Getting Started
Acronyms
Table 1. | SFHA |
Special Flood Hazard Area |
| NFIP |
National Flood Insurance Program |
| SFHD |
Special Flood Hazard Determination |
| FIRM |
Flood Insurance Rate Map |
| DFIRM |
Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map |
| BFE |
Base Flood Elevation |
| FIS |
Flood Insurance Study |
| CBRA or COBRA |
Coastal Barrier Resources Act of 1982 |
| LOMC |
Letter of Map Correction (also LOMR, LOMA) |
| CID |
Community Identification |
| CSB |
Community Status Book |
Flood Zones
Table 2. | X, C, D |
Low-risk or unknown flood area (no insurance required) |
| X500, X (shaded), B |
500-year flood zone (no insurance required) |
| AE, VE, A0-00, V1-99, AR, AO |
100-year flood zone (insurance required) |
Helpful Resources: (Use these in conjunction with other information available)- Online mapping sites (Real Quest, Google, DeLorme, etc…; two matches is a location verification)
- Appraisals (Can be a source of parcel, legal, neighborhood location)
- Aerial views (Knowing the age of your structure can help)
- Directions from county authority (could be excellent depending on how specific they are)
- Plat map, Survey & County Information
Not Useful Resources: (or against procedure)- Elevation Certificates (We CANNOT base our determinations on elevation)
- Third-party determinations (vendors, floodplain managers, appraisals)
- Directions from client (could be helpful if we can back it up with something else)
Property Location
Finding Two Sources that AGREE
Delorme, Real Quest, Google Earth, etc: Type in address and zip in space provided; when options are displayed, check for the County name (right-click; “Add MapNote”; “Where Am I MapNote”).
- Note: Watch for incorrect county name being displayed. Click on center of county if property is near the county line.
- Next, go to Netronline or GISPilot.com: select desired state and locate the desired County; see if this County has online information available- it is available if you see “Go to Data Online” next to any of the departments listed.
- If Yes, use this information for the Location of the property, in particular: GIS, maps, legal descriptions, etc.
- If No, try googleing the County and State (Stearns County, MN – GIS) if still no, you will need to locate the address on an additional mapping site.
- If the County has a public search but doesn’t include a map, you will still want to check the information as recorded: check for parcel numbers, legal descriptions, make sure the City and Zip code match that submitted, check the Street suffix (St, Dr, Ct…), etc.
- Correct Address - Many submittals have a street address that is unrecorded in the county. We strongly encourage analysts to verify the address with the county, but for time purposes we understand this is a difficult process for each property (esp. when there are no online resources). An analyst is expected to follow up on any red flags indicating an address may not exist and to return the legal description in cases that it doesn’t. More will follow during one-on-one training.
- Zip & City - If mapping site is indicating property to be in different zip/city than client submitted, check USPS.com or county resource to verify.
If no data is available online, check location using a second Mapping Site: Go to Google Maps (or Earth), Real Quest, etc. and type in the requested Address; the location must match on
AT LEAST two mapping resources.
- If they DO agree, move on to “Determining the Flood Zone"
- If the DO NOT agree:
- Call the Assessor, Property Valuation, or Equalization Office to find out if they would be able to help you locate the property.
- Questions/Information to ask can include:
- Complete Legal Description (Lot, Block, S/D; S-T-R, etc)
- Parcel Number, Account Number, PIN, etc
- Improvements, if so what year was it built? (will help you know if you will be able to see it on an aerial or not)
- Do they have any maps/plats they would be willing to fax at no charge?
- Nearest intersection
- Call or email the Client: If you still cannot locate the address, you may contact the Client to see if they have any additional data available, such as a Parcel number, legal description, an appraisal, or any maps (See Requesting Additional Info from Client)
Once you have a better idea as to the location of the property, move on to Flood Zone Status (next page)
Step – by – Step Flood Determination Procedure
Normal Address/Lot or Parcel # with Street Name:
- Type Address/Street (zip code at least) into DeLorme
- Type into FEMA Map Service Center (MSC) Search Page
- Find County/City info (Netronline , GIS Pilot– to verify exact property location and obtain complete legal description, parcel number and map)
- If Yes, use this location
- If No, Use other mapping resources (Real Quest, Google Earth, Ask, etc) you must have no less than 2 matching resources in order to continue.
- If still not found – contact client for additional information.
- Determine flood zone
- If No (X, X500) – DONE – return determination
- If Yes (A, AE, AO, VE, etc) – check for LOMC, LOMA or LOMRs
- If nothing found for address, return as IN flood zone
Subdivision/Legal Description
- Type zip code into DeLorme, determine County
- Find County/City info (Netronline, GIS Pilot – to verify exact property location and obtain complete legal description, parcel number and map)
- If Yes, use this location and skip to determine flood zone
- If County does not have info online:
- Google/Yahoo search for subdivision name:
- Subdivision website with plat maps
- Builders sites with maps or directions
- Minutes from community meetings, real estate sites
- Call the County Assessor or Planning Department
- Ask for Section-Township-Range
- Location of subdivision
- Directions to subdivision
- If still not found – analyst will make contact for additional information.
- Once location has been found, pull up FEMA flood map
- Determine if in flood zone
- If No (X, X500) – DONE – return determination
- If Yes (A, AE, AO, VE, etc) – check for LOMC, LOMA or LOMRs
- If nothing found for address, return as IN flood zone
RR/HC & Box: (see special mapping scenarios)
- Type zip code into DeLorme, determine County
- Find County/City info (Netronline, GIS Pilot – to verify exact property location and obtain complete legal description, parcel number and map)
- If Yes, use this location and skip to #4
- If there is not info online and we do not have a tax map CD:
- Call the County Assessor’s office
- GIve them the information you have (parcel ID, owner name)
- Ask for:
- Property address
- Legal description (Lot, Blk, S/D, S-T-R, Directions)
- If the county does not have or will not give any informationi - contact the client for additional information.
- Once location has been found, pull up FEMA flood map
- Determine if in flood zone
- If No (X, X500) – DONE – return determination
- If Yes (A, AE, AO, VE, etc) – check for LOMC, LOMA or LOMRs
- If nothing found for address, return as IN flood zone
Flood Zone Status
Searching or Using the Index to find the correct panel- If your address shows up in Delorme, you will most likely be able to find the correct panel by using the “MSC Map Search Page,” and searching by the address and zip code.
- If the search is successful, the search page will display the options to view or to download the panel. To view panel click “VEIW”. Clicking on the “DOWNLOAD” icon will allow you to save the FIRM to a location of your choice.
- If the search shows “Unable to Locate"
- Enter a nearby/more established address to “trick” it into giving you the general area
- Or, if you know the County and Community, you can look for the map manually on the MSC Product Catalog site.
- Once the FIRM panel opens in a 2nd window, locate your property on the map.
Using the FIRM panel window, determine the Flood Zone Information:
- A property is IN a Flood Zone if: it touches a darkened area on the flood map, labeled beginning with an A or V (A, AE, A2, V2, VE, AO…).
- A property is OUT of a Flood Zone if: it does not touch a darkened area beginning with A or V
- If the property is OUT:
- This means it DOES NOT touch a Zone beginning with A or V
- Check to see if it is in the all white area labeled Zone C or X, or if it is in a gray-shaded area labeled Zone B or X
- If it is in Zone C or X: the Flood Zone is “X"
- If it is in Zone B or X (shaded): the Flood Zone is “X500"
- On the Request, write down the Flood Zone as above; skip to Community Code and Status
- If the property is IN:
- This means it DOES touch a Zone beginning with A or V
- See “Buffer Zones"
- Ask yourself: While the property touches a Flood Zone, is it possible that the house might be out? That is, does the Flood Zone cover the entire area, or are there white areas where a house could be sitting?
- If there is no structure built yet, it is considered Land Only, and the entire property must be taken into account when determining the flood zone. (also see “Land Only” under Special Mapping Scenarios)
- If the County didn’t have an aerial or building layout available on Netronline, obtain an Aerial Photograph from Google Earth, Google, Ask.com, Real Quest.
- Check the MSC Catalog page for existing Letters of Map Correction (LOMCs) that might have removed a property from a Flood zone designation – click on the blue “+” sign next to the panel
- You can also check the “LOMCs & LOMRs” using FEMA’s Mapping Information Platform (https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal/)
- Once you are relatively sure that the property is IN and there doesn’t appear to be anything that shows differently, write down the Flood Zone at this time; skip to Community Code and Status.
Map Viewer – Mapping Information Platform
You can get the PDF document by searching the product catalog by the Case ID.
Community Code and Status
Look in the lower right of the FIRM panel, or the FEMA catalog:
- If it says “City of Waltham, Massachusetts, Middlesex County”:
- the Community name would be written as “Waltham, City of”
- the County name would be “Middlesex"
- the Community Code (CID) will be the 3rd through 6th digits of the panel number – so if the panel number starts 250222, the CID is 0222
- If it says “Kern County, CA (Unincorporated Areas)”:
- The Community name would be written as “Kern County"
- The County name would be “Unincorporated Areas"
- In Louisiana, a County is called a “Parish"
- The Community Code (CID) is still the 3rd through 6th digits of the panel number
- If it says “City of Fredericksburg, VA Independent City”:
- The Community Name would be written as “Fredericksburg, City of"
- the County name would be written as “Independent City"
- If it says “Boone County, KY and Incorporated Areas” OR “Boone County, KY (Unincorporated and Incorporated Areas)” :
- Look around the area on the flood map nearest to the property you are mapping; it will either say a City, Town, Village, or County/Parish name, with the Community Code (CID)
- FEMA designates community boundaries with a dashed line
- Write the Community name and CID in the correct format, as above or as outlined in the next bullet
Proper Format for Community/County Name:
- A City/Town/Village/Twp, etc… is referred to as an “Incorporated Area”; so when writing the community name for an Incorp. Area:
- Community name = “Smyrna, Town of"
- County name = “Boone"
- Areas lying outside of an Incorporated Area are referred to as an “Unincorporated Area”; so when writing the community name for an Uninc. Area:
- Community name = “Boone County"
- County name = “Unincorporated Areas"
- In LA: a County is called a “Parish"
- Some Cities are Independent in that the County in which they lie does not have any jurisdiction over them at all
- Community name = “Fredericksburg, City of"
- County name = “Independent City"
When in Doubt as to the correct designation (i.e.City? Town?):
- If one source is saying City of Boston, another is saying Town of Boston, etc…, always look at the FIRM panel and use the designation they show. Note - Alaska is a special example; check with your supervisor if unsure.
Upgrading from Basic Determination to a LIfe of Loan Determination:
- You are able to change the service level of a determination within 30 days of the order date. If you need a determination upgraded and it is beyond 30 days, you will need to order a new determination.
Using Community Status Book to determine the Community’s Participation Status:
- Click on the appropriate state from the main page, the Community Status Book (CSB) will open in .pdf format (http://www.fema.gov/fema/csb.shtm).
- Either scroll down to the Community or go to Edit-Find and search either for the name or the CID
- There are two sections to the CSB (upper section – Participating; and lower section - Non-Participating). Once you have located your Community, check top of page to verify P or N/P.
In Program/Participating
- Participating Communities will be listed in the first section of the CSB.
Not in Program/Not NFIP/Not Participating
- Non-NFIP Communities will be listed in the last section of the CSB
If In-Program/Participating
- Look at the Date under the “Reg-Emer Date” column (last column); this is your “Prg Start” date on the determination
- In this column, if it shows a Date and “(E)”, it is Emergency Program. Otherwise it is Regular Status
If Not Participating/Not NFIP (see also Not Mapped Scenarios
- Look at the “Sanction Date” column (last column); there may be a letter next to it in parenthesis
- (S) = SUSPENDED
- (W) = WITHDRAWN
Date alone, no ( ) = Not Participating WITH/WITHOUT Map
- Will be “NP WITH MAP” = if there is a published flood map
- Will be “NP WITHOUT MAP” = if not mapped
If the Community is not listed on the CSB, it means that it is Not NFIP, and it also is Not Mapped.
If the Community is listed but the Cur Eff Map Date says “NSFHA”: it stands for “No Special Flood Hazard Areas”, so you write “X” as your Flood Zone.
If the Community is listed but Cur Eff Map Date is blank: it means that FEMA is in the process of mapping this community, but no Flood Zones have been determined yet, so you may write “D” as your Flood Zone.
Final Check:
At this point, your determination may be complete; check for the following information to be sure:
- Address/City/Zip has been found and verified
- Flood Zone has been determined (and if IN, you have checked to make sure that the property has not been called OUT before and there is no LOMC)
- Panel number and effective date have been determined
- Community Code is 4-digits
- Community Name is in the correct format
- County Name is in the correct format
- Program Status has been determined
