New flood maps offer a wealth of info

By Jennifer Learn-Andes jandes@timesleader.comLuzerne County Reporter

People who own property near any Luzerne County waterway should pay attention to new proposed flood maps because the results could help or hurt them in the wallet down the road, a county official said Thursday.

The new maps have added and removed property from flood zones along the more than 800 miles of water that flows through the county, said county Flood Protection Authority Executive Director Jim Brozena.

Mortgage lenders and the federal government use the maps to determine who must purchase flood insurance, which means some will be pleasantly surprised to learn that they don’t have to buy insurance anymore, while others will be forced to start paying, he said.

Municipalities also consult the maps to decide what land may be developed.

“This could have a major financial impact on property owners moving forward,” Brozena said. “The data is out there, so people should review it.”

The map updating, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is part of a national effort to switch from paper to digital maps.

Most of the county’s old paper maps date back to the 1970s. They identified waterways and roads but no individual structures, Brozena said.

The new maps use aerial photography, making it easy to pinpoint specific buildings, he said. The maps were prepared using light detection and ranging technology that measures elevation variations through light pulses from an aircraft.

National experts are pushing for data to be collected this way because it is precise, allowing computers to accurately project where water will flow during a flood, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The county is working with municipal officials to compare the old and new maps to identify which properties have been added and removed, he said. Brozena did not have an estimate on the number of changes.

Some of the old maps were missing streams and did not accurately factor in elevation, leaving some to question why their properties were lumped into flood zones, Brozena said.

All 76 municipalities received paper copies of the maps in October, and property owners are encouraged to review the maps at their municipality, Brozena said.

Copies are also available for public review at the County Engineer’s Office or County Planning Commission Office, he said.

Meetings were recently held with municipal leaders urging them to reach out to impacted property owners and identify any errors, Brozena said.

Municipalities must eventually pass ordinances adopting the new maps. The new maps will take effect in about a year, he said.

The final maps will be posted online, which could be particularly helpful for prospective buyers or developers who to check the flood status of properties, he said.

Jennifer Learn-Andes, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 831-7333.