----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Joel Kovarsky" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Air Photo Maps & Geospatial Systems Forum" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, December 7, 2013 8:03:45 AM
Subject: criticism of FEMA flood maps

From the 6 Dec. 2013 NY Times : What if the Flood Maps are Just Plain Wrong?
By Eleanor Randolph <http://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/what-if-the-flood-maps-are-just-plain-wrong/>

From the article:

"Better maps cost big money, and Congress has been notoriously stingy about helping FEMA chart the places where storms and floods can bring so much destruction. In 2003, lawmakers offered only $200 million a year to remap the entire country.

With that small down payment, FEMA decided it could only afford to digitize old flood maps in many areas instead of fully updating them. Obviously, that was a mistake. Shorelines had changed since these first maps were drawn, and the agency failed to use new laser technology that could chart the landscape ten times better than the previous methods."

That article also links to a critical piece in ProPublica <http://www.propublica.org/article/federal-flood-maps-left-new-york-unprepared-for-sandy-and-fema-knew-it> .
Joel Kovarsky