FEMA Terms

(Last updated July 25, 2006)

The Acronyms NFIP – National Flood Insurance Program

FIRM – Flood Insurance Rate Map

SFHA – Special Flood Hazard Area

BFE – Base Flood Elevation

ABFE – Advisory Base Flood Elevation

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA)

Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM):an official map of a community on which FEMA has delineated both the Special Flood Hazard Areas and the flood zones that apply to the community

The Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA):the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year

Base Flood Elevation (BFE)Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE)

Base Flood Elevation (BFE):used for flood insurance rating; the height at which there is a 1 percent chance or greater of flooding in a given year

Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE): FEMA’s up-to-date estimate 1 percent chance height that flood waters could reach in a given year. The new advisory base flood elevations update the existing flood elevations developed over the past 30 years and include tide and storm data collected from Katrina and Rita for the “open coast.”

The V Zone

The Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) shown on a community’s FIRM that is subject to coastal high hazard flooding.

The V Zones are coastal areas that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year WITH ADDITIONAL hazards due to storm-induced velocity wave action.

Three types of V Zones

1. V Zone – coastal SFHA, no base flood elevations or depths shown

2. V1-V30 Zones – coastal SFHA, base flood elevations shown

3. VE Zone – used on new and revised FIRMs in place of Zone V1-V30

The seven types of A Zones

1. A Zone – Special Flood Hazard Area, no base flood elevations or depths shown

2. A1-A30 Zones – Special Flood Hazard Area, base flood elevations shown

3. AE Zone – used on new and revised FIRMs in place of Zones A1-A30, base flood elevations shown

The seven types of A Zones4. AH Zone – Special Flood Hazard Area, average

depths are 1-3 feet5. AO Zone – Special Flood Hazard Area, shallow

flooding (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain or ponding) where average depths are 1-3 feet

6. A99 Zone – Special Flood Hazard Area which will ultimately be protected upon completion of an under-construction Federal flood protection system

7. AR Zone – Areas that result from the decertification of a previously accredited flood protection system that is determined to be in the process of being restored to provide base flood protection

B, C and D ZonesB Zone – Area of moderate flood hazard, usually depicted on FIRMs as between the limits of the Base Flood and the 500-year flood. Also used to designate base floodplains of little hazard, such as those with average depths of less than 1 foot

C Zone – Area of minimal flood hazard, usually depicted on FIRMs as above the 500-year flood level

D Zone – Area of undetermined but possible flood hazard

X ZonesX Zone (shaded) – used on new and revised FIRMs in place of B Zone

X Zone (unshaded) – used on new and revised FIRMs in place of C Zone

Building ElevationsV Zone – all new construction and substantial improvements are elevated on pilings, posts, piers, or columns so that the bottom of the lowest horizontal structural member of the lowest floor (excluding the pilings or columns) is elevated to or above the base flood elevation (BFE).

A Zone – the lowest floor of a building must be elevated to or above the base flood elevation (BFE). The lowest floor is measured from the top of the floor.