Planning

This Wayne County Administration is committed to working with the Cities of Jesup, Odum and Screven as well as the Industrial Development Authority and Industry both local and state-wide to "grow Wayne County". 

Flood Zones

Federal Emergency Management Agency has revised the flood maps for Wayne County, Jesup, Odum and Screven. New Map is effective starting Nov. 2010.

Why do I need flood insurance, even though my community has never been flooded?

Flooding occurs in moderate-to-low risk areas as well as in high-risk areas. Poor drainage systems, rapid accumulation of rainfall, snowmelt, and broken water mains can all result in flood. Properties on a hillside can be damaged by mudflow, a covered peril under the Standard Flood Insurance Policy.

Structures located in high-risk flood areas have a significant chance (26 percent) of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage. A home mapped in a high-risk area is 2 1/2 times more likely to suffer damage from a flood than a fire in the lifetime of a typical mortgage!

For these reasons, flood insurance is required by law for buildings in high-risk flood areas as a condition of receiving a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender.

If my home is flooded, won't federal disaster assistance pay for my damages?

Not necessarily. Federal disaster assistance typically comes in the form of a low interest loan to help cover flood damage, not compensation for your losses. Even then, those loans are only available if the President formally declares a disaster and must be repaid along with any existing mortgage.

Where can I find more information about the maps that were used to Determine my relative risk level for flood?

FEMA publishes maps indicating a community's flood hazard areas and the degree of risk in those areas. Flood insurance maps usually are on file in a local repository in the community, such as the planning offices / county building inspector.

Doesn't my homeowners insurance policy cover flooding?

No. Flood damage is not typically covered by a homeowners insurance policy.