Free instant lookup using official FEMA flood map data
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Yale Climate Connections · Built on official FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer · Free JSON API used by researchers, journalists, and real-estate developers
First-hand accounts from the last twelve months — written by the National Weather Service meteorologists who covered the storms.
Tropical Storm Barry moved into and dissipated over eastern Mexico. Moist air from the remnants of Barry moved northward into Texas. Precipitable water values over South-Central Texas increased to near record levels.
Read the full account →On the evening of June 14th, a slow moving thunderstorm passed over portions of Ohio County just east of the city of Wheeling. It's slow movement and interaction with another storm allowed for very heavy rainfall in a short period of time.
Read the full account →A slow-moving low pressure system brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms over multiple days through much of the region. Activity on the 25th was mostly concentrated across higher terrain areas of eastern AZ, fueled by MLCAPE values approaching 2000 J/kg.
Read the full account →Light precipitation started to arrive on the evening of February 14th due to an approaching low pressure system, with more substantial rain spreading across the area overnight into the 15th as a warm front approached from the south.
Read the full account →Type any U.S. street address
Real-time lookup from official FEMA flood maps
See your flood zone, risk level, and what it means
FEMA uses a lot of zone codes. Most homes fall into one of these four. Click through for what each means for insurance, building rules, and risk.
1% annual chance of flooding. The “100-year floodplain.” Insurance required if you have a federally backed mortgage. BFEs determined.
If you live near a river, bay, or coast inland of the surge line, there's a good chance you're here.
Coastal flooding with wave action. Highest-risk FEMA designation. Strictest building codes — elevated on pilings. Insurance premiums reflect the risk.
Atlantic and Gulf beachfronts, Great Lakes shorelines.
0.2% annual chance — the 500-year floodplain. Not required by federal law (a lender may still require it), but often wise.
Just outside the AE/VE boundary, or behind a levee.
Outside both floodplains. No federal requirement to carry flood insurance — but from 2014 to 2024, nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from zones like this one.
Most suburban and inland lots. Flash floods still happen here.
Full guide to every flood zone type (A, AH, AO, A99, AR, D, V, X) →
Enter your street address in the search box above. We query FEMA's National Flood Hazard Layer in real time and return your flood zone designation, base flood elevation, risk level, and whether flood insurance is required.
Yes. We pull directly from FEMA's NFHL — the same data that powers FEMA's own flood map service center. Every result comes with the DFIRM panel ID so you can trace it back to the source.
An SFHA is any area with a 1% or greater annual chance of flooding. It covers zones A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, and VE. If your home is in an SFHA and you have a federally backed mortgage, federal law requires you to carry flood insurance.
Since FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 pricing (new policies from October 1, 2021, renewals from April 1, 2022), NFIP premiums are set from each building’s own flood risk — distance to water, flood types and frequency, elevation and cost to rebuild — and FEMA says flood zones are not used to determine flood risk. Two homes in the same zone can pay very different amounts, so a quote from an agent or FloodSmart.gov is the only reliable number. How flood insurance is priced.
Base Flood Elevation (BFE). It's the height floodwaters are expected to reach during a 1% annual chance flood, in feet above the vertical datum printed on the flood map (usually NAVD 88, or NGVD 29 on older maps). It drives building requirements and Letters of Map Amendment. Since FEMA’s Risk Rating 2.0 pricing, insurance premiums are rated on the building’s own flood risk, including its first-floor height, rather than on the flood zone.
Consider it. From 2014 to 2024, nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from properties outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage. Outside the high-risk zones flood insurance is not required by federal law (a lender may still require it), and since Risk Rating 2.0 it is priced on the building’s own risk, so a quote costs nothing to get.
FEMA issues revised maps county-by-county as studies complete — sometimes a county hasn't had a major update in over 20 years, sometimes one was issued last quarter. Maps can be appealed. Keep in mind the maps reflect historical data, not climate-adjusted future risk.
Yes. If you believe your property was mapped incorrectly, you can request a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) from FEMA. This requires a surveyor's elevation data. A successful LOMA can remove the flood insurance requirement for a specific property.
Our data is FEMA's official regulatory map. First Street Foundation and similar services estimate future, climate-adjusted risk — which may be meaningfully higher than FEMA's historical view, particularly in coastal areas. Both are useful. FEMA's map is what determines your insurance requirement and your lender's rules today.
| Declaration | State | Type | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Montana | Flood | Dec 10, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | Washington | Flood | Dec 9, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Remnants Of Typhoon Halong | Alaska | Flood | Oct 8, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, And Mudslides | Wisconsin | Flood | Aug 9, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Texas | Flood | Jul 2, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides | New Mexico | Flood | Jun 23, 2025 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, Flooding, Landslides, And Mudslides | West Virginia | Flood | Jun 14, 2025 |
| Severe Storm And Flooding | South Dakota | Flood | Jun 12, 2025 |