New Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Maps for the City should go into effect by Spring 2023. These new maps show a lower flood level for the Rappahannock River and a higher flood elevation for Hazel Run.
FEMA is responsible for issuing Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) which determine flood insurance and regulatory requirements of properties within designated Special Flood Hazard Areas. They have been in the process of revising the FIRM maps for the City of Fredericksburg and released Preliminary FIRM maps on January 31, 2020. A 90-day formal appeal period followed on December 2, 2020 through March 2, 2021, during which time the City received one formal appeal which has been accepted by FEMA. While the Preliminary FIRM maps were initially anticipated to be adopted Spring 2022, FEMA has provided an updated delivery timeline for Spring 2023, which is also consistent with our neighboring localities.
Additionally, the City has received an updated FEMA packet for Hazel Run with a revised Preliminary FIRM map (Panel 5100650036D) in the vicinity of Lafayette Blvd and revised Flood Insurance Study (FIS). FEMA is now welcoming comments from the community to identify changes or corrections to non-technical information such as corporate limits, road names, and stream names on the FIRM or FIS report. Please submit comments no later than May 15, 2022. These materials can be found at http://www.fema.gov/preliminaryfloodhazarddata
A Council briefing is planned for Fall 2022 and will address code updates. Please submit non-technical comments or questions to Tyler Gelles, Senior Stormwater Manager, at trgelles@fredericksburgva.gov or 540-372-1179.