Wave heights during the base flood will generally be three feet or more in height above the stillwater elevation.Ĭommunity Rating System: A program that provides a flood insurance premium rate reduction based on a community’s floodplain management activities.įIRM: Flood Insurance Rate Map. The base flood is used by the NFIP as the basis for mapping, insurance rating, and regulating new construction.īase floodplain: The area of water and land inundated by the base flood.Ĭoastal high hazard area: That part of the coastal floodplain extending from offshore to the inland limit of the primary coastal dune along an open coast and any other area subject to high velocity wave action from storms and seismic sources.

Here are a select few terms which are used regularly within our area:īase flood depth: A measurement of the base flood in feet above ground, used for shallow flooding.īase flood: The flood having a 1% chance of being equaled exceeded in any given year. For a complete list of terms, please see the FEMA Glossary document links at the bottom of the screen. FEMA and the National Flood Insurance Program use quite a few terms that can be at some times quite technical to describe flood processes.

Fema flood zone definitions