 | 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: Message from Jim
Maine NFIP Corner: "FEMA Region 1 Coastal Erosion Hazard Areas Study - Cumberland County Town Official Meeting"
Real Estate Corner: "Following Floods, Coastal Realtors Gather for Aptly-named Course: 'Living on the Edge'"
In the News: "Road Connecting Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth could be Removed due to Flooding"
Resources: "Know Your Risk"
Land Surveying Corner: "University of Maine’s Surveying Program Receives Equipment Loan Valued at $1.7 million" Banner Image: A flooded home in Spring, Texas after Hurricane Harvey, August 2017. Photo credit: David J. Phillip, Associated Press | Message from Jim We are excited to share that we recently recorded the pilot episode of a new “Welcome to the Flood Zone” podcast! This resource will support our newsletter outreach and further emphasize the importance of improved education when making decisions that might involve flood zone mapping, insurance, and flood risk mitigation. This newsletter, which is delivered on the first Wednesday of each month, will introduce the topic and guest speaker to be featured in the upcoming podcast aired on the third Wednesday of each month. The first episode will air on March 20th and will be published on Spotify, Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts (YouTube) and Audible platforms. Links will be shared in our newsletter, websites, and social media as they become available. We hope you will tune in, and would love to hear any thoughts you have on helpful topics worth discussing. | FEMA Region 1 Coastal Erosion Hazard Areas Study - Cumberland County Town Official Meeting In 2016, FEMA received a recommendation from its Technical Mapping Advisory Council to display flood risks in coastal areas that include future effects of long-term erosion and sea level rise. Because coastal erosion is a hazard that threatens lives, property, and resources in Cumberland County, FEMA Region 1 has elected to implement a coastal erosion hazard area study for Cumberland County. To help identify the risk to communities, FEMA has created coastal erosion hazard areas displaying current and projected hazards for 2030, 2050, and 2100, incorporating projected sea level rise. These data are nonregulatory products to be used by the community for planning and hazard mitigation purposes. During the meeting for town officials, we will provide an overview of the study’s methodology and present the nonregulatory coastal erosion data viewer developed for Cumberland County. Details for the meeting time and registration link follow: Date: March 12, 2024
Time: 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m.
Location: Virtual, Registration is required
Click here to register for the event. We encourage you and/or any other relevant staff to attend this useful meeting, so please feel free to share. The webinar will also be recorded and can be provided to community officials upon request. |  The predicted inundation of Portland's shoreline. Credit: The Maine Monitor / Composite of maps provided by the City of Portland | Real Estate Corner Following floods, coastal Realtors gather for aptly-named course: "Living on the Edge" By: Tux Turkel, of The Maine Monitor, February 11, 2024 Buying and selling Maine coastal real estate has long been about conveying the magic of living by the ocean. Increasingly, it’s also about prepping clients with the latest flood zone maps, projections for sea level rise and insurance availability. These and other tools can give coastal home buyers critical information for making a risk-reward calculation about living on the edge — literally — in an era of strengthening storms fed by a changing climate. With that new reality in mind, more than 100 real estate professionals packed a hotel conference room in Freeport on the last day of January for a presentation dubbed, “Living on the Edge.” Click here to read the full article. |  Flooding on Sawyer Street over Spurwink Marsh (Image from Portland Press Herald, by Matt Craig) | Road Connecting Scarborough, Cape Elizabeth could be Removed due to Flooding By: Anna Coon, WGME, February 15, 2024 A road connecting Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth could be completely removed. Town officials are considering permanently closing a part of the roadway, called Sawyer Road in Cape Elizabeth and Sawyer Street in Scarborough, leaving two dead-end roads in its place. Click here to read the full article. | Know Your Risk This FEMA resource organizes resources by role, including: homeowners, renters, or business owners; community officials; state, local, tribal or territorial government; engineers, surveyors or architects; and real estate, lending, and insurance professionals. Click here to check it out! | Land Surveying Corner University of Maine’s Surveying Program Receives Equipment Loan Valued at $1.7 million UMaine News, February 6, 2024 The University of Maine’s Surveying Engineering Technology (SVT) program has received an equipment loan valued at $1.7 million from Topcon Positioning Systems Inc., an industry-leading designer, manufacturer and distributor of precision measurement and workflow solutions headquartered in Livermore, California. The university’s SVT program, which has the largest number of undergraduate students per faculty in the Maine College of Engineering and Computing (MCEC), will receive 12 robotic total stations (electronic/optical instruments for surveying and building construction), 12 digital levels,12 multi-constellation GPS receivers, tablets, software and accessories at no cost. Click here to learn more! |  "Alice in Floodland" by Rodrigo, April 11, 2010 | | | |
