Staff from Rice University’s Baker Institute will host a wide-ranging discussion on new FEMA flood maps that could impact thousands of homeowners in Harris County.
HOUSTON — Staff from Rice University’s Baker Institute will host a wide-ranging discussion on new FEMA flood maps for Houston and Harris County.
Experts say the maps mean hundreds of thousands of families will likely have to buy flood insurance. Residents will be better informed—but some people still don’t know this information came out.
Matthew Oleksiak says some things attracted him to live in Willowbend.
“It’s a great place to live, just outside the flood zones, so it’s pretty good, didn’t flood during Harvey, happy about that,” Oleksiak said.
But the new FEMA map shows his home is now inside the flood zone.
“[I’m] mostly just surprised, I didn’t realize that the flood maps were getting revised and the revised maps had been released already,” Oleksiak said. He’s not the only one experiencing that change.
“There are literally going to be hundreds of thousands of families that are going to have to now go buy flood insurance that didn’t have to buy it before,” Bill King, a fellow at the Baker Institute and former mayor of Kemah will be one of the speakers in a Rice University conference called “Redrawing Risk.”
Oleksiak can recall an intersection at Cliffwood and Redstart Drive that was underwater during Hurricane Harvey. That same intersection is reflected in the new map as in the floodplain.
King says the new maps reflected changes in higher rainfalls, changes in landscape, and improvement in rain models.
The findings in these new maps are not all negative, he says.
“There were some places that were in the floodplain previously that are no longer in the floodplain because of work that we’ve done in those bayous,” King said.
The maps are still tentative though King says there won’t be substantial changes made before they are finally approved.
What homeowners like Oleksiak want is better communication.
“It’s interesting to see that even with all the work we’ve done, the balance is still tipping towards more flooding as opposed to less, at least here,” Oleksiak said.
You can view the map online here. Information about the Baker Institute conference can be found on the Rice University website. You can also livestream the event for free.
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