YMDL Board Appealing FEMA Map Warnings

The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board plans to file an appeal against the new warnings included on maps updated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Map Modernization Program.

These warnings advise that the time- and water-tested levees could fail – with devastating consequences – and encourage property owners to purchase flood insurance.

Kelly Greenwood, YMDL Board CEO, says that the warning discounts the board’s flood-control structures and efforts to protect the citizens of the Delta.

The warning states that areas protected from the one-percent, annual chance (100-year) flood of the Mississippi River may be at risk; when, in fact, the levees maintained by the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board offer greater than 500-year protection, which is only a  .02 percent risk of main-line levee failure. Read the entire news release here.

The Board of Levee Commissioners for the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta is charged with the responsibility to erect, maintain, and operate a system of levees to protect the people and property of the Delta from damages of high waters of the Mississippi River; to direct the necessary activities attendant to the threat of high water and flood damages from interior rivers and streams; and to furnish the local cooperation required for certain flood control and drainage projects of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Board of Levee Commissioners for the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta is made up of twelve (12) popularly elected Commissioners from the ten (10) Delta Counties within the district. The Commissioners as a whole elect a President and a Vice President to oversee the implementation of policies set by the Board. Under the guidance of the President, execution of Board policies and day to day activities are accomplished by departments of well trained, diverse staff under the leadership of a licensed engineer who serves as the Chief Engineer and Chief Executive Officer.

The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta Levee Board is responsible for the first 98 miles of mainline Mississippi River levee and 18 miles of backwater levees within the Mississippi Delta. The mainline levee is located in DeSoto, Tunica, and Coahoma Counties. This portion of the levee protects the lives and livelihoods of more than 250,000 citizens living in the Delta. The backwater levees are located in Yazoo and Warren Counties. The YMDL Board employs a staff of professionals that performs a wide array of specialized tasks necessary to fulfill all responsibilities required to accomplish its mission.

See more district maps