FEMA maps missed parts of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene, Post analysis shows

The Washington Post ^ | Updated October 13, 2024 at 10:18 a.m. EDT|Published October 13, 2024 at 6:00 a.m. EDT | Kevin Crowe , Shannon Osaka and John Muyskens

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The federal government’s flood maps, which are used nationwide to signal areas vulnerable to inundation, vastly underestimated the flood risk faced by properties in the parts of North Carolina devastated by Hurricane Helene, according to data analyzed by The Washington Post.

The analysis of flood risk data from First Street, a climate modeling group, found that just 2 percent of properties in the mountainous counties of western North Carolina fall inside areas marked as having a special risk of flooding. That “Special Flood Hazard Area” designation, which compels homeowners to buy flood insurance if they want to get a federally-backed mortgage, indicates where the Federal Emergency Management Agency sees a risk of a 1-in-100-year flood. Scientists consider that zone, which amounts to a 1 percent chance of flooding in a given year, as facing significant danger.

In those mountainous areas, according to a Post analysis of First Street’s data, the number of properties at risk could be seven times higher than what FEMA flood maps indicate.

The discrepancy shows how the agency’s maps — which rely only on floods observed in the past and don’t take into account flooding from heavy rain, small streams and tributaries, or climate change’s future impact — can fall short when assessing current risks in a wetter, hotter world.

Hurricane Helene devastated the Appalachians late last month, dropping huge amounts of rainfall on mountain towns many thought were safe from extreme weather. The torrential precipitation obliterated roads, cut off communication systems, and left homes far from coastal areas flooded and destroyed.

In Buncombe County, where rising waters swamped areas like Asheville and Swannanoa, First Street’s maps show a much larger area of flood risk than the FEMA maps. About 2,100 properties out of about 125,000...

[WeaslesRippedMyFlesh]

Post analysis?

We moved on?

Thought still in the middle of the disaster?

[C210N]

FEMA maps don’t account for HAARP

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I was going to say the same thing but I am tired of getting harassed by the weather modification deniers.

[frank ballenger]

Dems always ignore flyover country filled with conservative types. After they destroy the Electoral College watch for a lot of that.

[ComputerGuy]

The insurance companies will be raising rates, without a doubt.

[Ninaq]

Maybe they should have used the taxpayer money to do better assessments, rather than focus on illegals.

[sjmjax]

That is unfortunately not their mindset nor priority.
Elections have consequences.
Often very large consequences.

[C210N]

If only that applied just to weather modification.

Applies to a thousand other things...

[C210N]

I am tired of getting harassed by the weather modification deniers.

Getting flak is the sign of being over the target.

[fruser1]

"don’t take into account flooding from heavy rain"

Which was what happened in NC.

If they did account for heavy rain, everywhere would be a flood zone.

[meyer]

It’s an ongoing event - why the past tense?

And you know who won’t miss anything - cajun Navy, Samaritan’s Purse, and several local power companies.

[piasa]

If they looked at the past there is always the Great Flood of 1916.

[Jeff Chandler]

https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/ee/53/36/ac05709c93ba8f/US20030085296A1.pdf

[Colorado Doug]

The company that this article relies upon for its data is all about pushing new maps based on climate hysteria. Always follow the money. Only 6.76 years left.

[FoxInSocks]

Washington Post analysis is what they mean, not “post” as in “after.”

[meatloaf]

Flood maps are based on a statistical analysis. The hypothetical 100 year flood is the standard.

I lived in an Appalachian county that had three floods above the 100 year level in less than 100 years.

The 1985 flood which is the flood of record for much of the Northeast was calculated to be a 2,200 year flood.

I have no doubt insurance companies would love to sell insurance policies to all of the properties out of the 100 year flood plain that flooded in 1985.

The worse possible flood is a probable maximum flood (PMF). Only one of those has occurred in the entire northern hemisphere. A PMF is orders of magnitude worse than the 1985 flood.

The only recorded PMF was in WV in the late 1800s. Note that was long before we kicked off global warming by dumping plant food into the atmosphere.