A study by researchers at North Carolina State University supports what some critics of federal flood maps have said for years: That lines drawn on a map give a false sense of security from flooding and have led to increased development in vulnerable areas.
The “safe development paradox” has meant that very near the edge of the 100-year flood zone, or the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s special flood hazard area, development has boomed, increasing the risk of insured and uninsured losses.
The study examined 2,300 counties nationwide and found that as much as 24% of