Flood Zones: Ocean Springs vs Pascagoula

Ocean Springs participates in the FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and enforces a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance through the Building Department. The ordinance requires 18 inches of freeboard above the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) - more stringent than the federal NFIP minimum. The current FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) was effective March 2009, post-Hurricane Katrina (2005). A structure cannot receive more than 50% cumulative repairs/improvements over a 10-year period if it is not compliant with the current FIRM (substantial improvement rule under 44 CFR § 59.1).

Pascagoula is a high-hurricane-risk Gulf Coast city devastated by Hurricane Katrina (2005); large portions of the city are mapped in FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas (Zone AE and coastal Zone VE) along the Mississippi Sound and the Pascagoula River. The City participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and the Community Rating System (CRS Class 7), and enforces a Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance (Ordinance No. 1-2009, adopted January 23, 2009), codified as Appendix C of the Code of Ordinances. FEMA's 50-percent substantial-damage / substantial-improvement rule limits cumulative repairs and remodels in SFHAs unless the structure is elevated.