New flood plane map will assist residents in getting to higher ground

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb County officials are doing what they can now to prevent major flooding in the area.

They are working with the Georgia Silver Jackets, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with other federal and state agencies to create a library of flood maps along a five mile stretch of the Ocmulgee River.

The maps will highlight all of the areas subject to damage after heavy rainfall.

“It shows a flooding event almost as it actually happens,” says Georgia Department of Natural Resources Floodplain Management Unit, Tom Shillock. “

Shillock says it is not a matter of if Macon will find itself under water, but when.

Mayor Robert Reichert says the city does not want to be caught off guard like it was during the 1994 flood.

“We know that flooding can be problematic for us,” says Reichert. “We also had a breach in the levee in 1994.”
 
“It’s great for the use by emergency responders, to get out there and say okay, we have flooding and this is where the flood waters are going and these maps help you determine quickly where the waters are going to go,” added Shillock.
“The flooding maps are also used by mortgage and loan officers to determine the cost of flood insurance, and how much a homeowner, or business is required to purchase.”