ASFPM 2013 Conference Remembering the Past - Insuring the Future June 9-14, 2013 Georgia Flood M.A.P. Program Tom Shillock, CFM Georgia Floodplain Management Unit Coordinator George Thompson IV, CFM GIS Analyst Atkins
Increasing Risk Communication for Property Owners with New Risk Map Products Tom Shillock, CFM GA DNR NFIP Coordinator George Thompson IV, CFM Atkins, GIS Analyst
Overview 1. Limited outreach during previous Flood Mapping Projects 2. How Flood Risk Products have changed outreach 3. A specialized outreach tool used in Georgia using Flood Risk Products 4. Using targeted outreach to the property owners most impacted by SFHA updates
Problem Limited Flood Risk Communication PDCC Meetings and Open Houses Inefficient Paper Maps Limited number of interactions Limited Communication directly with property owners Heavy workload at community level to understand and translate new flood risk information.
Before Risk MAP First notification to many property owners was after flood maps went effective. Big shock to most property owners Flooded local officials with angry phone calls Not effective for outreach Negative perception of FEMA and NFIP
Flood Risk Changes, the New Way Using non-regulatory products to communicate flood risk with the local communities Changes since last FIRM (CSLF) Flood Risk report Flood Risk map Depth grids Hazus analysis
Early Demonstration Project
CSLF in Atlanta, GA, Metro Area FEMA Early Demonstration Project - Georgia CTP developed a property notification process Allowed local communities to do targeted outreach to property owners Can be used anywhere where parcel/building footprints are available
Property Owner Notifications
Process Steps Overview Step 1 ID Areas of SFHA Change Step 2 Assign a Flood Risk Category Step 3 Generate Template Based Letters
ID Areas of SFHA Change Identify changes in SFHA classification between effective and preliminary data Effective Zone X Preliminary Zone AE = SFHA Increase Effective Zone AE Preliminary Zone X =SFHA Decrease Effective Zone AE Preliminary Zone AE with Floodway = Floodway Increase Decrease No Change Increase Increase
Assigning Change to Parcels Intersect the areas of SFHA change and parcels
Resolving Multiple Assignments Hierarchy represents the order of precedence used to resolve multiple category assignments
Classified Properties Word based template letters used to autogenerate letters for mailing Letters can be generated for any or all categories
Generating the Letters Generated based on flood risk status change Letters use the property owner address information stored in the parcels file
Property Notification Guidebook There is an automated process developed for ArcGIS 9.3 A manual process that can be run to produce the same results A step-by-step manual explaining the entire process and methodology Letter templates to use a guides; can be modified to meet specific communities needs and wording
Automated Tool
Public Outreach with Property Notification
Flood Risk Open Houses Non-Regulatory products were used to dramatically improve effectiveness of open house meetings. Increased number of resident interactions Residents receive site specific information Flood risk products can be used to prepare additional outreach materials: Local flood depths Percent chance of flooding Inundated structures Compromised evacuation routes
Flood Risk Data Accessible to Public Flood Risk Products are portable and customizable Make data available for viewing on internet using ArcGIS Server 24/7 access by the public relieving workload of local FPAs Customize what information is made available depending on the needs/concerns of the local community
GeorgiaDFIRM.com Web Map Viewer
GeorgiaDFIRM.com WebMap Viewer
GA Flood M.A.P. Flood Risk Snapshot
Time/Money Savings Able to target the people at greatest risk and those that have new flood risk Do not have to send notification to every property owner 150,000 parcels x $0.45 = $67,500 4,000 property owners notified x $0.45 = $1,800 Avoids the panic calls after the maps are effective Used to alert the community to potential change in flood risk
Overall Improvements Increased Flood Risk awareness Better community participation Better community feedback
Questions
Contact Information Tom Shillock, CFM GA DNR State NFIP Coordinator tom.shillock@dnr.state.ga.us 404-675-6240 George Thompson IV, CFM GIS Analyst Atkins george.thompson@atkinsglobal.com 678-247-2676