What is a floodplain and how do I determine if my property is located in this area?
A floodplain is the part of the land where water collects, pools and flows during the course of natural events. Such areas are classified as Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) and are located in a “100-year flood zone.” The term 100-year flood can be misleading. It is the flood elevation that has a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded each year; it is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. The likelihood of a flood occurring within a 100-year stretch of time is very, very high, but there’s no way to predict when the next flood will occur — or the one after that. The redrawn maps indicate the floodplain as a “high-risk” area, officially classified as an A, AE or AH zone. Moderate- and low-risk areas will be designated as X zones and shaded X zones on the new maps.

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1. What is a floodplain and how do I determine if my property is located in this area?
2. Why is Manhattan getting new flood hazard maps?
3. How might the new flood maps affect me financially?
4. How can I reduce the cost of flood insurance?
5. Who is responsible for updating the maps?
6. What is a Flood Insurance Rate Map?
7. What are the benefits of the new FIRMs?
8. How will the new FIRMs affect me?
9. What will happen if my property is remapped from a moderate- or low-risk area to a high-risk area?
10. What will happen if my property is remapped from a high-risk to a moderate- or low-risk area?
11. What does the new Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act mean for me?
12. When do the new maps become effective?