At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Identify who uses Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs)

In 1968, the US Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Their intent was to reduce future damage and to provide protection for property owners from potential losses through an insurance mechanism that allows a premium to be paid by those most in need of the protection.

FEMA produces Flood Insurance Rate Maps that show the flood risks within the community. The flood risk information presented on the Flood Insurance Rate Map is based on historic, meteorological, hydrologic, and hydraulic data, as well as watershed conditions such as land use, topography, wetlands, surface water, flood-control works, and development.

A variety of information may be found on a flood map, including:

• Common physical features, such as major highways, secondary roads, lakes, railroads, streams, and other waterways.
• Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA)
• Base Flood Elevations (BFE) or average flood depths
• Flood insurance risk zones
• Areas subject to the 1.0 percent (100-year) and 0.2 percent (500-year) annual chance of flooding.

Reference: Title 42, Chapter 50 Section 4001 (e)(1 & 2)

The flood map provides information that allows you to:

• Identify Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs).
• Locate a specific property in relation to the SFHAs.
• Identify the base, or 1-percent annual chance, flood elevation at a specific site.
• Identify the magnitude of flood hazard in a specific area.
• Locate regulatory floodways.

FEMA makes flood maps available to a wide range of stakeholders. Private citizens, insurance agents, real estate brokers, community officials, lending institutions, and Federal agencies all use the flood maps to assist them in understanding flood hazards.

• Private citizens, insurance agents, and real estate brokers use the flood maps to locate properties, buildings and corresponding flood insurance risk zones.
• Community officials use the flood maps to administer floodplain management regulations as well as for land use, mitigation program, and emergency response planning.
• Lending institutions and Federal agencies use the flood maps to locate properties and buildings, and determine whether flood insurance is required when making loans or providing grants for construction work on insurable structures.

To prepare the flood maps that illustrate the extent of flood hazards in a flood prone community, FEMA generally conducts engineering studies to determine flood frequencies, flood elevations, floodway determinations, and flood inundation boundaries. FEMA maintains Guidelines and Standards for flood risk analysis and mapping for all steps in the flood mapping process. Using the information gathered in these studies, FEMA engineers and cartographers delineate Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) on flood maps. SFHAs are subject to inundation by a flood that has a 1-percent or greater chance of being equaled or exceeded during any given year. This type of flood is commonly referred to as the "100-year flood" however, it is more accurate to call it the 1-percent annual chance flood, or base flood.

A 100-year flood is not a flood that occurs every 100 years!

In fact, the 1-percent annual chance flood has a 26% chance of occurring during a 30-year period, the length of many mortgages.

"100-year flood” is essentially synonymous with the “1-percent annual chance flood”:

• The 100-year flood is a regulatory standard used by Federal agencies and most states to administer floodplain management programs.
• The 1-percent annual chance flood is used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as the basis for insurance requirements nationwide.

The results of the Flood Risk Analysis Study are available in a technical document that provides information used for floodplain management. This is known as the Flood Insurance Study (FIS). The engineering models behind the FIS may be requested from FEMA. For more information about the FIS, see IS-0274 How to Use a Flood Insurance Study (FIS) course available at https://training.fema.gov/is/courseoverview.aspx?code=IS-274

In older map sets (before 1986), regulatory floodways and other floodplain management information may be shown on a separate Flood Boundary and Floodway Map (FBFM). It is typically distributed with the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) but is not distributed as a part of a standard Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) request.

In newer Flood Insurance Studies, floodways are included on the FIRM. However, some Flood Boundary and Floodway Maps (FBFMs) still remain in use.

The flood Maps for your community should be available for review at your local Community Map Repository site. Typically, this is your local planning, zoning, or engineering office.

The FEMA Map Service Center (MSC) available at https://msc.fema.gov is the official public source for flood hazard information produced in support of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Use the MSC to find your official flood map, access a range of other flood hazard products such as flood insurance studies, ask for help, and take advantage of tools for better understanding flood risk. Email FEMAMapSpecialist@riskmapcds.com or call 1-877-FEMA-MAP (1-877-336-2627) to consult a Flood Map Specialist.

FEMA flood maps are continually updated through a variety of processes. Effective information that you download or print from the MSC site may change or become superseded by new maps over time. For additional information, please see the Flood Hazard Mapping Updates Overview Fact Sheet available at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1468504201672-3c52280b1b1d936e8d23e26f12816017/Flood_Hazard_Mapping_Updates_Overview_Fact_Sheet.pdf

You have just completed Lesson 1, which describes the relationship between FEMA and Flood Insurance Rate Maps, referred to as Flood Maps in this course.

The next lesson illustrates the different Flood Map formats that are produced and the different geographic extents they may cover. In addition, Lesson 2 will clarify the difference between indexes and panels and outline some of the standard elements found on most flood maps.