Flood Map Upsets Residents: More Money For Flood Insurance Each Year

Joe Sapienza wouldn’t wish what happened to him on anyone. The 67-year-old has lived in his South River Road home since 2000 and not once in seven years has his home been damaged by flooding.

The retired marina owner, whose home is more than a block from the nearest natural water source, was surprised to find out that the Federal Emergency Management Agency notified him that his home had recently been included in the agency’s newly revised flood plain map.

This decision comes at a great cost. Once the federal government has determined a property is in a flood plain, the homeowner is required to purchase flood insurance. In Joe’s case this means he has to pay an extra $458 per year. It’s been a year since Joe received his notice and he is still trying to prove that his house is on a high enough level to be outside the flood plain.

Complaints like Joe’s aren’t new, each time FEMA redraws its flood maps, the line stating who is in and who is out gets moved. For Macomb County residents, the changes are exasperating, the real estate market is already aligned against sellers - adding more costs for potential buyers seems like a death sentence.

Flood plains can change for numerous reasons, most common is development of the land. Adding more impervious surfaces in a municipality increases the amount of runoff - water that can’t soak into the ground - and ultimately expands the flood plain.

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