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Do You Know About Problems With FEMA's Flood Mapping?

Flickr photo via by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwjones/6021216720/in/photolist-ab5iXo-dAYBoE-dpeJJx-dpeKd2-dpeJRV-dpeK5c-dpeTVs-dpeK28-dpeUfS-dpeJWi-bdZq9c-bdZq9K-9co7kG-8sezAM-buxp9P-7TqF2R-dKsNu7-8FBqXU-d1YZpm-bjJxj3-bsRoEf-91to7M-dZLjJS-bTtLje-8BYyHG-8BYz5s-9KJi9X-dfM1bA-dL8GPT-8BYyvb-8jg2g9-b37UAB-c3aXQy-aA4Gx3-7W95ak-7Wxs2e-cxu5N9-7GT3ZW-98wibK-98zCNd-9aETrc-cjDk1w-cjDjsj-bGhmcp-8SgydV-ekxHtC-8XA2Xx-9qGAok-bQQ4qp-btkBG7-a5GWk3/">BWJones</a>

Homeowners across the country are facing headaches over flooding, but not because of water-damaged property or lack of insurance. They are being asked to buy insurance they don’t need for houses built on high ground. 

That’s because the Federal Emergency Management Agency has used outdated data in a number of its new flood maps and mistakenly mapped homeowners into high-risk flood areas. Homeowners in such areas with federally backed mortgages (and most mortgages are) are required to buy insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.

We’ve heard from homeowners such as Donna Edgar, whose home in Texas was mapped into a high-risk flood area last year by mistake. But we don’t know exactly how widespread the problem is. That’s where you can help. If you think FEMA has mapped into a high-risk flood area by mistake, please let us know by filling out the form below.

Thanks for your interest; this project has been archived and we are no longer accepting submissions.

Theodoric Meyer

Theodoric Meyer is a former ProPublica reporting fellow. He was previously an intern at The New York Times and The Seattle Times.

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