Mapping change could be costly for some who live near Mississippi River

ST. LOUIS -- A federal remapping process could mean that thousands of Missouri and Illinois residents living along the Mississippi River pay more for flood insurance.

Currently, homeowners in areas behind levees protecting against 100-year floods are exempt from having to purchase flood insurance. That may change, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported Friday.

The change is due to a remapping process conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Chicago-based Floodplain Management and Insurance Branch, which oversees six states. The agency is updating maps "to make sure the information we show on them accurately reflects current flood risk," said Terry Reuss Fell, who heads the branch.

Plans call for a note on the map to recommend that residents protected by 100-year levees buy insurance. As a result, lenders may require it.

FEMA has deemed Illinois a higher priority. No later than October, preliminary maps will be shown to the affected communities. Reviews, appeals and other processes will follow for about a year before final maps are published. Missouri's schedule is three years behind that.

A $1 billion appropriation by Congress is financing the work.