Floodplain Management Program Overview
Click here to learn about changes being proposed by FEMA to Flood Insurance Rate Maps that may impact you.
We are thrilled to announce that our Floodplain Manager, Patrick Varga, CFM, was awarded the 2023 Larry R. Johnston Local Floodplain Manager of the Year award from the Association of State Floodplain Managers.
Click here to find out more.
Carroll County was excited to participate with the US Army Corps of Engineers Silver Jacket team's Flood Awareness Month in 2023. Carroll worked with Corps staff to create a 3-minute video on wet floodproofing including an interview with Jerry Stambaugh at the Flood Zone Brewery.
Check out the video here.
June 19-24, 2022 was the 50th Anniversary of Hurricane Agnes. The website linked below was created by a multi-jurisdictional group including a number of Federal, state, and local partners. Carroll County is proud to be part of the development and outreach team for this anniversary. The website details Agnes the weather event, Mitigation projects since Agnes, Flood Preparedness efforts, and Service Improvements over the last fifty years. Carroll County is proud to be highlighted as part of the Mitigation section of the website. The website also lists upcoming events being held to commemorate Agnes fifty years later.
Carroll County has also created a website to remember the impact Hurricane Agnes had on its citizens, businesses, infrastructure, and everyday life.
The impact of Hurricane Agnes on Carroll County, MD
In 2004, the Carroll County Board of Commissioners approved the creation of a Floodplain Management Program, adopted a Floodplain Management Chapter to the Carroll County Code, and approved a Floodplain Management Specialist Position. The purpose of Carroll County’s Floodplain Management Program is to protect human life and health, minimize property damage, encourage appropriate construction practices to minimize future damage, and to protect water supply, sanitary sewage disposal, and natural drainage.
Communities must adopt minimum standards from the National Flood Insurance Program in order for residents to have access to flood insurance. Jurisdictions that go above and beyond those minimum Federal standards are able to participate in the Community Rating System, or CRS. The program consists of a crediting system which assigns points to things like record keeping, public outreach, maintaining open space, and limiting development within the floodplain. In 2005, Carroll County achieved Good Standing in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which is a program that allows residents to purchase federally supported flood insurance policies.
Carroll County entered the CRS program in 2007 as a Class 8 which provided a 10% discount on flood insurance for all residents of the unincorporated county. Additional outreach events, code changes, and mapping work have been completed to improve our score over the last few years. As of October 1, 2024, Carroll County is now rated as a Class 5, joining Howard County, Prince Georges County, and Baltimore City as the highest rated in the state. This also puts Carroll County in the top 15% of the entire Country. This class upgrade equates to a 25% discount on flood insurance premiums for residents in unincorporated Carroll County.
On October 2, 2015 new FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps became effective for Carroll County. View the map of FEMA floodplains in Carroll County
As part of the Development Review process, all applicable developments must address Carroll County’s Floodplain Management Code (Chapter 153). We prohibit new construction in the floodplain, both FEMA and non-FEMA, and prohibit fill in the floodplain. According to the Code, proposed developments are required to convey floodplain easements to the County Commissioners, which serves to protect and preserve the natural characteristics of floodplains, as well as make property owners aware of their location. Restricted activities prohibited by the easements are soil disturbance; storing or dumping of materials; composting or broadcast spreading of yard waste; storing, maintaining, or operating motorized vehicles; housing or otherwise maintaining domestic animals; and burning of vegetation.