CENTRAL - A city-funded project to update and revise FEMA flood elevations along portions of the Beaver Bayou watershed in Central was approved.

The project, which began about four years ago, was granted approval by FEMA last week.

"We felt like some people were put into floodplains that they shouldn't have been put in and was causing a burden on our citizens," former Central Councilman Aaron Moak says.

In 2008, after Hurricane Katrina, FEMA brought in new maps, which put some homeowners who had never paid flood insurance before into a high risk zone. Some residents went from paying no flood insurance, to spending up to $4,000 a year protecting their property.

"When we did the study, those areas that were historically not in a flood zone are going to not in a flood zone again," former floodplain manager Kathi Cowen explains. "Hopefully their rates will be affordable, again."

The updated maps must pass a 90 day appeal period and are not effective yet. The maps will likely become effective on or around July 15, 2016.

View the updated maps here.

There is a Central Community Alliance meeting Tuesday, March 15 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at 16252 Wax Road.

If the maps become effective, it's up to the homeowner to contact their insurance agent or provider to be reassessed and get a lower rate.