Politics & Government

FEMA Changes Flood Zone Classifications for 50 Brick Properties

Highest risk zones come with high flood insurance costs, regulations

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has removed over 50 structures across Brick Township from the high-risk V-zone designation on their preliminary work maps.

The maps are utilized by the National Flood Insurance Program to determine flood insurance rates; structures in a "V," or "velocity," zone must adhere to not only elevation standards but also costly structural requirements such as a piling foundation.

Mayor John Ducey said the township was successful on many of the appeals that it filed and received a technical response from FEMA with details about opportunities to appeal further. The township is currently reviewing other areas and properties to determine if additional changes to flood classifications can be made.

Ducey credited the township's engineering department and flood plain manager and their "aggressive approach" toward getting improperly classified properties out of the highest-risk zones.

“We will continue to work with our state and federal officials to minimize the impact that changes to these maps and the corresponding flood insurance rates will have on our residents,” said Ducey, in a statement.

The Preliminary Work Maps, with the aforementioned changes, will be available next week for review at www.region2coastal.com. Visitors can scroll over ‘coastal flood study’ and click on ‘what is my BFE’ for more information.


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