An open house is planned Jan. 30 to allow local residents to review preliminary flood insurance rate maps which have proposed changes to floodplain boundaries and base flood elevations along Haw Creek in Columbus.
The event will be from 4 to 7 p.m. at Donner Center, 739 22nd St., hosted by the City of Columbus and Bartholomew County Planning Department along with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources Division of Water.
The changes are being proposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to the planning department.
The proposed maps will replace existing maps for the creek adopted on Dec. 9, 2014. Flood insurance rate maps for Columbus, including Haw Creek, were initially created in 1982 and have been revised twice since. The current proposed revision process began in 2014 and continues with the open house.
Staff from the planning department and DNR will attend the session to explain the maps and how they could affect specific properties along Haw Creek.
Flood insurance rate maps and floodplain boundaries are used to determine flood insurance rates and to help communities enforce construction regulations in flood-prone areas, according to the planning department.
The floodplain maps for Haw Creek may also be viewed on the Indiana Floodplain information portal at floodmaps.in.gov or FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center at msc.fema.gov.
For more information or assistance in viewing the maps in advance of the open house, contact senior planner Emilie Pinkston at the planning department at 812-376-2550.
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What: Open house to view the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s preliminary flood insurance rate maps for Haw Creek in Columbus.
When: 4 to 7 p.m. Jan. 30
Where: Donner Center, 739 22nd St.
More information: 812-376-2550
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