Flooded with incompetence: Another Bush legacy
Report: Upgrading FEMA flood maps would save lives
WASHINGTON - Nearly four years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, researchers called on the federal government to upgrade its flood maps, arguing that the effort could save lives as well as stem losses to properties and businesses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance rate maps are used to set flood insurance rates, regulate development in flood plains, and let people know about the risk they face.
FEMA is wrapping up a five-year map modernization plan that had led to digital flood maps for 92 percent of the continental U.S. population, the National Research Council said. But even after $1 billion has been spent on the effort, only 21 percent of the population has maps which meet all of FEMA's data quality standards, said the study, which was requested by FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Emphasis Mine]
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WASHINGTON - Nearly four years after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, researchers called on the federal government to upgrade its flood maps, arguing that the effort could save lives as well as stem losses to properties and businesses.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's flood insurance rate maps are used to set flood insurance rates, regulate development in flood plains, and let people know about the risk they face.
FEMA is wrapping up a five-year map modernization plan that had led to digital flood maps for 92 percent of the continental U.S. population, the National Research Council said. But even after $1 billion has been spent on the effort, only 21 percent of the population has maps which meet all of FEMA's data quality standards, said the study, which was requested by FEMA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. [Emphasis Mine]
Full Article...