x-sender: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com x-receiver: governor.haley@sc.lmhostediq.com Received: from mail pickup service by sc.lmhostediq.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Mon, 16 May 2016 20:04:22 -0400 thread-index: AdGvz6qdUuVTtTUgRjyIsYfzEhWxaw== Thread-Topic: Proposed Flood Zone Changes and Economic Implications From: To: Subject: Proposed Flood Zone Changes and Economic Implications Date: Mon, 16 May 2016 20:04:22 -0400 Message-ID: <34B0FBB875634932A0DFFC5EECD8047E@IQ12> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Microsoft CDO for Windows 2000 Content-Class: urn:content-classes:message Importance: normal Priority: normal X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.1.7601.17609 X-OriginalArrivalTime: 17 May 2016 00:04:22.0770 (UTC) FILETIME=[AAB78520:01D1AFCF] CUSTOM Mrs. Becky Warren President of Harbour Towne HOA Harbour Towne Homeowners Association 1435 Shoreline Drive Myrtle Beach SC 29577 beckywarren@sccoast.net 843-293-6453 ENVI Proposed Flood Zone Changes and Economic Implications 64.138.229.204 I am writing to you to make you aware that the proposed flood zone changes that will be affecting not only Horry County but all of the coastal counties of the great state of South Carolina. These proposed changes will have far reaching devastating financial and negative economic impact on this entire state if these changes are allowed to be implemented. Our Horry County employees in our storm water and planning and zoning departments have been requesting information from SCDNR regarding this change since September 2015 with no replies. The county has been given a 90 day appeal period to dispute the information in the study which DNR posses and hasn't been forth coming with the study. This study was requested by FEMA to DNR who in turn hired an outside company called AECOM. The study took years to complete. I do not know who set the 90 day appeals process, it was either FEMA or SCDNR for Horry and Georgetown counties, but I do know that the appeals deadline is July 17th, 2016. Not much time to appeal the study and come up with the needed information to appeal. Many people have emailed the Horry County Delegation but the majority of them say this is a federal matter and contact your senators which many folks that are in the effected areas have already done to avail. I believe Governor, you alone could put enough pressure on FEMA to at least extend the July 17 deadline to give our county employees longer to work on this to dispute the current study especially since SCDNR has not been cooperative specifically the DNR employee whose desk this was all 'dumped on". Please do not make excuses for this agency as they make enough excuses for themselves. Let me give you an example of how this will affect homeowners. A homeowner is currently in an X flood zone. Their property has never ever flooded nor has the neighborhood the home is located in including hurricanes Hugo, Floyd, and the rest of the named storms and all the 100 year rain events and the 1000 year event back in the fall of 2015. If the AE13 is implemented this homeowner will be forced to pay six to eight thousand dollars a year in flood insurance if they have a mortgage. Second if the homeowner wants to sell their home it will literally now become unmarketable because of this AE13 flood zone. This is going to happen all over Horry and Georgetown Counties very soon and then the rest of the coastal counties of our great state. Homeowners will be forced to walk away from their homes because they won't be able to afford to pay for their home and pay for flood insurance Governor. Businesses will relocate, people won't be buying homes in these areas, developers won't be able to develop or build in these flood zones and the negative economic impact will be wide spread. Tax revenues will drop in all the coastal counties and then who will support the state? The people who live in the Charleston surrounding areas who work for Boeing won't be able to afford to live and work there with the increased flood premiums. It really will have a catastrophic impact on our state. Governor, please don't just say you will look into this matter I implore you to take immediate action to prevent this from happening and at the least get the approaching deadline extended. Washington D.C. and Columbia are all getting ready for summer vacations so I ask you to act quickly and immediately. I called your constituent office 3 times last week and have left messages and have had no reply which was very disappointing. I represent 134 homes in my neighborhood alone. I certainly look forward to your reply and I am hopeful it is not a "pat reply" like Lindsey Graham's was ! Regards, Becky Warren