Billy Simpson

JASPER, Tenn. -- New flood maps from the Federal Emergency Management Agency are drawing protest in Jasper from people who say they're wrong and they're going to force people into insurance trouble.

"I'm going to have to have flood insurance," said Heather Cox, owner of the Courtside Tea Room on Betsy Pack Drive. "Some people told me they are paying $1,600 to $2,000 a year."

She got a letter from FEMA in February telling her she had 45 days to get insurance after the flood maps were released.

The federal government uses the maps to calculate flood dangers and set insurance rates for the Federal Insurance Administration, a component of FEMA. Developers must design buildings according to what the maps say.

Ms. Cox said that because the map shows her building in the flood plain, the Courtside Tea Room must pay $1,200 a year for flood insurance.

She said one of the regulars to the tea room, a 95-year-old Marion County native, told he the building has never been underwater.

"It's really sad," she said. "There are 28,000 people in Marion County, and most of them have to pay for flood insurance."

FEMA spokeswoman Jody Cottril said map changes are made for various reasons, but most cases require property owners to hire a licensed surveyor or professional engineer to produce an elevation certificate for FEMA to review.

Agency officials say developers fill in low spots near creeks and flood plains to level land for construction. That means maps must be updated, since development changes the way floodwater spreads when creeks and rivers run out of their banks.

FEMA requires flood insurance for people living in a flood plain but suggests it for anyone who lives in an area that has even a moderate chance of flooding, Ms. Cottrill said.

"Twenty-five percent of claims come from homes in a moderate-risk flood area," she said.

"When people talk about the 100-year flood plain, it's a real misnomer," she said. "People think, 'My house flooded, and it's not going to flood again for 100 years.'"

Although a 30-day appeal period passed in the spring, Mayor Billy Simpson said the city is protesting the new map.

Mr. Simpson says the map shows areas that never have been inundated as flood-prone, while other areas that to flood aren't shown as risks.

Mr. Simpson said people who buy property are told about the need for flood insurance, but he's worried some people have no idea their property has been labeled a flood risk.

People who live in low-lying areas should check the maps at City Hall to see if their status has changed, he said.

The new maps are part of a $1 billion modernization aimed at averting more than $45 billion in losses over the next 50 years, federal officials said.

Marion County is among several in Southeast Tennessee that received new maps in the last three years, records show.

Marion and Rhea County maps were finalized in 2008; Bradley County's in 2007. Sequatchie County's new flood maps were released May 1, records show.

County Executive Michael Hudson said local officials like them.

"We've looked over them, the city mayor (Dwain Land) and I, along with FEMA officials," Mr. Hudson said. "There weren't any major changes in ours. It's a better map."

The new maps are more detailed and account for years of development, he said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Visit the Federal Emergency Management Agency at www.fema.gov/hazard/flood/info.shtm to see and obtain flood maps or get information on challenging a map.