Ohio Map Modernization (Last Updated 07/02/07)

 Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Ohio

Please read the following statements before continuing:

Notice Regarding Newly Released FEMA Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps

When the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) releases Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report for a county, caution must be exercised in using this data.

1. For insurance purposes, Preliminary FIRMs and FIS reports CANNOT be used (i.e., to make official flood determinations). The current, effective FEMA printed FIRM is the only official document for this purpose.
    
2. For regulatory purposes, Preliminary FIRMs and FIS reports may be used by the community. Local regulations usually allow for the use of best available data, and in some instances, the data provided on the Preliminary FIRMs is much better than older data on the existing FIRMS. The use of preliminary maps as best available data is only allowable when the preliminary data is more conservative than the effective data. Please contact your community's floodplain administrator to determine whether preliminary data is being used.

The following guidelines about the use of Preliminary flood data on FEMA's FIRMs and FIS have been taken from Ohio Floodplain Regulation Criteria:

• Prior to the issuance of a Letter of Final Determination by FEMA, the use of preliminary flood hazard data shall only be required where no base flood elevations and/or floodway areas exist or where the preliminary base flood elevations or floodway area exceed the base flood elevations and/or floodway widths in existing flood hazard data provided from FEMA. Such preliminary data may be subject to change and/or appeal to FEMA.
   
• Upon the issuance of a Letter of Final Determination by FEMA, the preliminary flood hazard data shall be used and replace all previously existing flood hazard data provided from FEMA for the purposes of administering these regulations.
   

In general, when faced with a choice between effective maps/data and preliminary maps/data for floodplain regulations, one should use the more conservative of the two in order to ensure that the health, safety, and property of their citizens are protected. Further information regarding the use of preliminary maps and/or data can be found at FEMA's Floodplain Management Technical Bulletins: Bulletin 1-98.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) provides this geographic data "as is." ODNR makes no guarantee or warranty concerning the accuracy of information contained in the geographic data. ODNR further makes no warranties, either expressed or implied, as to the condition of the product, or its fitness for any particular purpose. The burden for determining fitness for use lies entirely with the user. No warranty, expressed or implied, is made by DNR regarding the use of these data on any other system, nor does the fact of distribution constitute or imply any such warranty. In no event shall ODNR have any liability whatsoever for payment of any consequential, incidental, indirect, special, or tort damages of any kind, including, but not limited to, any loss of profits arising out of use of or reliance on the geographic data.

Guide to Finding Your Property on a Preliminary Map

Welcome to ODNR's Guide to Finding Your Property on a Preliminary Map! This guide will provide you with a step-by-step process for accurately locating your property on a PRELIMINARY Digital Flood Insurance Rate Map (DFIRM). However, before we begin, you should become familiar with the map index for your county.

The map index serves as a guide to countywide map sheets. Since the geographic coverage of an entire county is quite large, FEMA divides the area into sections called panels. The index is provided to indicate what areas are shown on each map and which panel should be utilized to obtain flood hazard information for a specific location. As with all indexes the community boundaries are shown along with the numbers and position of the individual panels. All panels may not be printed; so, "Panels Printed" are listed in the title block (in the lower right-hand corner of the map index).

NOTE: You will need Acrobat Reader to view the below PDF map and map related files. Acrobat Reader is available free from Adobe.com if not already installed

Step 1: Creating an Account on the DFIRM Projects Website

The following website was created by FEMA’s mapping contractor to provide you the opportunity to view, download, and comment on the new preliminary DFIRMs for your community. In order to view or download your preliminary map(s), you must first create a FREE account.

Step 1A.  Go to http://gis.fmsm.com/dfirm/ and click on “New User?” (See Below Image)

 

Step 1B. Fill out the information as directed on the page shown below, and select the county in which you are interested. Once you have all of the required fields completed, click “Submit” to submit your information.          

 

Step 1C. Once you have created an account and are logged into the website, click on the county name you selected for your account registration. The screen shot below will look a bit different than yours, as this shows many counties. You should have one county on which to click.

Step 1D.    After you have clicked on your county name, you will see the project information for that county. Since you are looking for the preliminary maps issued for your county, click on the “Preliminary Maps” tab near the top of the screen.    

Step 1E.    This will take you to a list of downloadable preliminary map panels. Find your county map index file at the bottom of the list of preliminary map panels. Right click on this file and save this file to your hard drive. Once saved, open the map index file. As stated before, this index is a compilation of map panels for the entire county.

Note: Some counties will have MORE THAN ONE index map file. (Explanation)

Step 2. Using the County Index Map to Locate a Specific Map Panel.

Step 2A. Identifying the general area of interest.

Look for your general location on the index. Sometimes the location you are seeking may be split between multiple maps, as in the example below of Granville Ohio.

In this example, the city of Granville is split into six map panels: (39089C0308A, 39089C0309A, 39089C0328A, 39089C0329A, 39089C0317A, and 39089C0336A).

 

Step 2B. Locating the exact panel you want.

Which map panel do you choose? It helps to know landmarks associated with your location, or landmarks near your location. In our example, we know the location we are researching is near State Route 661 in Granville. So, looking at the index, map panel 39089C0309A is the one we need.

 

Step 3: Downloading a Specific Flood Map Panel

Return to the list of preliminary map panels (where you downloaded the map index), and find your map panel number. Right click to Save this file to your local hard drive, and open it once it is saved.

HINTS:

Use the built in "find" command from within your browser to enter and quickly find file numbers once you are on the panel list page for a county.

Do not left click to open these files in your browser window due to large file size and memory requirements. Save them to disk first before you open them. (Right click on PCs, click and hold on MACs)

Step 4: Using the FIRM to Find Your Specific Location

Once you download the correct map, you are ready to find your specific location. The base layer for this flood map is an aerial photograph with many labeled streets and roads (however, not every street or road name is presented on the map). Thus, determining your location should be relatively simple, whether you need to use local landmarks or not.

Additional Preliminary Information:

In addition to the preliminary FIRMs for your county, the preliminary Flood Insurance Study (FIS) report is provided for your review. This report is prepared by FEMA to summarize the analyses of flood hazards in a community. This FIS uses detailed hydrologic and hydraulic analyses to model the 1% annual chance flood event, determine BFEs, and designate floodways and risk zones (Zones AE, A1-30, AH, AO, VE, and V1-30). These analyses are also used to prepare the preliminary FIRMs. If you are not familiar with the FIS, please visit the following site for a detailed explanation and how to use it:  
FEMA's FIS Tutorial System is a Macromedia Flash movie. You must have the Flash Player installed.