Handlin takes petition to residents in four towns Over 600 sign form against new FEMA flood maps BY JAMIE ROMM Staff Writer JAMIE ROMM Nancy Best signs a petition against FEMA's projected flood map expansion as Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-13) looks on. MIDDLETOWN - The door of AssemblywomanAmyHandlin's (R-13) district office would open and close every few minutes as residents came in and told the same story. From 2 to 7 p.m. onMay 1, during a petition drive initiated by Handlin, the personal anecdotes were similar. "I've lived in Middletown 30 years and have never been in the flood zone," or, "For the last 25 years I've never had to buy flood insurance" was a common beginning to many of the conversations held. They all seemed to end the same way, too. "FEMA has no clue what they are doing." "It's funny that the more people that come in, the same things we keep hearing over and over," Handlin said. "It's terrible that this is going on and causing so much confusion. The stories seem to fill in the blank with the same issue every time" Some 1,820 homes in Middletown, 640 in Hazlet and 100 in Union Beach were added to the flood zone maps, according to a press release from Handlin's office. The revised flood plain maps could be costly both to constituents and to the local governments of Hazlet, Keansburg, Middletown and Union Beach. The petition asks R. David Paulison, administrator of FEMA, to delay finalization of the flood maps until all possible funding sources have been explored. "There are people not even sure that they are in the flood zone," Handlin said. "They've brought the map in for us to look at and we still have no clue." With her first stop in Keansburg, then Hazlet,Middletown onMay 1 and a trip to Union Beach scheduled in the coming weeks, Handlin said she has at least 600 names on the petition, with more to come. "Those are only petitions signed since we started here," Handlin said. "Some people have taken a handful of forms home and others have downloaded themfromthe Internet. It continues to grow. "Ever since I started this, FEMA has gone into hiding," Handlin said. "No one has heard from them since we began." Deputy Mayor Pamela Brightbill was also on hand to speak with residents "We've gotten a big response on the township level," Brightbill said. "We've been hearing the same complaints as the county." Nancy Best of Belford stopped by to talk to the assemblywoman and add her name to the ever-growing list of petition signers. "They basically screwed up the whole thing," Best said. "The locals need to go out and tell their neighbors to get over here." FEMA is halfway through a five-year initiative to update all of the nation's flood maps, according to a release from the agency. The map modernization project is mandated by Congress and uses aerial photography and advanced topography technologies to produce maps in an aerial, digital format that makes it easy to see roads and buildings in relation to flood risk zones. Following the publication of notices by FEMA, there is a 90-day appeal period in which communities can challenge new flood data due to technical information about flood elevations or local topography. The new maps would become final six months after the last appeal is resolved. While many residents came to look at themaps, Handlin told themto either go to town hall or log on to the Internet. The new preliminarymaps and flood insurance reports are available online at rmc.mapmodteam.com/RMC2/Counties Monmouth.htm as well as at local municipal offices. In the end, Handlin said the maps are indecipherable. "I've looked at them many times and still haven't figured them out," Handlin said. "It's a very backwards process."