FEMA flood zone rules in Monroe County, PA — also called floodplain regulations or special flood hazard area (SFHA) rules — determine flood insurance requirements and elevation standards for new construction.
Monroe County's flood history is brutal: Hurricane Diane's August 1955 Brodhead Creek flood killed about 100 people around Stroudsburg. Today FEMA-mapped townships enforce floodplain construction standards under Act 166 and the NFIP.
In August 1955, back-to-back hurricanes sent Brodhead Creek over its banks, and the flood killed roughly 100 people near Stroudsburg and Analomink, one of Pennsylvania's deadliest. Monroe County municipalities participate in the National Flood Insurance Program and, under the Flood Plain Management Act (Act 166), enforce floodplain ordinances tied to FEMA maps. New buildings in a Special Flood Hazard Area must have their lowest floor elevated above the base flood elevation, and most townships add freeboard, commonly a foot to a foot and a half. Substantial improvements to existing structures trigger the same elevation rules. Federally backed mortgages in the floodplain require flood insurance.
Building below the required flood elevation or placing fill in the floodway without approval violates the municipal floodplain ordinance, forcing costly retrofits, penalties, and lender force-placed flood insurance at higher premiums.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Monroe County, PA
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Monroe County, PA
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Monroe County, PA
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Monroe County, PA
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Monroe County, PA
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See how Monroe County's flood zones rules stack up against other locations.
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