PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — If you're looking at the new FEMA flood map for Palm Beach County — good luck.
Navigating the map is not proving to be easy for many, which means it's difficult to find out if a particular house or building is now in a high-risk flood zone.
"There are thousands of properties affected," Palm Beach County Building Director Doug Wise told me after talking with county commissioners about it Tuesday.
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Officials are concerned homeowners don't find out by getting a letter from their mortgage lender that they are in the high-risk zone and suddenly have to get flood insurance.
"We're building an application where you can put in your address which will simply say, 'Here's where you are, here's what you're going to be,'" he said.
That online tool, he told commissioners, should be available in 30 days.
That offers plenty of time for homeowners to see if they will need to shop for flood insurance before the Dec. 20 deadline.
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"FEMA is not going to send notices to individual owners, but we will do outreach events," Wise said.
County officials said they also plan to hold outreach events at several locations to educate and inform homeowners about the map.
"We need to do our best in getting the word out, so folks are not surprised when they get the insurance bill," Commissioner Maria Marino said.