FEMA adds 180 Richmond sites to flood zones

The big picture: FEMA updates its Flood Insurance Rate Maps every five years to account for shifts in flood risk due to environmental changes, construction and development impacts, or other factors, per the city.

• The goal is to ensure property owners in the areas most likely to experience flooding are protected with flood insurance.
• The new maps for Richmond have been in the works since 2023, which is when property owners added to a Special Flood Hazard Area were alerted they would likely need to buy flood insurance soon.

Zoom in: "Approximately 180 structures" in the city were added to the Special Flood Hazard Area in the new FEMA maps, Rhonda Johnson of Richmond's Department of Public Utilities tells Axios.

• It's unclear how many are homes versus businesses, but South Richmond is the most affected part of the city, she added.
• Some of the largest sections now in hazard zones include neighborhoods near Chippenham Hospital, Powhite Park and Southhampton in Southside, per an Axios review of the maps.
• North of the river, neighborhoods near the University of Richmond, Hollywood Cemetery and the Carillon were added to FEMA's high-risk flood zones.

Yes, but: FEMA's maps often underestimate the risks that severe storms and intense rainfall events can bring, Axios Raleigh reported last year.

• They found that just 0.5% of homes in western North Carolina counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene were covered by FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program.
• Comparatively, 40% of homes in Dare County, the largest county in the Outer Banks, had flood insurance policies.
• There are similar flood insurance disparities in Virginia, where only around 5% of homes have flood insurance — a percentage largely driven by coastal properties. It's less than 1% for most of the rest of the state.

What's next: The new maps and insurance requirements go into effect on July 8.

• Go deeper and explore the maps.