The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that it will withdraw its controversial flood maps for Cumberland and York counties.
FEMA and coastal communities in the two counties will now begin discussing a newly developed program that would take a collaborative approach to identifying the risk of flooding and storm damage throughout an entire watershed.
FEMA announced its decision Friday during a telephone conference involving officials from several coastal communities and representatives of Maine’s congressional delegation.
Municipal officials said they are pleased by the news. Some, however, said they need time to understand the new process and the financial and time commitments that might be expected.
The issue affects thousands of properties in York and Cumberland counties. FEMA published the flood maps on Sept. 2, giving property owners 90 days to file appeals.
For many property owners in coastal and low-lying areas, the maps would have put their properties in flood zones, and required them to buy expensive flood insurance. They also would have faced more stringent standards for additions and new construction.
In some places, development would have been prohibited or construction standards would have become so expensive that new development would be impractical.
Municipal officials and property owners were frustrated that the proposed maps did not accurately represent the terrain or account for the protection offered by Maine’s jagged coastline, including islands, protected harbors, artificial barriers and underwater ledges.
Also, Maine doesn’t experience the severe storms that hit southern sections of the East Coast, said South Portland planner Stephen Puleo.
He said FEMA officials must have been impressed by the high level of engagement by residents and municipal leaders, and the civil way they approached the issue.
“It wasn’t torches and pitchforks,” he said. “It was well-organized and well-informed.”
The state’s congressional delegation was also involved.
Sen. Susan Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which has oversight over FEMA, was particularly influential.
In a letter to FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate on Sept. 23, Collins wrote that the failure to reflect local information in the proposed flood maps had put communities and residents in the “untenable position of appealing maps that FEMA already knows will require modification.”
FEMA’s withdrawal of the maps ended the appeals process.
Many of the communities hired Robert Gerber, an engineer for Sebago Technics in Westbrook, who specializes in computer modeling of environmental systems.
Gerber found that FEMA did not use accurate historical weather data, and that its computer models did not account for the ability of islands, underwater ledges and land formations to dampen ocean waves.
Portland was the first community to challenge FEMA, over the agency’s proposed map of Portland Harbor. The city became the leader in the push against FEMA’s proposed maps, Gerber said.
FEMA now wants to roll out Risk MAP, which stands for risk mapping, assessment and planning. Rather than simply create flood maps, FEMA would work with communities to create detailed local data.
According to FEMA documents, the approach provides a better flood-risk analysis because it encourages work across community boundaries and includes a comprehensive assessment of stream and tributary relationships throughout a watershed.
While the details must be worked out, the new approach is better than the previous one, said South Portland City Manager James Gailey.
“If these maps are junk, we want to stop the clock and work with the federal government collaboratively and make the best maps possible,” he said.
Staff Writer Tom Bell can be contacted at 791-6369 or at: tbell@pressherald.com
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