Flood zone ae free#
People outside of the 100-year floodplain are not free of risk. Q: What are my odds of flooding within a 100-year floodplain?Ī: If your home is in the 100-year floodplain, it has a 26% chance of getting flooded over a 30-year mortgage period, which is about five times higher than the risk for a severe fire! Your risk of flooding will increase if your home is located in a lower-lying area of the 100-year floodplain. Separate studies are done for communities because floodplain levels vary depending on an area's characteristics. Q: Who sets the boundaries of floodplain?Ī: The Federal Emergency Management Agency, working with local governments, sets the 100-year floodplain boundaries through flood insurance rate studies. That percentage holds true every year, regardless of how many floods have occurred in previous years, or their severity. For example, a home in a 100-year floodplain has a one in 100 (or 1 percent) chance each year of being flooded. These numbers indicate the likelihood that a particular area will flood in a year's time. There are many levels of floods: 500-year, 100-year, 20-year, and 10-year, for example.
It is not the flood that will occur once every 100 year. Base flood elevations derived from detailed analyses are shown at selected intervals within these zones.A: The term "100-year flood" is misleading. These areas have a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 year mortgage. VE - Coastal areas with a 1% or greater chance of flooding and an additional hazard associated with storm waves. Average flood depths derived from detailed analyses are shown within these zones. Base flood elevations derived from detailed analyses are shown at selected intervals within these zones.ĪO - River or stream flood hazard areas, and areas with a 1% or greater chance of shallow flooding each year, usually in the form of sheet flow, with an average depth ranging from 1 to 3 feet.
These areas have a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 ‐ year mortgage. Because detailed analyses are not performed for such areas no depths or base flood elevations are shown within these zones.ĪE - The base floodplain where base flood elevations are provided.ĪH - Areas with a 1% annual chance of shallow flooding, usually in the form of a pond, with an average depth ranging from 1 to 3 feet. The SFHA designations which appear within Bay County are explained further below.Ī - Areas with a 1% annual chance of flooding and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 year mortgage. The areas of minimal flood hazard, which are the areas outside the SFHA and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X (unshaded). Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X (shaded) are also shown on the FIRM, and are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. SFHAs are labeled as Zone A, Zone AO, Zone AH, Zones A1-A30, Zone AE, Zone A99, Zone AR, Zone AR/AE, Zone AR/AO, Zone AR/A1-A30, Zone AR/A, Zone V, Zone VE, and Zones V1-V30.
The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).