Copies of the complete set of flood maps for Farmville are currently available for public review at the Planning Department office in the Municipal Building. The maps can also be viewed online using the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System. A link to this system is provided on the website of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Program: www.ncfloodpmaps.com . Farmville residents who visit the site will find an Address Locator Tool to help them locate individual properties and see their relationship to floodplains. Other tools are available to assist them with viewing and downloading digital data from the website.

The June 25th Public Participation Meeting provides an opportunity for residents of Farmville to see the results of the advanced digital technology used to create the new maps. City officials will be on hand to help residents locate particular properties on the maps and determine their level of flood risk. At 7:00 p.m. 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 Town of Farmville to reduce future losses due to flooding. Attendees will also see a demonstration of the North Carolina Floodplain Mapping Information System. Following the presentation, State and FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) representatives will be available to answer questions about the mapping process, flood insurance coverage, and floodplain management topics.

Farmville's new Flood Insurance Rate Maps, which were presented to local officials on May 29, 2003, are among the many to be produced and issued by the State of North Carolina under a unique partnership with FEMA. The partnership agreement, signed 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 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.