Data for the Preliminary Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM) and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report for Jackson County, Oklahoma and incorporated areas was done by Watershed Concepts in Austin, Texas, and despite the fact that many agencies and departments were consulted in this process of evaluating our flood risk, that information was not used in the process of refining flood plain areas. This would greatly impact Jackson County and surrounding areas.
In December, several people gathered to hear about the DFIRM and FIS data and how it may affect us here in Jackson County with David Braddock of the City of Altus Economic Development Commission (EDC) presenting basic information regarding the updating of the 1980 and 2005 engineering data of Jackson County.
At the December meeting City of Altus’ Phil Beauchamp said residents of Altus and Jackson County would definitely be impacted by the decisions in the DFIRM, and Gary Brickley, of Fox & Drechsler, said that there is obvious mistakes in the data.
“The flood plain county-wide is significantly larger on the new maps,” Brickley said.
With only a 90-day window, and since Jackson County received the DFIRM and FIS report on Dec. 1, we only have until March 1 to present a unified community protest. Because of this, local officials are putting together a plan of action for protesting the preliminary maps.
From information gathered Thursday, protesters learned that most of the mistakes on the report can be attributed to a topography map drawn up in 2005. A FEMA representative this week agreed that topography map was inaccurate.
It was said Thursday that the new maps could threaten housing developments, the federal joint-use project with Altus AFB and the city, as well as agriculture expansion. Brinkley said that if the maps are adopted about half of the development in Altus could come to a complete stop.
Although the protest may have to include a complete new engineering study, FEMA officials said that the mistake is “fixable.”
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