New High-Risk Flood Zones May Mean Insurance Requirements For Howard Co. Residents

HOWARD COUNTY, MD — Some Howard County homeowners now may be required to buy flood insurance if their properties are located within new high-risk flood zones on updated flood maps released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

In August 2025, FEMA’s Region 3 team issued preliminary updates to Howard County’s November 2013 Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) for areas greater than one square-mile drainage area. These preliminary FIRMs, and the corresponding Flood Insurance Study, provide the basis for flood risk education and floodplain management measures.

Howard County is required to adopt the updated FIRMs to continue participating in the National Flood Insurance Program, which makes flood insurance available to the community.

With these map updates, properties in Howard County that were once not in a high-risk flood zone, also known as a special flood hazard area, may now be - requiring that they have to now purchase flood insurance.

In addition to FEMA’s preliminary FIRMs, the county also recently released new floodplain maps for drainage areas between 30 acres and one square-mile in the Little Patuxent Watershed and the Patapsco River Lower North Branch Watershed.

Residents can learn if they fall into the new high-risk flood zones at a public meeting Oct. 7 starting at 6 p.m. at The Capitoline Center, located at 8360 Court Avenue in Ellicott City. Property owners and residents can view the updated and new maps, discover their flood risk and any potential flood insurance requirements that apply to them at the meeting.

“Flooding is the number one natural disaster in the United States,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “To ensure our residents and property owners are prepared should the unthinkable happen to them, it is imperative that anyone who lives or owns property in a floodplain understand their risks and take advantage of the tools and programs available to them, including flood insurance, to help reduce the impacts of flooding to their home, property, family and livelihood.”