Special Flood Hazard
Areas (SFHAs) are shown on the Flood Insurance
Rate Maps (FIRM) as Zone A, AE, AH, AO or A 1- 30. FIRM maps can be viewed at the municipal
office but they can also be found online at the FEMA Map Service Center
Most Vermont communities
have FIRMs and some communities have an officially-digital version called the Digital FIRM or DFIRM. DFIRMs are available in Chittenden, Rutland,
Washington, Windham, and Windsor Counties and for several towns (Bradford,
Hardwick, Jay, Montgomery, Newbury, Wolcott, and Stowe).
DFIRMs can be viewed
at:
Preliminary DFIRM data is now available for Bennington
County (5/18/12) and the Town of Richmond (9/11/13).
Preliminary DFIRM data
can be viewed at the municipal office or found online at the Vermont Natural
Resources Atlas.
1. Use Quick Tools to search for a
street address
2. Find the best result in the list and
click on it, the choose Zoom to Feature
3. Click on Map Layers (shown as a stack
of green, red and gray layers at the bottom of the screen).
4. Click on the "+" sign next to the
Watershed Protection Layers
5. Click on the empty box next to Special
Flood Hazard Areas (Preliminary DFIRM) Layer
6. Click on the gray box beside that layer
to reveal the Legend
To print or save a map:
1. Click on the Map Tools icon (wrench and
screwdriver) in upper right corner of screen.
2. Click on Print Map (it will
automatically incorporate a legend and scale bar). You can choose to “print” (save) a pdf or jpg
version and then email or print that image.
Non-DFIRM Maps (FIRMs and FHBMs)
Where the community does
not have an official DFIRM you can view the current data online and make a
FIRMette (a small version of the official data). FIRM maps do not have an aerial image in the
background so you must include features such as intersections from which to measure and plot the location of your building.
In the list of maps the
map ending in INDO (eg 500001IND0 ) is
the index or map of map panels. Once you have your bearings on the map panel
you can open the correct panel and Make a FIRMette, and save it as a pdf or tif.
Need Map Help?
FEMA Map Specialist 1-877-FEMA-MAP, FEMAMapSpecialist@riskmapcds.com
Structures in the Special Flood Hazard Area (Zone A, AE, A1-30, AO, AH) have more than a 1 in 4 chance of being exposed to a flood during a 30 year mortgage.
Structures in the Special Flood Hazard Area (Zone A, AE, A1-30, AO, AH) have more than a 1 in 4 chance of being exposed to a flood during a 30 year mortgage.
FEMA's Floodsmart website has information about flood insurance and a tool to estimate
flood damage for a structure built on a slab.
