Why are my community and other Mississippi coastal communities getting new flood hazard maps?
Flood hazard maps, also known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) or Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs), are important tools in protecting lives and property in the coastal communities of Mississippi. They indicate the risk for flooding throughout the coastal area. However, the previously effective maps—the FIRMs—had become out of date. Some formerly rural areas were never mapped in sufficient detail, and other areas have not been re-mapped in more than 25 years. Over time, water flow and drainage patterns had changed dramatically due to surface erosion, land use, and natural forces. The likelihood of inland, riverine, and coastal flooding in some areas had changed, as shown by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Therefore, a restudy and re-mapping project was undertaken as part of the ongoing nationwide collaborative effort to update flood hazard and risk data nationwide. Through this effort, called “Flood Map Modernization,” FEMA develops and distributes the data in a digital format
