RALEIGH - On Thursday, September 11th, the residents of Person County will have the opportunity to review and ask questions about preliminary copies of new, updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps at a public meeting in Roxboro. The meeting will begin at 7:00 p.m. in the County Commissioner's Room, Room 215 in the County Office Building at 304 South Morgan Street in Roxboro. The new flood maps cover the portion of the county located in the Tar-Pamlico River and Neuse river basins. Copies of the new maps were presented to county and local officials on July 1, 2003.

The September 11th meeting provides an opportunity for residents of Person County to see the results of the advanced digital technology used to create the new maps. County officials will be on hand to help residents locate particular properties on the maps and determine their level of flood risk. Representatives from the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program and North Carolina Floodplain Management will make a short presentation on the map production process, features of the new maps, the values and benefits of the new maps, and how they can be utilized by the communities in Person County to reduce future losses due to flooding. Attendees will also see a demonstration of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System, which will give local officials and the general public access to the new maps via an Internet website. Following the presentation, state and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) representatives will be available to answer questions about the mapping process, flood insurance coverage, and floodplain management topics.

Person County's new Flood Insurance Rate Maps are among the first of many to be produced and issued by the State of North Carolina under a unique partnership with FEMA. The partnership agreement, 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 North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program manages the remapping effort, which was initiated in six eastern North Carolina river basins and will eventually encompass the entire state. Portions of Person County lie in the Tar-Pamlico and Neuse basins which are two of the six basins included in the first phase of the remapping effort. Floodplain Mapping Program officials anticipate that new maps for the portion of the county in the Roanoke River basin, which includes the City of Roxboro, will be issued in 2005.

The effort to remap the state's floodplains was spurred by the devastation caused by Hurricane Floyd, which flooded large areas 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.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For more information on the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program, check the Program's web site at www.ncfloodmaps.com. More information on the Preliminary FIRM Meeting can be obtained from Mr. Ed Curtis, Outreach Coordinator - State of NC Floodplain Mapping Program: (919) 715-8000 ext. 369 or ecurtis@ncem.org.