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New Hampshire Flood Safety Awareness Week

Flood Safety Awareness Week is March 16-20, 2020

Did you know that flooding is the most common and costly natural disaster in New Hampshire? This is one of the reasons why most communities in our state choose to participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). NFIP communities have adopted and enforce a floodplain management ordinance in order to help reduce local impacts from flooding. Read on to learn why your community’s floodplain ordinance is so important and how it may affect you.

5 Things You Need to Know About Your Community's Floodplain Ordinance!

#1: Development in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) shown on FEMA flood maps must meet permit and building requirements in the community floodplain ordinance and the State building code. These requirements ensure that development in at-risk areas happens in a way that protects people and minimizes property damage.

#2: Flood insurance is required as a condition of a loan for buildings in the SFHA. If a new or substantially improved building in an SFHA is not built in compliance with the community’s ordinance, the flood insurance premium will probably be much more expensive.

#3: When development occurs in a high risk area, it can potentially make flooding problems worse on neighboring properties. Your community’s ordinance requirements ensure that impacts from development are minimized to keep the entire community safer.

#4: Since floods can and do happen outside of SFHAs, communities may choose to adopt more restrictive requirements into their ordinance to reduce the impact of future floods on residents, businesses and the economy, community infrastructure, and the environment.

#5: Residents and business owners are highly encouraged to take steps on their own beyond community, State, and NFIP requirements in order to keep safe and be ready for a flood:

- Learn about simple, low-cost projects in FEMA’s Protect Your Home from Flooding guide pdf file.
- Get flood insurance even if your property is not in the SFHA – most homeowners insurance policies do not cover floods, plus close to 20% of all flood insurance claims occur outside of SFHAs.
- Visit ReadyNH.gov to learn how to be prepared for a flood when it happens.

 

Outreach Toolkit

Help spread the word to your community’s residents, your colleagues, and friends and relatives during Flood Safety Awareness Week using the following resources.

Resources

Rich Text Format Symbol Rich Text Format (rft). Visit nh.gov for a list of free .rtf reader/import programs for different operating systems.

Portable Document Format Symbol Portable Document Format (.pdf). Visit nh.gov for a list of free .pdf readers for a variety of operating systems.

NH Office of Strategic Initiatives
Governor Hugh J. Gallen State Office Park
Johnson Hall, 3rd Floor  |  107 Pleasant Street  |  Concord, NH 03301
(603) 271-2155  |  fax: (603) 271-2615