Flood Zone Change in D.C. Could Be Costly

Holes would be cut in the street and then covered with plates. If a flood occurred, the plates would be removed, he said. Poles would be inserted in the holes and panels secured between the poles. The panels could form a barrier up to six feet in height.

He said nothing had been designed, and he did not know what a levee would cost. Congress would have to fund it.

Kinerney, of FEMA, said that if the levees are fixed, the maps would reflect that. If the levees are not fixed, the proposed map changes would take effect, he said, and could affect property and development because of increased insurance and code requirements.

The planning commission, which by law reviews all flood-control projects by the federal government or on federal property, agreed. Acosta, the commission's acting executive director, complained that the proposals had not been extensively publicized.

"Federal property managers, private sector property owners and the public are likely to be unaware of the new flood risks to their businesses, residences and properties -- and more importantly, unaware of the new insurance and building code requirements imposed because of the proposed map changes," he wrote, urging FEMA and the city to make further notifications and extend a public comment period that ended Thursday.

He noted that such projects as the expansion of the Department of Commerce building and the construction of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture would have to be reviewed if the map changes are adopted because they would be partly in the new hazard zone.

Several commission members expressed dismay when the map proposals were shown at Thursday's meeting.

The proposals are "ridiculous," said John Parsons, the National Park Service's associate regional director for land resources and planning, whose last day on the commission was Thursday.

"I suppose if the city was annihilated, and there was no one to fill sandbags, I guess they'd have a point," he said.