FEMA to issue revised flood insurance maps for Oak Ridge North

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will revise its flood insurance rate maps this week for the city of Oak Ridge North—a change that allows some homeowners to re-evaluate flood insurance requirements with their mortgage companies.

City staff encountered errors in preliminary flood insurance rate maps in 2013, and after going through an appeals process, the city was notified that FEMA would issue a correction. However, in February, FEMA mistakenly sent the unrevised maps to Montgomery County, ORN Public Works Director Joe Sherwin said in a statement.

City Manager Vicky Rudy said the map-reviewing company—Austin-based Core Logic—could only release the incorrect FEMA map information to mortgage companies while final corrections were made. The situation meant that some homeowners were required to purchase flood insurance at rates higher than necessary, if necessary at all.

"The most frustrating thing is that we have citizens that [were] being forced to buy insurance at a high premium," Rudy said. "The hitch is the realtors [were] getting their information from the company that monitors these maps and feeds information to the mortgage companies and banks, and that is all they have to go on."

FEMA plans to release a letter of correction for Oak Ridge North this week to reflect the amendments that were made within the city. Additional corrections have been made for the Brinham Woods Drive and the Spring Creek areas as well, said Diana Herrera, FEMA Natural Hazards Program specialist.

The letter will become effective immediately, and homeowners in areas where flood zones have been revised are now able to appeal insurance requirements to their mortgage companies, Herrera said.

"If [property owners] have been required to buy flood insurance they will need to contact their mortgage company [since] the letters of correction have been made," Herrera said. "The mortgage companies will need to go back through their standard process to re-evaluate the requirements. Owners should also check with their insurance agent."

Herrera said there are some high-risk flood zones that remain in the city.