ELLICOTT CITY, MD – The Howard County Department of Public Works’ (DPW) Stormwater Management Division will hold a public information session on Wednesday, October 7th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at The Capitoline Center, located at 8360 Court Avenue in Ellicott City, to discuss the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) new flood maps and County floodplain maps.
In August 2025, FEMA’s Region 3 team issued preliminary updates to Howard County’s November 2013 Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for areas greater than one square-mile drainage area. These Preliminary FIRMs and the corresponding Flood Insurance Study, provide the basis for flood risk education and floodplain management measures. The County is required to adopt the updated FIRMs to continue participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, which makes flood insurance available to the community. With these map updates, properties in Howard County that were once not in a high-risk flood zone, also known as a Special Flood Hazard Area, may now be, requiring that they now purchase flood insurance.
In addition to FEMA’s Preliminary FIRMs, the County also recently released new floodplain maps for drainage areas between 30 acres and one square-mile in the Little Patuxent Watershed and the Patapsco River Lower North Branch Watershed. This public information session will allow Howard County residents and property owners to learn more about these updated and new maps, their flood risk, and their flood insurance requirements.
Flooding is the number one natural disaster in the United States. To ensure our residents and property owners are prepared should the unthinkable happen to them, it is imperative that anyone who lives or owns property in a floodplain understand their risks and take advantage of the tools and programs available to them, including flood insurance, to help reduce the impacts of flooding to their home, property, family, and livelihood.
This public information session will include a PowerPoint presentation discussing the map updates, followed by a question-and-answer session. In addition to DPW’s Stormwater Management Division staff, representatives from the County’s Departments of Planning and Zoning and Inspections, Licenses and Permits and the Maryland Department of the Environment will also be on hand to answer flood risk and insurance questions, review the preliminary maps with residents and property owners, and discuss what these updates mean for them. A sign language interpreter will be in attendance.
Those unable to attend the public information session, who would like to view the meeting materials and/or have questions, should contact DPW’s Stormwater Management Division at 410-313-0522 or email DoIFlood@howardcountymd.gov. Additional information is also available on the Division’s “Flood Protection” website.
Residents who would like to contact FEMA directly about locating and/or reading flood maps, or to be connected with technical subject matter experts, should contact FEMA’s Mapping and Insurance eXchange by calling 1-877-336-2627 or by emailing FEMA-FMIX@fema.dhs.gov.
For questions and/or more information about this public information session, contact Mark Richmond with DPW’s Stormwater Management Division at 410-313-6413 or email msrichmond@howardcountymd.gov.