The Florida State Floodplain Management Office is the proud recipient of a national award from the Association of State Floodplain Managers that honors contributions that keep communities safe from flood loss and promote resiliency.

The Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) has announced the winners of its 2020 awards. Each year, the ASFPM’s awards “recognize the outstanding contributions by individuals, agencies, and organizations who are advancing the association’s mission to reduce the loss of human life and property damage due to flooding.”

The Tom Lee State Award for Excellence is among these awards. This annual award recognizes an outstanding floodplain management program or activity at the state level. We’re proud to share that the Florida State Floodplain Management Office is the 2020 winner of this award.

Here’s what the ASFPM says about the FSFMO: 

“As the state coordinating agency for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the Florida State Floodplain Management Office performs a variety of functions to ensure communities remain compliant with regulations, ordinances, and the Florida Building Code. Beyond those responsibilities, the office has undertaken several initiatives that can serve as models for other states, including a Post-Disaster Toolkit to guide local floodplain administrators in their roles and responsibilities following disasters. It also created an innovative program that improves coordination between communities to share floodplain management issues, challenges, and solutions while offering training to help participants earn continuing education credits toward their Certified Floodplain Management credentials.”

ASFPM leaders announced the awards during a 2020 ASFPM National Awards virtual ceremony. Eddie Bouza, a Senior Management Analyst and Floodplain Management Consultant with the Florida Division of Emergency Management, accepted the award via video on behalf of the Florida State Floodplain Management Office. “I’m honored to be selected,” Eddie says, “I would like to express our deep appreciation to the ASFPM, its members and executive board for awarding the state of Florida the 2020 Tom Lee award for Excellence in Floodplain Management.”

You can watch Eddie’s acceptance video, where he shares the moment with team members and highlights what he outlines as the “important aspects of our program over the past several years.” And as he says in the video, “We deeply appreciate ASFPM for recognizing Florida’s strong floodplain management program, and we thank you very much.”