HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — If you are a Henrico County resident, you might be at a higher risk of experiencing flooding than you were before. That’s why the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has recently made changes to the county’s flood hazard maps.
Flooding can cause extreme damage, especially in areas that are not sufficiently prepared to deal with these natural emergencies. By updating these maps, FEMA is helping to better equip Henrico residents.
7,000 homes, businesses and vacant buildings in the county will be affected by these new flood map changes.
The reexamined floodplain maps will provide residents with the most recent information about the flood risk in the area they live in. The areas will either fall under low, medium or high flood risk.
Kristin Owen, Henrico County’s floodplain and dam safety manager, said new residents that were not previously mapped as living in a flood-prone area will have some new regulations to deal with when developing on their property. In addition, some people might be required to purchase flood insurance, depending on the area.
“It can help you prepare and see where on your property you may have flooding…and then you can make a preparedness plan to determine if flood insurance is necessary for you,” she said about the new flood maps.
High-risk areas are decided based on the 100-year floodplain, which includes areas with 1% annual chance of flooding. This means it could flood once or multiple times a year in one area.
Moderate risk areas, on the other hand, fall under the 500-year floodplain. Anything outside of that is considered a low-risk area – the risk of flooding is low but still present.
Residents in flood risk areas can get national flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program to cover them in case they are affected by flooding.
Andrea Cannizzaro is a Henrico resident who has Hungary Creek in her backyard. She said that she has lived in this house for seven years and during that time, has experienced multiple instances of extreme flooding. The water from the creek has reached halfway up her backyard, even getting to the front yard and taking out a neighbor’s wood fence.
Cannizzaro said that, while she fortunate to not have experienced any flood damage to her home, it has gotten dangerously close, almost reaching the house from the back. She said that she and her boyfriend rent the house and do not have flood insurance, although they have considered it, especially during instances of extreme flooding.
“It is something we have to worry about. The other day when it rained really hard, I said to my boyfriend, ‘You know, it might flood back there,’” she said.
Owen said the Henrico County Department of Public Works will be reaching out to affected residents soon. Changes to flood insurance requirements will start on April 25.
More information about FEMA’s flood maps can be found on the agency’s website.
