Putnam To Update Flood Damage Resolution

Putnam County will consider updating its flood damage prevention resolution to comply with recent changes from FEMA.

Planning Director Kevin Rush said the changes came about from a flood study for a portion of Smith County that overlapped with Putnam County. Rush said the study did not affect any flood zones in Putnam County but it updated multiple study dates and other information for panel numbers within the county.

“The panel’s a national flood insurance rate map panel,” Rush said. “FEMA has done studies all across the United States and come up with the flood zones for each community and each community is broken down into a certain number of panels.”

Rush said there will be a public hearing and the county commission will vote on the changes during the commission’s December meeting. Rush said the county risks being suspended from the National Flood Insurance Program if the resolution is not adopted by February 14.

The Putnam County Planning Commission considered the changes Tuesday night.

“The flood ordinance, we just went over it briefly,” Rush said. “Considering it’s all clerical type changes to it, nothing substantial, the planning commission did recommend approval to the county commission.”

Rush said the updated resolution will not have a noticeable impact on the county or his department. Rush said the new resolution also includes definitions that must be present as part of FEMA’s changes.