Graphic from Tioga County website

Much anticipated flood maps will be displayed on Tuesday, December 8, 2009 from 4:00 pm to 8:0 pm at the Tioga County Office Building (56 Main St in Oswego). The maps are only preliminary, but will give residents an idea about if their homes are in a flood plain.

Information from the National Flood Insurance Program will be included at this event as anyone who lives in a flood plain will have to purchase flood insurance. PressConnects.com reports:

“Tioga County residents and municipalities suffered millions of dollars in flood damage in the last several years, culminating in a devastating flood in June 2006 and a flash flood five months later.

The new maps are part of a five-year, $1 billion program to provide updated, digitized flood maps for 92 percent of the nation’s population.”

Mary Colvin, the Mitigation Division of FEMA’s Region II, was interviewed and she advised:

“While most locations in Tioga County do not have significant changes, the Village of Nichols is protected by a levee system that may not meet mapping standards…The fact that the Nichols levee may not provide adequate protection means an increase in the number of flood-prone properties there.

…The single biggest mitigation option is flood insurance…If you’re currently out of the flood zone, but are going into it under the new maps, you should buy it now. That way, your current, less risky flood zone designation can be ‘grandfathered’ in.”

Learn more about flood insurance basics.

With the cold winter months already upon us, there are more than just floods from natural disaster. Home and business owners often neglect to weatherize a building. Freezing weather can lead to frozen pipes, which will bring flooding. Is your home insured for damages caused by broken pipes? Learn more about preventing burst pipes.