RALEIGH – On October 17th municipal leaders and citizens of Beaufort County will have the opportunity to review and ask questions about the preliminary copies of the new, updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) for the portion of the county located in the Tar-Pamlico River Basin.

There will be two separate meetings for the purpose of introducing these maps. The first meeting will be for the officials (municipal, state and federal leaders along with the administrative staff who administer information from the maps) who represent Beaufort County. The first meeting, specifically for the officials, will take place in room 154 at the Department of Social Services located in Washington, North Carolina. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and last until approximately 2 p.m. The second meeting, specifically for the public and special interest groups, will take place at the Beaufort County Community College Continuing Education Auditorium located on US 264 in Washington. This meeting will start at 6:00 p.m. and last until 8:30 p.m. The Beaufort County Planning Department is hosting the public meeting.

The meeting will start with a short presentation by the staff of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program (a section of NC Emergency Management) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide an overview of the statewide re-mapping effort. Following the presentation, Beaufort County, NCEM and FEMA representatives will be available to answer detailed questions and concerns about the mapping process, flood insurance coverage and floodplain management. State, county and municipal officials and their staff members are encouraged to attend the meeting.