Confusing (to me) FEMA ideas -

Here is a photo taken this morning of Little River as it runs a block or so west of my office. We had a pretty good rain the last couple of days/nights and as happens very often, Little River is beyond it's banks by a fair amount:

Here is the location on Google Maps:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214243931092541992650.0004d3459fbea2658fce7&msa=0&ll=36.858618,-87.83925&spn=0.002305,0.004823

There is a letter from FEMA that indicates the source of flooding for Little River as it runs through the City of Cadiz is "backwater effects from Lake Barkley". With a listed BFE of 375' NGVD29. Now Little River over flows its banks very often and most of the time the lake is barely above pool elevation. As a matter of fact, today it is at only 356.5'. Perhaps the lake just could not accept all of the rainwater at once and that created the about 5 miles of back flow event claimed as the source of flooding. As I am no engineer and the practice of hydrology is verboten to Kentucky land surveyors, I will not second guess the determined flooding source or BFE.

At a different area of the county is a small creek known as Hopson Creek. Here is a photo of it from today:

Here is the location on Google Maps:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214243931092541992650.0004d345f6045eaa974ca&msa=0&ll=36.802687,-87.939237&spn=0.004613,0.009645

It may not be clear, but there is about a foot of creek bank showing. The only time I have seen this creek over it's banks was in the 2010 flooding (reported as a 1000 year event). This creek overflowed it's banks ONLY to an elevation equal to the highest lake elevation of Lake Barkley at the time of flooding. Meaning basically the field to the south of the placemark was partially flooded. However, everything east of that point is considered to be in a flood zone based on Hopson Creek being the source of flooding - not "backwater effects from Lake Barkley" at a point less than a mile from the lake.

Perhaps some of you guys who are allowed to perform hydrology in your practice or some of the engineers on the board could clear up my confusion. I just do not see how either

1. both of these places would be subject to the backwater effect

or

2. the flooding sources are actually exactly opposite of what FEMA has stated - meaning Little River is not subject to the BFE of the lake while Hopson Creek actually is.