Today's Flood Insurance Rate Maps
Any resident can ask the City to look up the flood zone for a particular property. This map information service is offered free of charge.
Printed map panels can be reviewed in person at the City's Planning and Development Center.
You can also view and print the electronic maps at no cost through FEMA's online flood map service center.
Updated Flood Insurance Rate Maps
Working with local governments and engineering consultants, FEMA has been moving the old paper Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) into a digital format and refreshing them with newer data, an effort known as Map Modernization. Work on the maps covering Fredville started in the mid-2000s, and preliminary versions went out to local communities for review. The county areas that include parts of Fredville then received final maps in stages, and FEMA has since issued a newer set of effective FIRMs for the northern part of the city.
The maps now in effect have been added to the City's geographic information system (GIS), so staff can lay parcel boundaries and aerial photography over the floodplain lines and judge a property's status more easily.
The revised maps identify land that has been taken out of the mapped floodplain as well as land that has been added to it for the first time.
Map Modernization: Common Questions
The answers below explain your next steps if the updated maps place your property inside or outside the mapped floodplain.
Why did the county areas get new maps?
FIRMs, often called flood hazard maps, help protect people and property by showing where flooding is likely across the county. Over time the older maps fell out of date; many panels had gone years without an update. In the meantime, erosion, new development and natural changes altered how water drains and flows, which shifted the chance of inland and river flooding in some locations.
Newer mapping methods produce flood hazard data that is more detailed, dependable and up to date. That gives everyone a clearer view of which areas face the greatest flood risk and a stronger basis for important decisions.
Who updates the maps?
The work is a national partnership among federal, state and local governments, guided by a multi-year plan from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to produce detailed digital flood hazard data. The effort expanded as more and more industries felt the effects of outdated flood information.
The local modernization project was carried out by FEMA together with regional organizations and partners from the private sector.
What does a flood hazard map show?
A flood hazard map, also called a FIRM, shows how much flood risk a home or business faces. Areas of low and moderate risk appear as Zone X or shaded Zone X. Inland high-risk areas carry labels such as A, AE, AO or AH.
Who benefits from the new maps?
Many different groups gain something from the updated floodplain maps:
- Planners and local officials get a fuller picture of the flood hazards facing the City, which helps them plan better.
- Builders and developers get more detailed data for deciding where to build and for understanding how a project may change nearby flood hazard areas.
- Insurance agents, insurers and lenders can check updates and upcoming changes online, so they can serve clients and the community more efficiently.
- Homeowners and business owners can make smarter financial choices about protecting their property.
What is a floodplain?
A floodplain is land where water gathers, ponds and moves during natural flood events. Areas in the 1% annual chance flood zone, often called the 100-year floodplain, fall into the category FEMA calls Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA). The "100-year" label can be confusing: it describes a flood with a 1% chance of being reached or topped in any single year, not a flood that happens only once a century.
Is my property in a floodplain?
Technically, every property sits in some floodplain, but only some lie inside a Special Flood Hazard Area. On the updated maps FEMA labels high-risk floodplain as Zone A or Zone AE. Shaded Zone X marks moderate-risk land, the so-called 500-year floodplain, which has a 0.2% chance of flooding in a given year. Everything else falls in Zone X, where flooding can still happen but is less likely.
How will the new maps affect me?
The map changes will play out differently from one neighborhood to the next. For some properties nothing changes and the risk stays the same. Others will move into a higher-risk zone, and some will move into a lower-risk zone.
What if my property moves into a high-risk area?
If the updated map shows your building at higher flood risk and your mortgage comes from a federally regulated lender, you will probably have to carry flood insurance. Without a mortgage, coverage is your choice. Over a typical 30-year mortgage, a home is roughly three times more likely to flood than to catch fire.* Regular homeowner policies exclude flood damage, so flood coverage has to be bought separately.
*Based on a 2005 national FEMA statistic.
What if my property moves into a low- or moderate-risk area?
When the new map places a building in a low- or moderate-risk zone, federal rules no longer require flood insurance. The risk is lower but not gone, so keeping a policy is still a smart move.
What could the new maps cost me?
A structure mapped into a high-risk zone that carries a mortgage from a federally regulated lender will most likely need flood insurance. Owners in low- or moderate-risk zones do not have to buy or keep coverage, though it is strongly recommended. Paying for a flood policy on your home and belongings costs far less than repairing or rebuilding without one after a flood.
Because the City takes part in the Community Rating System (CRS) of the National Flood Insurance Program, residents and businesses can buy flood insurance at a discount. Owners may insure the building, its contents or both, and renters can buy coverage for their belongings alone. Ask your insurance agent which level of coverage fits your needs.
What is grandfathering, and can it help me?
Under its grandfathering rules, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) gives a break to two groups: owners whose buildings followed the flood map that applied when they were built, and owners who already held a flood policy when the new maps took effect and have kept it in force without a break.
Grandfathering can lower the premium for these buildings. If the new map would give you a better rate, though, use the new map instead.
Renewing an Existing Policy
Your agent sets the flood insurance premium using the map that is in effect on the day you buy the policy. After that, the policy can keep its original rating at each renewal, provided coverage never lapses and the building is not changed in a way that cancels the benefit.
Buildings Constructed in Compliance
For buildings put up after the community's first flood map took effect, the NFIP will apply grandfathering when both of these are true:
- the building met the requirements of the map that was in force when it was built; and
- it has not been substantially damaged or substantially altered since.
To use this rule, the owner has to give the insurance company the right documents:
- To keep the zone that applied when the building went up, supply a copy of the map from that period showing the building's location, or a letter from a community official confirming it.
- For buildings in high-risk zones built after the first map was adopted, rates generally depend on how the building's elevation compares with the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) on the map. If the BFE has since changed and the original BFE gives you a better rate, give your agent an elevation certificate along with the map that applied at construction. A letter from a community official confirming these details may also be accepted.
When do the maps take effect?
The northern part of the city has the most recently issued maps. Elsewhere, each county's maps have their own effective date. The Floodplain office can tell you which date applies to your property.
Where can I learn more?
These resources can answer further questions about the current effective maps:
- General flood insurance information: the National Flood Insurance Program's FloodSmart website
- FEMA Map Assistance Center: (555) 010-4491, open weekdays from 8 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. Eastern time
- FEMA flood hazard maps: FEMA's online flood map service center
- Help with flood policy rates and what a policy covers: (555) 010-7177
The FloodSmart site also explains how to guard against flooding and what steps residents can take to make sure their insurance properly protects their investment.
Fredville is a demonstration city built by Talk to Fred. Names, numbers and details on this page are sample content.