Homes with rivers running through them. Buildings swept off their foundations. Appliances, personal belongings and business inventory submerged and destroyed. These scenes are common during floods. But there are steps to take to protect your property. It is less expensive to protect your property before it is damaged from a flood than to repair or replace it afterward.
Find out if your property is located in an area that is at high risk for flooding. Keep in mind, however, that nearly 25 percent of flood insurance claims come from properties considered to be at low or moderate risk of flooding. So, even if you do not live in a high-risk area, flood insurance is a good idea. Devastating floods in the United States cause more than $2 billion in property damage each year. Most homeowners and business insurance policies do not cover flood loss.
Due to urbanization, erosion, watershed changes and storm damage, flood zone parameters are constantly shifting. Although homes, businesses or buildings may not have changed locations, the flood danger zone may have. Learn more about Floods, Hurricanes and Landslides.
FEMA is undertaking a transformation of the nation's flood hazard maps, which are essential for flood hazard mitigation. These maps, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), are the risk assessment tools used to establish flood risk zones and base flood elevations for the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Another available format is the FIRMette - a paper copy of a user-defined portion of a FIRM created via the web. Viewing and customizing FIRMettes is free of charge to all users. Under the Multi-Hazard Flood Modernization Initiative, FIRMs will be updated and the current paper-based map system will be converted to a digital format-DFIRMs.
Having accurate data about flood risks is incredibly important since change is not obvious, and referencing up-to-date mapping data allows communities to continually assess changing risk boundaries. A key component of the Map Modernization Initiative will be the creation of a community-level GIS tool. Community planners will be able to use this mapping tool to access maps and corresponding data via the Internet to support the full cycle of emergency management.
Go to the FEMA Map Store to view flood risk identification maps (FIRMs). Homeowners and other property owners with access to the Internet can locate their community within the FEMA Map Store and find their neighborhood. Or, find out from your local officials if you are located in an area that is high risk for flooding. Some communities have made the maps available in libraries and other community places.
