FEMA fixes flood map mistake

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- When Curtis and Debbie Smith moved from Conroe to a new home in Spring seven years ago, they had a goal in mind: getting out of a flood zone.

That way, they could stop paying the extra money required for flood insurance and would have an easier time when it came time to sell the new place.

"We researched this property when we bought into this neighborhood to make absolutely sure it was not in any sort of flood zone," Curtis Smith said.

His last home?

"We didn't know it was in a flood zone until after we bought it," Smith said. "We went to sell it and it was almost absolutely impossible to sell. People see 'flood insurance' they move right on to the next listing."

And he didn't want to repeat that again. Which is why Smith was stunned when his mortgage company last month sent him a letter saying that after seven years of not being in a flood zone... he suddenly was.

And the company said the Smith family needed to get out the checkbook for some flood insurance.

There was't some seismic event that changed the flat, Spring landscape along Legends Creek Drive where the Smith's live.

It was a mistake made by the Federal Emergency Management Agency when they undertook a routine check of their flood zone maps.

"The FEMA map is incorrect," Smith said.

Part of FEMA's job is knowing where the flood zones are in the state. And companies, like the Smith's mortgage company, monitor those maps.

It was not just Smith's opinion. FEMA official confirmed to ABC-13 they got it wrong.

Looking at the map, the mistake is clear. There is a ditch where a trickle of water flows behind the Smith home.

Instead of FEMA placing the flood zone over the water, FEMA's maps put the flood zone up the slope from the ditch and put it in smack in the Smiths' back yard, and the yards of 24 of his neighbors.

"The FEMA overlay shows that the center of the drainage ditch where the water actually is not in a flood zone," Smith said.

Smith called FEMA and the expert he spoke with saw the problem.

"The lady from FEMA once she looked at it she knew within 30 seconds that it was wrong," he said.

Knowing the map was wrong was one thing. But a quick fix didn't seem to be in the works.

"They said there is no funding or they didn't know if they can get funding to change it," he said. "It's probably a lot less money to change that then all the people here are going to have to pay for flood insurance."

But this is one FEMA story with a happy ending. ABC-13 called FEMA, officials acknowledged the error and they said a fix was forthcoming.

FEMA officials said they had found the money. The map has been fixed and the Smith's are back in a non-flood area, according to FEMA officials.

And while FEMA recommends the Smiths get flood insurance to be on the safe side, it's now their choice, not the government's mandate.