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FEMA's Flood Maps (FIRM) - Understanding and Utilizing This Resource

Jonathan Terry, P.L.S.


Course Outline

FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) provide data that engineers, surveyors, architects, planners and others use to satisfy the need for flood zone statements and certifications on plans, reports and other documents. These certifications are taken as professional/expert, final, definite, exact, declarative statements of indisputable fact. Yet, the source data (FIRMs) are often inaccurate as to scale, notoriously lacking in detail and just plain old.

Clients frequently request that we state or certify to the “flood zone” or “flood elevation” for a particular property or building located on a parcel of land. Too often professionals consult FEMA’s resources, not quite knowing their limitations, and then provide statements and certifications that lack prudent qualification or sufficient explanation. Many who’ve used FIRMs for years get nervous when consulting this resource and making such certifications or notes on sealed plans. Such feelings are probably an intuitive caution worth exploring.

This course clarifies the FIRMs’ many terms and abbreviations that can be confusing. It promotes a better understanding of both appropriate uses and limitations of Flood Maps and explains the relationship of FIRMs to Flood Insurance Studies (FISs); it explores how “floodways” and Flood Insurance Studies relate to FIRMs. The course includes an in-depth review of FEMA's flood map tutorial in its entirety, plus other resources, illustrations and sample disclaimer statements and notes.

This course is appropriate for new FIRM users and serves as a refresher for experienced users. The course format will encourage the sharing of comments, experiences, and knowledge from participants.

Learning Objective

Users of Flood Insurance Rate Maps will gain a better appreciation for the applications, limitations and benefits of using FIRMs for their purposes and better equip themselves to employ this useful resource with knowledge and confidence.

At the conclusion of this coursework, you'll:

Intended Audience

This course benefits land surveyors, planners, engineers, architects, insurance and real estate professionals, community officials, assessors, persons serving on regulatory boards, private citizens, buyers of any property, investors in real estate and lenders.

Benefit to Attendees

Whether this course is the student's introduction to FEMA FIRMs or a study meant to broaden a current user's understanding, the FEMA FIRM tutorial is a well-crafted, thoughtful and delightfully presented educational experience that's sure to please while expanding professional capability and knowledge.

Through experiencing this tutorial and completing the quiz, you'll gain a fuller understanding of Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) - their use, proper application and limitations.

Course Instructor

Your instructor for this course is a Licensed Land Surveyor who's obtained professional registration in eight states and served as assistant construction superintendent, teacher, writer, civil technician, site planner, land surveying department head, plus created and managed the construction layout division of a large construction management firm, founded and operated a successful construction layout business and a separate land surveying business, and served as the employee of civil, surveying, and architectural firms, developers and state government. His career began in 1963.

The idea of assembling this continuing education course came through experiencing the FEMA-FIRM tutorial first-hand with a sincere desire to learn - and deriving both pleasure and significant benefit from the exercise. I realized that others might enjoy it as much as I did - and fulfill continuing education requirements in the process.

 Course Introduction

An old but never outdated saying goes, "You get out of something what you put into it." The centerpiece of this course is the FEMA-FIRM tutorial. It provides an opportunity to learn and solidify understanding through well thought out and professionally prepared graphics and a sensitive use of technology - combined to produce a pleasant learning experience that's both efficient and effective.

The quiz questions are a vital part of your learning experience. They're designed to reinforce the learning gained through the tutorial and to focus attention on important points. The quiz is not separate from the course content or the learning experience, but an integral part of it. This course was developed with the hope you'll benefit from it as much as your instructor has through its creation.

It may be helpful to realize that the tutorial is, among other things, a vocabulary lesson. A wise person has said, "Classification is the key to learning."

FEMA loves abbreviations! They introduce terms or names and reduce them to abbreviations in a flash: FEMA, FIRM, BFE, NFIP, FIS, SFHA, and on and on. May I suggest you take the time to memorize the terms and abbreviations as they are introduced? This will greatly aid in gaining the most from the material.

The tutorial also allows you to "look up" meanings through links and/or a glossary. More than most courses, this tutorial requires that you bite the bullet and fiercely determine that you WILL learn all these terms with their meanings. The greatest benefit will come from this approach.

I once read a book on bee keeping. Throughout the book, the author used the word, "brood." I kept reading, expecting to learn that word's meaning through the author's usage. At the end of the book, I still didn't know what brood meant. That author knew his material so well, he forgot to teach. There is a difference between teaching and rambling. So many educators ramble. The FEMA FIRM tutorial does not ramble; it teaches. But, as such, it requires that the student expend effort to memorize the new terms as they're introduced. And, do use the links and glossary frequently to discover or reinforce the meaning of any unfamiliar terms.
It's a great tutorial! I think you'll enjoy the time you spend with it and profit from it, as I have.

 Course Content

You need to view and study the following material for this course:

FEMA’s Flood Maps (FIRM) - Understanding and Utilizing This Resource  (video) (Request the link to video)

Course Summary

Through this course, you've learned how to get around in the Flood Map world and been introduced to the Flood Insurance Study Report (FIS) with its additional data, often useful to make an appropriate determination of whether or not a property is in a floodway, and you've learned how to estimate a Base Flood Elevation (BFE). In short, you've gained confidence in your use of a valuable resource.

Your course instructor has a suggestion for your consideration: If you are required to certify whether or not a property, portion of property or structure is in a Flood Insurance Risk Zone or a Floodway or otherwise assume the position of "knowing" exactly where a property is in relation to features or information shown on Flood Maps, I suggest you state as a part of that certification that your determination was made by scaling on a flood map in conformance with methods propagated and endorsed by FEMA at (link to their tutorial).

Those who make their living through measuring will readily see that the portion of the building and property shown in FEMA's tutorial to be in the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) but NOT in the Floodway is mighty close to being in the Floodway or entirely out of both the Floodway AND the SFHA. The measurement methods illustrated in the tutorial (scaling from roads depicted on the Flood Map and from assessor's maps) leave a lot to be desired in the realm of accuracy.

I hope you've enjoyed the tutorial as much as I have and that the quiz has helped your retention of the information presented.

One final word: The certificate offered at the end of the tutorial is, of course, not the PDHonline certificate and does not provide continuing professional development credits. But, it is very pretty!

Ralated Links

Flood Insurance Library http://www.fema.gov/nfip/library.shtm
General Publications about the National Flood Insurance Program http://www.fema.gov/nfip/libfacts.shtm
FEMA's flood hazard site for engineers and surveyors http://www.fema.gov/fhm/en_main.shtm
FEMA software http://www.fema.gov/fhm/frm_soft.shtm
FEMA Map Store http://www.store.msc.fema.gov (Then, click on Map Search.)

Quiz

You need to print the quiz questions prior to viewing the videos. At the end of the viewing, you must complete the quiz and submit your answers online to obtain your PDH credits.

Take a Quiz

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.