Step 4: Identifying the Flood Insurance Risk Zone of the Property

After locating the site, you find the property you are considering buying is partially in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).

In addition, the building on the property is located on the portion of the property that is partially in the SFHA Note: If any portion of a building is within the SFHA, the building will be considered to be in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) for Flood Insurance and Floodplain Management regulatory purposes.

You can now identify the flood insurance risk zone designation for the property by finding the zone label. The SFHA near the property is labeled Zone AE. The zone designation applies both to the portion of the property in the SFHA and to any building on that portion.

Note – if a building crosses a zone boundary the higher hazard zone will apply to the entire building. For instance if a house is located partially in Coastal Zone AE and partially in Coastal VE, the Coastal VE high hazard zone will be applied to the entire building.

Flood map with ZONE A, ZONE AE, and ZONE A highighted