Herrera Beutler Urges Federal Agencies to Reanalyze FEMA Maps

    U.S. Congresswoman Jaime Herrera Beutler wrote a letter urging the United States Geological Survey to use the best data and information available when helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency finalize the Chehalis Basin’s first flood maps in nearly three decades.

    “As you know, the flood profile will affect the size of the floodway which will impact homes and businesses that are included in the floodway,” Herrera Beutler wrote. “In going forward, I want to make certain that the flood maps are based on the best data available and include the best analysis of the 2007 floods.”

    Local leaders have argued that early maps placed to much emphasis on the December 2007 flood, considering it the norm rather than a historical fluke event.

    “Our entire community in the Chehalis River Basin will be affected by this FEMA mapping process and we need to make sure it is done right,” Herrera Beutler wrote. “The project’s recent hold ought to give them plenty of time to consider the best data and use the best science in finalizing these maps.”

    FEMA officials announced earlier this month that the process to finalize the new flood maps for the Chehalis River Basin is on an indefinite hold until a policy on how to analyze levees and their impact on flooding can be implemented.

    The federal agency has consistently taken the stance that if a levee did not provide protection from a 100-year flood it would not be accounted for when flood maps were drawn, no matter what they did for lesser floods or how much water was diverted before they were overtopped.