New Flood Hazard Maps Available

Press release from the City of Fairfax:

02/24/2021

A multi-year project to re-examine flood zones in the City of Fairfax has been completed. Detailed digital flood hazard maps, known as Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), have been developed and released for public view.

The new maps reflect current flood risk based on the latest data and a more accurate understanding of our area’s topography. As a result, property owners throughout the city now have up-to-date, internet-accessible information about flood risk to private property.

Residents can find their property on the preliminary maps online. Visit FEMA’s Flood Map Changes Viewer and enter an address.

Why are the flood hazard maps important?
Flood hazard maps are an important tool for protecting lives and property in the City of Fairfax. Flood maps help business owners and residents make informed decisions about personal safety and financial protection. These maps also allow community planners, local officials, engineers, builders, and others to determine where and how new structures and developments should be built.

Flooding can be the most frequent and costly disaster a community faces. The likelihood of flooding changes over time due to erosion, changing land use, changing weather patterns, and other factors. The risk for flooding can vary within the same neighborhood, even between adjacent properties, but nobody is exempt from flood risk. Where it can rain, it can flood. Knowing your flood risk is the first step to flood protection.

How will these changes affect you?
The newly released maps are still preliminary, which means they provide an early look at a property’s projected flood risk. Once FEMA considers the preliminary maps final, the maps will be used to determine a property’s flood risk as well as flood insurance rates and requirements. Whether or not a property falls within a flood zone, it is important to understand a property’s flood risk and know the flood insurance options.

Residents are advised to use the new maps to determine if their property is in the flood hazard risk zone, known as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). If a resident has a mortgage from a federally regulated lender and their property is in the SFHA, they are required by federal law to have flood insurance when these flood maps are put into effect. It is recommended that residents use this time to contact their insurance agent to get the most favorable rate and learn about options offered by the National Flood Insurance Program for properties that are in higher risk areas.

For residents without a mortgage, purchasing flood insurance is still strongly recommended. Over the life of a 30-year loan, one is about three times more likely to have a flood in one’s home than a fire, and most homeowners’ insurance policies do not provide coverage for flood damage. To learn more about flood insurance rates and what options are available, residents are advised to contact their insurance agent.

An additional resource for property owners, both with and without a mortgage, is www.floodsmart.gov, which provides information about the National Flood Insurance Program and the costs of flood insurance. For questions about flood insurance, call the FEMA Mapping and Insurance eXchange (FMIX), toll free, at 877-FEMA-MAP.

This press release was produced by the City of Fairfax. The views expressed here are the author’s own.