FLOOD INFORMATION

Alleghany County has been a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) initiated by the Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) since 1987.  By being a member, citizens of the County have available to them flood insurance through FEMA. 

As a member of NFIP, Alleghany County works closely with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Floodplain Management Program in the interpretation of the FEMA floodplain maps and regulations.  They provide to Alleghany County many publications about flooding, flood preparedness, and flood proofing. All these documents are available for viewing by the public. Also available are the FEMA FIRM Panel maps showing the location of flood hazard areas within the County. 

For questions or to view the maps or available publications, contact the Public Works Department at (540) 863-6650, 9212 Winterberry Avenue, Suite A, Covington, VA  24426, or by e-mail at mdudley@co.alleghany.va.us.  You can also find out more about FEMA and NFIP at www.fema.org.  Maps are also available on-line.

Elevation Certificates: A Virginia licensed surveyor or engineer must complete an elevation certification.  The elevation form can be obtained by contacting the Public Works Department or by going to the FEMA website. 

Construction in a Flood Hazard Area:  In addition to Federal Regulations, the County has established guidelines for development within a flood hazard areas.  They can be found in Chapter 66-Zoning, of the Code of the County of Alleghany, Virginia.    The established flood zones are: 

Flood Way (FW) –  A floodway is the channel of a river or other water course and the adjacent land areas that must be reserved in order to discharge the base flood without increasing the water surface elevation in the designated floodplains.  No construction or development, including fill, can be done in a designated floodway.

Floodplain (FP) - Floodplains are any land areas susceptible to being inundated by water from any source.  The two established floodplains are:

100 Year Floodplain - Development can occur, however the first floor elevation of a structure shall be at least one foot above the designated flood elevations shown on the FEMA maps.  Also, compliance with building code requirements for structures in flood hazard areas must be complied with.

500 Year Floodplain – Development can occur with compliance of building code requirements for structures in flood hazard areas.

Individuals or developers wanting to know if property is located within a flood hazard area are strongly encouraged to come to the Public Works Department to look at the maps with the County Staff.  Flood maps do not show lot or parcel lines, and a minimal number of roads and streets are shown.

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