New flood maps could force thousands of Oahu homeowners to purchase flood insurance

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency released new flood insurance rate maps on Thursday after a five year re-examination of Oahu’s flood hazards, including multiple streams that have never been studied before.
Federal, state and local agencies use FEMA’s maps to determine flood insurance requirements and to regulate development in flood-prone areas.
The updated maps highlight several new areas of high flood risk, which are now categorized as “Special Flood Hazard Areas.”
An estimated 4,000 property owners who have a federally backed loans or mortgages could be required to purchase flood insurance when the maps are finalized.
“It’s going to be great concern, especially for us in the homestead,” said Iwalani Laybon-McBrayer of Kaupea Homestead.
Laybon-McBrayer said there are four homesteads and more on the way in Ewa that could be affected.
State Rep. Diamond Garcia represents Ewa, Kapolei and Fernandez Village. He said residents who have never experienced flooding will wonder why their properties are now included.
“This will put a lot of people under that break even line and so I’m really worried,” Garcia said, noting that flood insurance can run a homeowner an extra $1,000 a year.
Garcia wants town hall meetings that include local, state and federal representation.
A spokesperson for FEMA told Hawaii News Now in a statement that the changes are “part of a nationwide effort to improve understanding of flood risk. The flood hazards for streams newly studied at this time were coordinated among staff with Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting (DPP), Honolulu Office of Climate Change and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).”
The statement went on to say that the national standard for the “high-risk designation is the 1% annual chance floodplain, which is also known as a 100-year flood zone.”
FEMA said that structures in these areas are “situated on land that is vulnerable to flooding, even if they are not directly near the ocean or stream outlets.”
FEMA’s appeals process begins in the spring, but before that, there are two open houses scheduled in November.
The first will be held on November 4, the second on November 6 where Honolulu DPP and FEMA representatives will share information on the updated flood maps, the appeals process, flood insurance, and next steps.
Currently, the expected date for finalization is in 2026.
The city urges residents to check if they are in one of these high-risk areas on the Resilience Office’s website.
For residents eager to learn more about the implications of the new maps, FEMA, DLNR and city officials are holding two open houses where residents can ask questions.
One is on Monday, Nov. 4, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Zoom and requires online registration. The other is on Wednesday, Nov. 6, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on the first floor of the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
Copyright 2024 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.