Assessing Your Personal Risk

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Do You Live In a High Flood Risk Area?

There are several ways of assessing your flood risk.

If you live in a mandatory evacuation area and/or are required to have flood insurance, you can be virtually certain you live in a high flood risk area. These areas are referred to as "Special Flood Hazard Areas."

A second way of assessing your risk is to refer to a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) to determine the flood zone designation for the area in which your property resides. Flood zone designations are available for most, but not all areas. FIRM maps are available for public viewing at Palm Beach County's Main Library, at most building departments, or at the Division of Emergency Management. Contact information is provided in other sections of this website. Assuming your area does appear on a FIRM map... zones designated as "A" or "V" are defined as higher risk areas. Other zone designations still may be subject to flooding, but less frequently and with less severity. (Flood zone designations, along with explanations, can be found in the "Do-It-Yourself" Assessment Tools section)

Coastal area residents should refer to a Storm Surge Map to determine their potential flood risk from tropical storms. These maps, prepared by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, show peak surge inundation associated with Category 1, 3, and 5 hurricanes.

You can also check whether an Elevation Certificate for your property is on file with your insurance agency, lending institution or local building department. This document will tell you the elevation of the lowest level of your structure relative to the base flood elevation. (More detailed information on elevation certificates can be found in the "Where Can I Get Professional Flood Information?" section)

If you are new to an area or are considering the purchase of a home... in addition to checking the above sources, check with others living in the area to determine if there has been any history of flooding. Marshy vegetation like ferns and water seeking trees like cypress and melaleuca could be clues to a potential problem. Be sensitive to the elevations of surrounding homes, road crowns, etc. and to recent development projects that might create future runoff problems for you. Of course, be aware of the capacities of storm drainage systems in the area.

Professional Information & Assistance Sources

If you need official assessments of your flood risk, seek the assistance of licensed professionals. Your local building department/permitting office can reference elevation certificates, Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMS), surge maps, and other engineering and survey documents in assessing your risk. Of course you can always purchase the services of a professional engineer for an independent survey.

Do-It-Yourself Assessment Tools

As a convenience to users of this site, we have included access to two "Do-It-Yourself" tools which provide quick, unofficial, and reasonably accurate determinations of inland flooding and surge risks. Users are cautioned to use official information sources when important decisions are required.

The first tool is a Flood Zone Determination System. You can look up your flood zone by either entering your "Name" or entering your "Street address or nearest intersection". Click the method you wish to use in the "Search By" box. We recommend you first try using the name search. Follow the instructions in the box and click search. When using the Street search option, be careful to enter the prefix and postfix, street number, street name and the type designation separately in their respective boxes. Combining them will invalidate the search.

The second tool, for coastal residents, is referred to as Palm Beach County Evacuation Tool . By entering a street address the system will tell you if a property resides in a surge prone area, and, if so, what category of storm will cause flooding. As with the flood zone determination system, the data used to determine surge areas are currently being updated. Using more precise elevation data, some changes might occur in the near future.

FEMA Flood Zone Designations & Explanations

For properties within unincorporated Palm Beach County only, call 561-233-5374 or email floodzone@pbc.gov to learn if a property is in a high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area, may be affected by coastal erosion, is in an area that has been flooded repeatedly, if it’s in an area that should be protected due to its natural floodplain functions, and to determine if an Elevation Certificate is on file for a property.