VENICE — When the new FEMA flood maps are presented to the public, the news is usually bad for the overall community.
With climate change, rising seas and stronger hurricanes, flood zones usually expand.
But for unincorporated Sarasota County and the latest flood maps, the news is very good. And for Venice, the news is startling.
In a great way.
In all of Venice, 804 pieces of property, totaling 600 acres, were moved out of a flood zone since 2016, and only one was moved into a flood zone.
“And that was a piece of property at the airport,” said Christina Rimes, the city’s Community Rating System coordinator.
Venice even set up a special side-by-side map showing flood zones in 2016 and flood zones in 2024 at:
tinyurl.com/26jse4h3
For unincorporated Sarasota County — the parts of the county not in a city such as Venice or North Port — it saw 10,068 properties moved out of a flood zone, while 5,925 were moved into a flood zone, for a net positive.
Officials credit the good news to more retention ponds, better planning for new developments and better stormwater systems.