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Public Works: FEMA Flood Zone & Flood Insurance

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1. What is the National Flood Insurance Program?

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), established with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 and subsequently broadened and modified through other legislative measures, is a Federal program that enables property owners to purchase flood insurance and is designed to reduce the escalating costs of property damage caused by floods. The program is based on an agreement between local communities and the Federal Government that if a community will implement programs to reduce future flood risks, the Federal Government will make flood insurance available within the community as a financial protection against flood losses that occur. The NFIP is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

2. What is the "new" FEMA map?

The most recent active FEMA flood zone map will take effect on April 5, 2019.  For these maps and previous maps, click here. 

Current FEMA Flood Map

3. How do I obtain a copy of the flood hazard map for the City of San Mateo?

Copies of the maps are available here. All FEMA maps, map amendments, and associated documents are available in the FEMA Map Service Center, https://msc.fema.gov/portal.

4. Why do I need to purchase insurance if there has never been a flood in the neighborhood?

The Special Flood Hazard Area is defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1% of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. These "high-risk" zones (Zone A, AE, AH, and AO) may experience very unusual or infrequent flooding, but do have a significant risk of suffering flood damage during the normal lifespan of most buildings. Over a typical 30-year mortgage period that 1% chance per year adds up to a very respectable probability. By comparison, as of 2011, the national averages show that a typical home over the same 30-year period only has a 1% chance of being damaged by fire for the entire 30 years. Yet almost everyone willingly buys fire insurance for protection from that hazard.

Past experience is one of a number of factors used when determining flood potential. Another factor that will significantly change your flood risk over time is the amount of new development that has occurred in your watershed which will increase the speed and quantity of the storm runoff and greatly increase the extent of flooding. Inadequate levees can be very effective for smaller storm events but may fail dramatically in places when faced by a really major storm. The flood hazard areas were determined using analyses of records of riverflow, storm tides, and rainfall; information obtained through consultation with the community and topographic surveys. The Flood Insurance Study also assumes the free flow of floodwaters through bridge openings and culverts. During an actual flood event, these openings may become plugged and other areas not shown as floodprone may be flooded.

This Flood Insurance Study represents the best technical information on the current flood risk in your community.

5. Why is purchasing flood insurance important to homeowners?

Considering the devastating consequences flooding can have, flood insurance is a wise and important investment. Homeowners insurance does not cover losses caused by flooding, but flood insurance provides coverage even if a disaster is not declared by the President. Even if FEMA determines a structure is not in the designated floodplain, referred to as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA), the structure could be flooded by a flooding event with a greater magnitude than the base flood. Estimates indicate that structures in designated SFHAs have a one-in-four chance of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage. A structure does not have to be in a high risk area of flooding for flood insurance to be needed; as of 2011 an estimated one-third of claims are for the structures in low-to-moderate risk areas. In addition, when homes are destroyed by floods, not only are the homeowners left without a place to live, but they are still obligated to pay off their mortgages. Flood insurance coverage is beneficial in that it protects the equity built up in a person's property, covers damage from flooding, and helps the insured recover more quickly and completely after a flood disaster.

6. Is flood insurance required for all structures in the floodplain?

No. Under the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, as amended by the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, the mandatory purchase of flood insurance applies only to buildings located in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) that serve as security for a federally backed loan or a loan from a federally backed lender. Insurance is to be obtained and maintained during the term of the loan. Buildings that have been paid off are not required by Federal law to purchase flood insurance. The mandatory purchase requirement is usually triggered when a loan is made, increased, renewed or extended; or when a flood map has been revised placing additional area in a SFHA. If a loan is sold or its servicing is transferred to a different lender, this can also trigger the requirement to purchase flood insurance.

7. What is the difference between tidal flooding and stormwater/residual flooding?

Flood risk in San Mateo is influenced from two sources: tides in the San Francisco Bay, and residual flooding from storm water runoff. High tides can cause or exacerbate flooding in low-lying areas between El Camino Real and the Bay. In contrast, stormwater/residual flooding occurs during large storm events. Essentially when it rains, urban stormwater runoff can exceed the capacity of the collection system and surface flooding occurs.

8. What other projects are needed to get my neighborhood out of the flood zone?

San Mateo/Glendale Village; Laurie Meadows: In 2016 the City of San Mateo hired a consultant to perform a study on this neighborhood, and recommended submitting a Letter of Map Change (LOMC) application to FEMA in order to re-map the area into a low-risk flood Zone X. The City and the consultant submitted the LOMC application, and FEMA uploaded the application on September 19, 2016. Although the City can’t confirm that FEMA will revise the map as requested in the application, FEMA has 90 days to issue a final determination letter or request additional information from the City.

Central/North Central/North Shoreview: Improvements must be made to the North Levees near Coyote Point, and the Coyote Point and Poplar Avenue Storm Water Pump Station must be rehabilitated to address the tidal and stormwater flooding problems in these neighborhoods.
There have been some discussions with the North Shoreview and North Central residents currently in the high-risk zone AE, and the City began working with a consultant to send out surveys in 2017 to gauge the interest in forming an assessment district.

9. What is the City doing to help residents stuck in the flood zone?

We are actively searching for alternate funding opportunities such as State and Federal grants to fund the remaining flood improvements.

10. Why doesn’t the City form assessment districts to fund completion of all flood related projects?

Flood control operations such as the ones financed by an assessment district provide special benefits. Flood control infrastructure protects particular identifiable parcels from flood damage, and the benefits are provided directly to those parcels and to none other. This means that an assessment can only be levied onto those properties which benefit directly from the improvements.

In the case of the South Bayfront Levee Improvements, the project cost of $7.5M was spread over the 8,000 parcels that receive the direct benefit of protection from tidal flooding, resulting in a relatively low cost per owner.

The remaining flood improvement projects in other areas of the City are relatively more expensive when considering the number of property owners who would share the burden. This makes the formation of additional assessment districts unpractical and in some areas would cost more than flood insurance.

11. How do I purchase a flood insurance policy?

To purchase a flood insurance policy, you may:

Contact a local insurance agent;

Call the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) toll-free number, 1-800-427-4661, to request the name of an insurance agent in your area who sells flood insurance

12. How are flood insurance premium rates calculated?

For an explanation on how flood insurance is calculated, go to that National Flood Insurance Program website, https://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/faqs/how-is-my-flood-insurance-premium-calculated.jsp

13. If my agent has questions where should he/she call?

For additional information on flood insurance, please visit the NFIP website or call the Flood Insurance Information Hotline, toll free, at 1-800-427-4661. 

The National Flood Insurance Program website

14. What processes are available for changing or correcting the information shown on the flood hazard map when large areas of a community are affected?

One way in which FEMA updates flood hazard maps is to conduct a Government-funded detailed reevaluation of flood hazards, referred to as a flood study. The flood study process is very costly and can take up to 5 years to complete. Because of the time and expense involved in conducting a restudy, FEMA bases its decision on whether to conduct a restudy on a benefit-cost analysis. Through this analysis, FEMA weighs the expected benefits to existing and future development against the funds to be expended. In this way, the flood studies that will yield the most benefit are performed first. However, the number of flood studies needed far outweighs the funds available to perform them.

As an alternative, FEMA established procedures by which an interested community may compile appropriate data and request a map revision. Map revisions are often completed in less than 90 days from the date all data are received.

15. Why is the burden of proof placed on the community or person that requests a map change?

FEMA exercises great care to ensure that analytical methods employed in its flood studies are scientifically and technically correct, the engineering practices followed meet professional standards, and the results of the flood study are accurate. In making changes to the flood hazard maps, FEMA must adhere to the same rigorous engineering standards applied in preparing the maps and associated flood study reports. Therefore, when requesting changes, community officials and property owners are required to submit adequate supporting data. FEMA would have no justification for changing a flood hazard map without sufficient evidence that the change is appropriate.

16. What can homeowners do if they believe their homes should not be included in an SFHA?

If an individual homeowner has technical information to indicate his or her home has been incorrectly shown as within the SFHA on the FIRM, the homeowner may submit that information to FEMA and request that FEMA remove the flood zone designation from his or her home by issuing a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) or a Letter of Map Revision Based on Fill (LOMR-F).

The request must include the surveyed elevation of the lowest grade adjacent to the structure or the lowest enclosed level of the structure and certain other information, as described in the MT-1 forms package entitled "Amendments and Revisions to National Flood Insurance Program Maps." The instructions in the forms package will assist property owners in compiling the information required to support a LOMA or LOMR-F request.

If, based on its review of the required information, FEMA determines that a home should be removed from the floodplain, FEMA will issue a LOMA or LOMR-F. LOMAs and LOMR-Fs are effective on the date they are issued and have the effect of revising the effective NFIP map without physically revising and reissuing the affected map panel. FEMA usually responds to such requests within 30 days of the date all required information is received.

For more detailed information, contact the National Flood Insurance Program toll-free number 1-888-379-9531.

17. Under what circumstances will FEMA waive the review and processing fee for a map change request?

In accordance with Section 72.5 of the NFIP regulations, FEMA does not assess a review and processing fee for LOMA requests; FEMA also does not assess a fee if a map change request:

Corrects a mapping or study analysis error;

Is based on the effects of natural changes within a SFHA;

Is based on the effects of a federally sponsored flood-control project where 50 percent or more of the project's costs are federally funded;

Is based on a detailed hydrologic or hydraulic study conducted by a Federal, State, or local agency to replace an approximate study conducted by FEMA and shown on the flood map; or

Is based on flood hazard information meant to improve upon that shown on the flood map or within the flood study, and does not partially or wholly incorporate manmade modifications within the SFHA.

18. Where can I learn more about the National Flood Insurance Program?

The National Flood Insurance Program's website is www.floodsmart.gov, and many flood control and flood insurance resources are available there. FloodSmart.gov can help with residential & commercial coverage questions, understanding flood risks, policyholder resources, and contact information for more detailed information than what is covered in these frequently asked questions.

19. Why did a lien show up on the property report in February 2020?

The Notice of Assessment and lien on the property is the official declaration of the assessment to show property owners that they will receive their assessment levy each year on their property tax rolls. Although property owners in the South Bayfront Assessment district have been paying their assessments since 2009-10, the South Bayfront Assessment District and the North Shoreview Assessment District were properly recorded as of February 2020.

20. How do I obtain a flood elevation certificate for my property?

Property owner(s) will likely need to hire and consult with a certified California surveyor to prepare a base flood elevation certificate. A certified California surveyor can assist with questions specific your property’s flood elevation. 

If there has been substantial improvements on the property in the recent past, a base flood elevation certificate may be found in the property’s building records with the Building Department.