Welcome to the How to Use a Flood Insurance Study (FIS) course.

We are pleased to present this guide to the Flood Insurance Study (FIS). This course will describe the various information found in the FIS and explain how to use it. The sections are explained in detail for you to fully understand the information in the FIS. Using the information in the FIS in conjunction with the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) will enable you to determine the flood hazard for a property and allow you to take actions that may prevent flood damage and insure against losses caused by floods.

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requires that FIS flood profiles be used to determine an accurate Base Flood Elevation (BFE) in a riverine are with a detailed study. This course will show how to obtain an accurate BFE to the nearest tenth of a foot using the Flood profiles in the FIS. This is important information for floodplain management and flood insurance purposes and is one of the main uses of the FIS in the NFIP.

NOTE: This course presents the FIS sections in the order that they appear in most studies in the nation. The FIS format is updated and improved over time. If your community has a newer study, the same data will likely appear but the order in which the information is presented may have changed.