Homeowners in some areas of Palm Beach County with federally backed mortgages may be forced to buy flood insurance after the county’s new flood hazard zone map takes effect in October.

As many as 50,839 homes – mainly in western county areas such as Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, and Westgate – will be designated flood hazard zones in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)’s new map, which will take effect Oct. 5. This is the first time FEMA has revised the map since 1989.

Doug Wise, the county’s flood plain administrator and building official, said in the Palm Beach Post that about 27,000 of the newly reclassified properties are in this area, which remains vulnerable to flooding. Juno Beach, in the northeast portion of the county, also has more high-risk properties, Wise said.

The new map is not all bad news for county homeowners, however. Under the changes, 45,640 properties in West Boca and other southwestern portions of the county will no longer be located in high-risk zones and won’t be subject to flood insurance requirements. And the high-risk flood zone designation for 36,983 properties will remain the same. Property owners can research their flood zone designations with a searchable application the county created found here.

Flood insurance ranges in cost from a few hundred dollars in lower-risk areas to several thousand dollars in higher-risk areas. Whether located in a high-risk area or not, officials urge homeowners to buy insurance because flooding is always a risk.