So much rain in Seattle, council land use committee changes focus to floodplain legislation

(Image: CHS)

This week’s storms that have caused flooding across the region outside Seattle are also having an impact inside City Hall.

The Seattle City Council’s land use committee Wednesday will set aside its planned agenda for action to extend a set of interim regulations in the city that will allow property owners to rely on updated National Flood Insurance Rate Maps to obtain flood insurance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Insurance Program.

The Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections has been working on new legislation to come before the council to permanently update Seattle’s Floodplain Development regulations.

Wednesday, the council committee will hold a hearing and vote on extending the existing regulations into 2026 as the area has been hit by a series of soaking storms that have caused flooding in low-lying areas around the city.

If the council did not extend the interim regulations, property owners in the FEMA mapped floodplain areas may not be able to purchase flood insurance, renew an existing policy, or attain federally backed mortgages, according to a council analysis of the interim extension.

The council says the interim floodplain legislation applies to approximately 2,190 Seattle properties along the Puget Sound coast, the Duwamish River, and other streams.

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