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Bill that would let some homes stay in the floodway passes Senate

A floodplain map of the area where two Amish brothers built their homes in Wayne County.
A floodplain map of the area where two Amish brothers built their homes in Wayne County.

A bill that could jeopardize flood insurance for Wayne County residents — and potentially other insured Hoosiers — passed the state Senate on Tuesday.

SB 342 would prohibit the state from making Wayne County residents move or put their home on stilts if it's in the floodway.

The county granted permits for two Amish brothers to build their homes in an area that later was found to be in a floodway on the state’s floodplain maps.

READ MORE: Bills on floodplains, dams limit the Indiana DNR's ability to protect Hoosiers from flooding

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The Indiana Department of Natural Resources said, if the bill becomes law, it’s possible Indiana would not meet federal flood protection standards. That means FEMA could choose not to provide flood insurance to Wayne County residents — or maybe policy holders statewide.

Contact reporter Rebecca at  rthiele@iu.edu or follow her on Twitter at @beckythiele.

Indiana Environmental reporting is supported by the Environmental Resilience Institute, an Indiana University Grand Challenge project developing Indiana-specific projections and informed responses to problems of environmental change.

Rebecca Thiele covers statewide environment and energy issues. Before coming to Bloomington, she worked for WMUK Radio in Kalamazoo, Michigan on the arts and environment beats. Thiele was born in St. Louis and is a proud graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.