State updating flood maps for Flathead County

The Daily Inter Lake

Flathead and Missoula counties have been selected as the initial sites for a program to modernize Montanas flood insurance rate maps.

The Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will head up the program, which will be funded by grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Over the next two years, new digital flood hazard maps will be produced for both counties. Most of the work involves converting the existing flood hazard information to a digital format, but some new mapping also will take place.

Preliminary digital maps should be released next summer; final maps must be adopted by September 2007.

The public will have an opportunity to comment next spring before the preliminary maps are officially released.

The digital mapping also is planned in other counties around the state. Projects are scheduled for Lewis & Clark and Yellowstone counties next year; Lake, Ravalli and/or Cascade counties will have priority after that.

For more information, contact Laura Pfister at (406) 444-6656 or via e-mail at lpfister@mt.gov