flood insurance

Flood insurance mandate lifted for some in South Los Angeles

(LOS ANGELES TIMES) - Hundreds of South Los Angeles homeowners will no longer be required to buy costly flood insurance after a federal agency decided that it had mistakenly put them in a high-hazard zone.

After reviewing new topographic data, the Federal Emergency Management Agency removed 876 parcels in the Parks Mesa Heights neighborhood, according to a Dec. 28 letter from FEMA to the Los Angeles Department of Public Works.

FEMA added the homes to existing flood-hazard zones when it updated maps in June 2008. Owners of properties in so-called 100-year-flood zones are required to buy insurance if they hold a federally backed mortgage.

Dozens of homeowners protested that FEMA had relied on faulty information in updating its maps. The Public Works Department asked the federal agency to review the information. A community activist group and Councilman Bernard C. Parks also urged FEMA to reconsider its action.

The reversal means that homeowners are immediately released from the insurance mandate, said Cora Jackson-Fossett, a Public Works spokeswoman. She said 2,347 other properties remain in the high-hazard zones and must continue to pay premiums.

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