Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
2 <br />FEMA has designated the State of North Carolina as a Cooperating Technical State (CTS). <br />The State has assumed primary responsibility for the FEMA NFIP mapping for all North <br />Carolina communities, including Orange County. North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program <br />has prepared new FIRM panels for the Cape Fear and Roanoke Basin streams in Orange <br />County. They are now available from the Planning Department. <br />The county's interest in the proper management of floodplain areas has fostered an interest in <br />the Federal Emergency Management Administrations (FEMA) Community Rating System <br />(CRS) through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides federally flood <br />insurance backing to private property owners. CRS is a voluntary program for local government <br />to encourage, enact, and enforce floodplain regulations and documents past and present <br />county regulatory history, which could take our efforts to a higher level or compliance and <br />awareness. The CRS recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities <br />that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. As a result, flood insurance premium rates can be <br />discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the <br />three goals of the CRS: (1) reduce flood losses; (2) facilitate accurate insurance rating; and (3) <br />promote the awareness of flood insurance. <br />Benefits that communities can expect from participation in the CRS program may include the <br />following: <br />1. Reduced privately held flood insurance premiums, <br />2. Enhanced public safety, <br />3. Reduction in damage to property and public infrastructure, <br />4. Avoidance of economic disruption and human suffering, <br />5. More comprehensive environmental protection, <br />6. Orange County can evaluate the effectiveness of its flood program against national <br />benchmarks, <br />7. Added incentive to maintain other watershed protections, <br />8. Enhanced quality of life, and <br />9. Qualification for certain federal assistance programs. <br />In a coordinated effort with the new FIRM preparation, FEMA and the North Carolina <br />Emergency Management (NCEM) — Mitigation Division are encouraging Orange County to <br />participate in the CRS program. On December 14, 2004, letters, under the County Manager's <br />signature, were sent to the Region IV FEMA Community Mitigation Program and to the North <br />Carolina Division of Emergency Management, Floodplain Management Branch to, "Initiate the <br />formal process to participate in the NF.IP's CRS." In response to our initiative, FEMA responded <br />with a letter to confirm a Community Assistance Visit (CAV) during the week of February 21. As <br />a follow up to the letter, FEMA Region V and NCEM staff scheduled a CAV on February 22 and <br />23. Our last CAV was on June 21, 1995. <br />A summary of the CAV recommendations include the following three items: <br />1. Orange County should adopt the revised flood damage prevention ordinance. (The State <br />of North Carolina has drafted a model ordinance, which would re -enact and continue the <br />existing law. Staff has adapted the NC model to the existing ordinance text.) <br />2. Within the basic flood zone, county zoning and building inspectors should require base <br />flood elevation (BFE) and lowest floor elevation (LFE) data for each new structure and <br />repair and expansion of existing buildings, and require a surveyed plot plan to establish <br />building improvement locations and elevations, if floodplains are involved. <br />,. a ••';>ttiztxcs.,::,:r::: �;'C :.. , ;`; _. < <br />.5:� 2'ata�: ,t f a_e ga ai'e ; ar.un <br />