Decade of data shows FEMA flood maps missed 3 in 4 claims

An analysis of flood claims in several southeast Houston suburbs from 1999-2009 found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s 100-year flood plain maps—the tool that U.S. officials use to determine both flood risk and insurance premiums—failed to capture 75 percent of flood damages from five serious floods, none of which reached the threshold of a 100-year event.