Public meetings planned on preliminary flood insurance rate maps

North Carolina Emergency Management, in conjunction with staff from the Dare County Planning Department and local municipal planning departments, will conduct public meetings during January on the new preliminary flood insurance rate maps (FIRMS) for Dare County.

The meeting are planned on the following dates:

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Kill Devil Hills Town Hall, 102 Town Hall Drive, Kill Devil Hills.

Wednesday, Jan. 11, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Dare County Board of Commissioners Meeting Room, 954 Marshall Collins Drive, Manteo.

Thursday, Jan. 12,  5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Fessenden Center on Highway 12 in Buxton.

The first part of the meeting will be a presentation by N.C. Emergency Management staff detailing the development of the preliminary maps and the various steps in the map approval process.

Following the presentation, staff from the Dare County Planning Department and other local planning departments will be on hand to assist property owners with determining if their property is in a flood zone on the preliminary maps and answer questions about local floodplain management regulations.

Residents also can access the flood hazard date online at http://fris.nc.gov/fris/.

For detailed instructions including a video on how to use the FRIS system visit, www.darenc.com/floodmaps.

The preliminary flood maps have been developed by the State of North Carolina in cooperation with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The current effective flood maps for Dare County were adopted in September 2006.