FEMA Updates Flood Maps For Sarasota County

SARASOTA COUNTY, FL — A series of open houses about the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s new flood insurance rate maps for Sarasota County are scheduled, according to a county news release. The new maps go into effect March 27.

County property owners are invited to the public meetings to learn about their flood risk, the newly updated flood insurance rate maps and how individual properties may be impacted by the changes.

• Feb. 14, 4 to 7 p.m., Fruitville Library, 100 Apex Road, Sarasota (public meeting with city and county representatives)
• Feb. 28, 4 to 7 p.m., Frances T. Bourne Jacaranda Library, 4143 Woodmere Park Blvd., Venice (public meeting with city and county representatives)
• March 13, 5 to 6 p.m., online presentation held virtually over Zoom (ID 832 9202 7798)

View the maps at scgov.net/floodmaps and visit the interactive map for more information.

The new maps will include a Limit of Moderate Wave Action (LiMWA) line. Post-storm field visits and laboratory tests throughout coastal flood hazard areas have consistently confirmed that wave heights as low as 1.5 feet can cause significant damage to structures that are constructed without considering coastal hazards, the county said.

This LiMWA line is the inland limit of the area expected to receive 1.5 foot or greater breaking waves during the 1 percent annual chance flood event.

FEMA's previous maps only had two coastal flood zones: VE Zones, where the flood elevation includes wave heights equal to or greater than 3 feet, and AE Zones, where the flood elevation includes wave heights less than 3 feet.

Flood risks change due to construction and development growth, environmental impacts, floodplains widening or shifting and other factors over time, the county said. FEMA's flood insurance rate maps are updated periodically to reflect these changes.