LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) FEMA has released new flood maps for Lafayette Parish and administrators are rolling out the changes for the public several months before they officially go into effect.

The changes that will go into effect on December 21st.

LCG administrators are hoping getting the word out now will give all residents who have been newly mapped ample time to adjust their insurance policies.

Many of the new areas added to the flood zones were never studied before because of their rural locations and lack of population.

As people moved in, remapping became necessary, and of course, with the new flood zones, you can expect an increase in insurance rates.

Stephanie Weeks Flood plan administrator for LCG says, “If they get their policy more than 30 days before the maps change, which they will change on December 21 of this year, they can benefit from lower rates for a longer period of time, before they start seeing those increases.

Affected by the new flood zone is Roosevelt Hill. 

He and his wife have lived on Terry Drive since 1976.

“We’ve never had water or flooding to reach out residence. The subdivision on the lower in has had water but we have never in those years had flooding”, Hill explains.

Hill says he dropped his flood coverage prior to the historic flood of 2016; even then, no flooding. Yet, he now finds his home in a flood zone. 

Weeks, with LCG, says she has an answer for that.

“The maps were not a result of the August 2016 flood. People that flooded, they didn’t come in and say ‘you flooded’ we’re going to map you in. The maps pre-dated the August 2016 event. If anything, what the August 2016 flood did is it validated the maps,” she says.

If anything is unclear about the map changes, parish government is hosting three open meetings along with FEMA representatives to further explain.

The meetings will be held on September 11th at the Broussard community center, September 12th at the Scott event center, and September 19th at the Carencro community center.

All meetings begin at 6 p.m.