RALEIGH - On July 9th, 2002, from 10:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., Pitt County municipal leaders 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-Pamilco River Basin and see an on-line demonstration of the digital maps. The meeting will take place at the Pitt County Agricultural Center in Greenville, NC. The meeting is being hosted by the Pitt County Planning Department.

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

This meeting provides the residents and business leaders of Pitt County an opportunity to see the results of advanced digital floodplain mapping technology used to create the new maps. During the sessions, meeting attendees will receive information on the map production process, features of the new maps, the values and benefits of the new maps, and how the communities in Pitt County can use the new maps to reduce future losses due to flooding. Attendees will also see a demonstration of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System. The Floodplain Mapping Information System will give local officials and the general public access to the new maps via an Internet web site. Members of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program staff will address the public's questions on technical aspects of the project, insurance implications, and how to use the new maps.

The new maps, scheduled to be mailed to Pitt County and municipality officials on June 21st, are the first of many to be produced and issued by the State of North Carolina under a unique partnership with FEMA. This partnership, signed in September 2000, designates North Carolina as a Cooperating Technical State and delegates the primary responsibility for the creation and maintenance of all Flood Insurance Rate Maps to North Carolina. The re-mapping of the state's floodplains resulted from the devastation caused by Hurricane Floyd, which flooded thousands of square miles of eastern North Carolina and left thousands of people homeless. This disaster highlighted North Carolina's vulnerability to natural disasters and the need for accurate, up-to-date floodplain maps.