 | Welcome to the Flood Zone is a nationally distributed resource for those interested in flood zone issues, land surveying, real estate, history, and educational opportunities. This newsletter has been proudly featured by the Association of State Floodplain Managers, the National Society of Professional Surveyors, and the Maine and New Hampshire Floodplain Management Programs. Please feel free to share with your friends and colleagues! If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter, simply click the unsubscribe link in the footer of this message. | In this Issue of Welcome to the Flood Zone: Maine NFIP Corner: "NFIP Resources for Regions 1 & 2 Flooding", "FEMA Has Just Released an Updated Elevation Certificate & Dry Floodproofing Certificate", and "Elevation Certificate Training Opportunities"
Real Estate Corner: Maine Real Estate Continuing Education
In the News: "As East Harlem Waits for Infrastructure Projects to Mitigate Flood Risk, Residents Are Creating Their Own Solutions" and "Pinellas County Earns Improved Class 2 Rating from National Flood Insurance Program"
Resources: "Community Rating System" and "Local Mitigation Planning Handbook"
Climate Corner: "Climate Change is Making the Way We Talk About Flood Risk Outdated" Banner Image: Flooding in downtown Montpelier, Vermont, on July 11, 2023. Image by John Tully from "Northeast storms dump over 2 months’ worth of rain on Vermont: Live weather updates" (The Washington Post, July 11, 2023). | FEMA Has Just Released an Updated Elevation Certificate & Dry Floodproofing Certificate FEMA has released new versions of the Elevation Certificate and the Floodproofing Certificate, which have been approved and should be used going forward through 06/30/2026. There is no grace period for the old form. Any form signed and dated as of July 7, 2023, must be on the latest FEMA Elevation Certificate Form. The new forms can be downloaded from FEMA’s website. Note: If you get a “Please Wait” error when trying to download the new Elevation Certificate form, it’s due to some incompatibility issues with the alternative PDF viewer used by certain browsers.
Here’s a work around:
Right click on the Download File link and select “save link as”
Save it to your PC
Once it’s on your PC, you should be able to open it. Below are resources to learn more about the specific revisions made, and additional guidance for use of the new forms. FEMA 7/7/23 Memo and Guidance to Insurance Agents about New Elevation Certificate
FEMA Understanding Elevation Certificates Fact Sheet (March 2023) | Elevation Certificate Training Opportunities On August 9 (2-4 pm ET), FEMA will walk members through the newly released Elevation Certificate. Instruction will include reviewing the newly added sections (H and I), the expanded form sections and more detailed instruction pages. This webinar is approved for 2 CECs for CFMs. Click here to Register for the August 9 training. On August 10 (11-12:30 ET), FEMA will walk members through the newly released Floodproofing Certificate. Instruction will include reviewing the revised format, which requires separate certification of building design, elevation, and construction; and the separate sections to certify the design, as-built elevation, and confirm performance standards. This webinar is approved for 1.5 CECs for CFMs. Click here to register for the August 10 training. Space is limited to 1,000 attendees per webinar, so please register early. These webinars will not be recorded. | Real Estate Corner Maine Real Estate Continuing Educaiton For the past 10 years, Nadeau Land Surveys has been teaching Maine Real Estate Commission-approved continuing education courses for real estate licensees under the company name Beyond the Boundary. We are pleased to announce our most popular land surveying and flood course is now available through Zoom for your convenience! Land Surveying, Flood Zones, and Real Estate
3 credit hours - offered both in-person and online via Zoom. Flood Risk in Real Estate
2 credit hours - Zoom only Flood Zone Mapping & Risk: A Guide for Real Estate Professionals
3 credit hours - in-person only Please contact us to learn more and schedule a class for your next conference, meeting, or office training event. Scheduled classes will be announced in upcoming newsletters - stay tuned! |  The Pleasant Village Community Garden, at Pleasant Avenue between 118th & 119th Streets in East Harlem, New York City. Credit: Kim Yim | As East Harlem Waits for Infrastructure Projects to Mitigate Flood Risk, Residents Are Creating Their Own Solutions By: Juanita Gordon, Inside Climate News, July 12, 2023 The Pleasant Village Community Garden, located at Pleasant Avenue between 118th & 119th Streets, is located in East Harlem, much of which sits in flood zones mapped by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. During the last tropical storm, a downed tree contributed to flooding Pleasant Avenue and the garden. Yim, the president of Pleasant Village Community Garden, watched as flooding events, once infrequent, became a more pressing issue within her neighborhood. She tried to mitigate the flooding as much as her small garden could. Click here to read the full article, and learn more about the history of flooding and storms in New York. | Pinellas County Earns Improved Class 2 Rating from National Flood Insurance Program Pinellas County [Florida] Government has earned an improved Community Rating System (CRS) rating from the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The new Class 2 rating will provide unincorporated Pinellas County property owners and renters up to a 40 percent discount on NFIP flood insurance premiums beginning April 1, 2024. Some of Pinellas County’s floodplain management efforts include: improving flood risk mapping and floodplain development standards that address local flood risk and conditions; adoption of stormwater requirements, watershed management plans and a coastal vulnerability assessment; and drainage system maintenance, including checking hot spot areas before and after significant storms to ensure conveyances are clear and perform as designed. Click here to read the full article. See below to learn more about the CRS program! | Community Rating System A Local Official’s Guide to Saving Lives, Preventing Property Damage, and Reducing the Cost of Flood Insurance The NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) credits community efforts beyond those minimum standards by providing discounts on flood insurance premiums for the community’s property owners. CRS discounts on flood insurance premiums range from 5% up to 45% based on the participating community’s CRS class. A community’s CRS class is determined by credit points that are awarded to communities. The discounts provide an incentive for communities to implement additional flood protection activities that can help save lives and property when a flood occurs. Click here to download the 12-page FEMA brochure. | Local Mitigation Planning Handbook The Local Mitigation Planning Handbook is a plain-language tool to help local governments develop or update hazard mitigation plans. It gives guidance, case studies, definitions and resources that help make mitigation planning easier. Hazard mitigation plans are blueprints to build resilient communities. Plans pinpoint natural hazard risks and vulnerabilities in the planning area. Then planners develop strategies to reduce these risks and vulnerabilities. Click here to download the full 253-page FEMA handbook. | Climate Corner Climate Change is Making the Way We Talk About Flood Risk Outdated By: Rebecca Hersher, NPR: All Things Considered, July 13, 2023 It's not surprising that the 1-in-100-year language isn't helping people prepare for flooding. It was never meant to. The 100-year flood term was adopted by Congress back in the 1970s to describe who would be required to buy flood insurance. And researchers say there are better ways to communicate flood risk. Instead of talking about how likely a given flood is to happen each year, talk about how likely that flood is to happen over many years. For example, if there's a 1% chance of a flood happening each year, that means there's a 26% chance it will happen over the course of a 30-year mortgage. Click here to read the full article or listen to the 3-minute audio recording. |  Image by Pat Byrnes, 2023 | | | |
