Floodplain Management Public Meeting

By: City of Newport News

The City of Newport News is undertaking a multi-year, master planning effort to tackle flooding challenges. Through this effort, the City is assessing current and future flood impacts to develop long-term flooding solutions. The City received $4.9 million in grant funding from the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund to engage in this planning effort. The master plans are divided into three key topic areas: stormwater, floodplain management, and climate change and resilience.  The three individual but interdependent plans will identify areas of concern for flooding and propose cost-effective preventative measures and future planning strategies. 

The Floodplain Management Plan Committee is holding its first meeting on Wednesday, May 17, from 1-3 pm. The public is invited to attend the meeting via Zoom; link and login details can be found online.

A Floodplain Management Plan characterizes current flood risk and develops recommendations to improve floodplain management practices in the City. It also improves the City’s ranking in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System (CRS), strengthening efforts against flooding and lowering flood insurance rates. Newport News residents currently earn a 15-percent discount on their flood insurance premiums through this program.

Learn more about the overall planning effort on the Stormwater Master Plan webpage, and reach out to stormwater@nnva.gov with any questions or comments.