FEMA Flood Zones — FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer
Published by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)· continuous
FEMA's official mapped flood hazard areas — Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) where FHA loans require flood insurance.
In Detail
The National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) is FEMA's authoritative GIS dataset of flood hazard boundaries. Properties in mapped Special Flood Hazard Areas (Zones A, AE, V) face a 1% annual chance of flooding ("100-year flood plain"). FHA and most lenders require flood insurance for these properties. Zone X is "outside SFHA" — low to moderate risk, no insurance required. ValiFit performs spatial point-in-polygon lookups against the NFHL for every property report, surfacing flood zone, SFHA status, and the resulting NFIP insurance requirement on the property page.
Primary Federal Source
https://www.fema.gov/flood-maps/national-flood-hazard-layerValiFit re-publishes and explains this federal data. The official source is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
How ValiFit uses FEMA Flood Zones
- Property page flood zone display
- Affordability monthly carry calc (NFIP premium added when SFHA)