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FEMA's New Flood Maps Go Too Far, Some Cities Say

SEATTLE TIMES --New federal flood-plain maps to be released in coming months redraw those areas across Western Washington most likely to be inundated by a 100-year flood. The new maps include large swaths of the Green River Valley, home to tens of thousands of people and the state's largest concentration of warehouses and industrial development. But when officials from some of the communities most vulnerable to flooding use words such as "devastating" and "disaster," they're not talking about torrential stormwaters. They're referring to what they fear could be the effect of the new maps on their economic survival. Read More