Flood Plain Information

As much as we all love life here on Willoughby, the reality is that we are a coastal community subject to flooding. Recovery costs for areas hit by the devastating hurricanes over the past several years are causing change for many who enjoy life near the waters edge.  FEMA is redrawing flood zone boundary maps. Flood insurance providers will be looking at amended guidelines for coverage. Change is certain.

As a Civic League, we want to provide our residents with as much information as possible when we receive it. We will have speakers from City Planning attend our monthly meetings as relevant updates and decisions are made.  We will commmunicate with members of the League via e-blasts when new documents are available. We will also let members know when we think you should speak up to our state and local representation about the issues that will impact you as a property owner on Willoughby. Our primary goal is to keep residents or prospective property owners informed on anything relating to the topic of ‘flooding’ that we believe may affect your cost of living here on The Spit.

We anticipate the new FEMA maps for our area to be available sometime in 2015, but in the mean time please become familiar with the issues at hand through the documents provided below. New information will be added to this site as it becomes available.

NEW INFORMATION – NOVEMBER 2014:

Flood Basics Everyone Should Know – This document states that an Elevation Certificate is NOT required for pre-FIRM zones. The following 3 documents address the Grandfather Rule, and state that the homeowner will be allowed to keep their old flood insurance rates, (especially if re-mapping increases rates) but under certain time-specific conditions

• FEMA Grandfathering
• Using the Grandfather Rule
• Grandfathering Facts for Agents

Online Reference tool:

1. Visit Norfolk.gov/firmupdate.
2. Go to “City Mapping Comparison Tool” to retrieve information on your property.
3. Slide the vertical line right/left to compare old and proposed maps. Click on your address parcel.

Older Flood Plain Reference Material of Interest:

• • Higher Flood Insurance Rates ( A Virginian-Pilot Article, September 2013)
  • Flood Plain Ordinance Revisions(October 2013 – LONG Version)
  • Anaysis of the Proposed Zoning Ordinance Revisions (November 2013 – Simplified overview of revisions from the City Planning Commission)
  • Norfolk AIR (Input your own address to see your flood zone information)