Mississippi Town Ready To Adopt New Flood Maps

Ocean Springs, Mississippi appears ready to adopt the new flood maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) the Pascagoula Mississippi Press reported today. The town's Board of Aldermen passed a resolution saying that it intends to adopt FEMA's Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE) maps and add an additional one-foot elevation requirement.

Pending some fine-tuning of the ABFE maps, and a few additions to the ordinance, the Board of Aldermen said that they plan to formally accept FEMA's new elevation requirements at their next meeting on January 3. "Get the ordinance done and have the other stuff plugged in and give us something to vote on at the next meeting," Aldermen Greg Denyer was quoted as saying.

Ocean Springs appears to be the first local government to adopt the ABFE maps and their higher flood elevations. FEMA released the maps on November 18, and, "strongly urged" local governments to use them in rebuilding following Hurricane Katrina. However, many communities along the gulf coast have resisted adopting the higher elevations, contending that doing so would make rebuilding financial unfeasible.

See previous posts on the gulf coasts reaction to the new flood maps:
Gulf Coast Reacts To New Flood Maps
Mississippi Communities Continue To Resist Adhering To New Flood Maps