LYNN – Hundreds of residents and businesses will soon be required to buy flood insurance they never needed before, according to new floodplain maps issued by the state, and if city officials fail to adopt the maps, then no one in the city will be eligible for flood insurance.The City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday in Council Chambers where it must vote to adopt the new Federal Emergency Management Agency floodplain maps. If it doesn’t, flood insurance for everyone will be canceled, explained Inspectional Services Chief Michael Donovan. And if there is a natural disaster, FEMA will provide no financial relief to deal with it, he added.”Every municipality has to adopt the maps by July 16,” Donovan said. “If they don’t, the flood insurance program will no longer be in effect, so if you have flood insurance on a house or a business, it will no longer be insured.”Donovan said prior to the new maps, 346 structures sat in the city’s floodplain. That number soars to 1,211 under the new maps, an increase of 865 homes and businesses, and councilors are not happy.Ward 3 Councilor Darren Cyr said the changes will affect some of the city’s oldest neighborhoods with high numbers of senior citizens. He also shrugged off the idea that FEMA wouldn’t cover damages if a storm hit.”In the last 10 years, I’ve witnessed three or four ?hundred-year storms’ and some extremely flooded areas,” he said referring to intense storms that statistically only hit every 100 years. “Lynn has never qualified for FEMA assistance.”Donovan said the city has received assistance from FEMA in the past, such as when the Callahan Elementary School was flooded, but he understands Cyr’s concerns.”It’s a difficult thing, because I don’t think anyone agrees with the maps,” Donovan said.While Cyr suggested they delay the public hearing while a debate over the maps plays out on the federal level, Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano welcomed the hearing.”I think a public hearing will be a good way to get answers,” he said.Like Cyr, however, Capano worries that the poorest residents will end up paying for the changes.”The poorest people are paying for the people who build houses on a cliff, and it falls into the ocean,” he said.Cyr said he would go along with the public hearing, but he hopes that anyone living within a mile from a pond, the ocean or the Saugus River attends the hearing as well.Donovan said he understands the frustration.”It’s very, very difficult,” he said. “No one likes this.”But the fact remains that if the council doesn’t vote to accept the new FEMA maps, then no one will be eligible for flood insurance coverage, he added.”It happened in 2012 ? and I’m trying to avoid it happening this time,” Donovan said.In 2012, FEMA made changes to the interior maps, which is property away from the coastline, that the city didn’t agree with, and the council delayed the vote and missed the adoption deadline. It was only a week, but it was enough time for Donovan’s office to receive plenty of phone calls.”You go right into the computer,” he said. “It’s automatic, we don’t get coverage.”There are ways to fight the issue, Donovan added. Individual residents can get an attorney and file a challenge or a community as a whole could challenge the maps, but either avenue could be expensive, he said.Ward 1 Councilor Wayne Lozzi said he shares his colleagues’ concerns but also recognizes the need for a hearing.”I will have a lot of questions,” he said. “And I hope we can be assured that at that time we’ll get some answers.”