Is My Land in a Flood Zone?
I get this question all the time- how can I tell if all (or part) of my land is in a flood zone?
I use many paid resources to quickly evaluate land online that allow me easy access to flood zones, wetland areas, soil maps, elevation profiles, timber ages, etc. etc. BUT the great thing is…most of these resources are also available for free if you know where to look. Including finding out if your land has any flood zones on it.
The FEMA Flood Mapping Tool
If you want to see if your property is in a flood zone, you can go to straight to the source! FEMA has a free mapping tool you can use to see if your property is in a flood zone.
Click this link to go the FEMA Flood Map Service Center
Once there, enter your address in the search bar.
Often times vacant land parcels do not have an exact 911 address assigned to them yet. If your property doesn’t have an address, you can use the coordinates. Don’t know them? Send me a quick email and I can get them to you!
Wait for it……
This service tends to take a long time to load, but once it is done it will show a map with your land and surrounding parcels and outline any flood areas.
Here’s a quick video example:
The paid tool I currently use is Mapright. It has a lot more resources and great images. The same map I shared in the video looks like this:
If you’d like me to create a shareable Mapright link for your land, just let me know, I’m happy to do so.
-Jen
