Montana 100-Year Flood Plain Expanded

The mayor of Miles City, Mont., said a new federal map nearly doubles the size of the city’s 100-year flood plain and could result in hundreds of residents paying for increased flood insurance.

Joe R. Whalen said the maps by the Federal Emergency Management Agency put 69 percent of the southeast Montana city in the 100-year flood plain.

He says about 3,200 residential and commercial properties in the expansion of the mapped flood plain could be affected.

The federal agency started the national mapping project in 2004 as a way to utilize advances in mapping technology to better identify areas susceptible to flooding.

Whalen says the city doesn’t have to accept the expanded flood plain, but rejecting it could leave residents without flood insurance.