Highland Heights Flood Plain Officially Updated

has been notified that one of two tributaries has been removed from the official flood plain map. The flood plain area roughly stretches from Highland to Wilson Mills roads and Bishop Road to Rutland Drive.

City Engineer Stephen Hovancsek said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has notified the city that the tributary running through the Williamsburg Drive area is no longer in the 100-year flood plain.

"This flood plain has been returned to the 500-year flood plain," he said.

That also means homeowners will no longer be required to purchase flood insurance, he said.

"If some of them have insurance and want to drop it, they can" Hovancsek said.

However, that still leaves other homeowners in limbo. Back in December, about 50 homeowners were told they need to buy flood insurance because their homes were in a 100-year flood plain, according to a new map released by FEMA.

Questioning the data used by FEMA, city officials decided to conduct a study of the two tributaries to determine the actual flood plain. A prior map was found that did not have the one stream in the flood plain and that was submitted to FEMA, resulting in the recent change.

But that still leaves questions about the other stream. Assistant Brian Mader said field work has been completed and the city will submit its study of that area to FEMA in the next two weeks.