Perdue has asked that parts of Cobb, Douglas and Cherokee counties be designated disaster areas because of the flooding, much of which was outside of mapped flood plains.
As mandated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the flood plain maps distinguish which properties lie within the 100-year flood plain -- meaning that they face a 1 percent chance of flooding in any given year. Cities and counties use the maps to help regulate flood plain development.
Homeowners in a flood plain must buy FEMA flood insurance with their mortgage. Homeowners without mortgages are urged to buy the insurance voluntarily.
The average flood insurance policy costs a little more than $400 a year for about $100,000 of coverage, according to FEMA.
Officials say about 70 percent of Georgia's map is outdated by as much as 20 years, according to officials.
"Given the rapid development in the metro Atlanta area, those maps can quickly become outdated," said Steve Haubner, principal engineer with the Atlanta Regional Commission.
Among the first to get notices that they now live in a flood plain will be a number of Henry County residents.
Over the next few years, other communities throughout Georgia will be going through a similar process.
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