How do I look up a property's flood zone in Broward or Palm Beach County?

How do I use FEMA's Flood Map Service Center?

The Flood Map Service Center (MSC) at msc.fema.gov is FEMA's official public source for flood hazard information produced for the NFIP. Enter an address, a place or longitude/latitude coordinates to see the effective Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) for that spot, and print a FIRMette, a full-scale section of the map sized for a home or office printer.

Use Search All Products to find preliminary or pending maps, the community's Flood Insurance Study and any Letters of Map Change. FEMA notes that maps you download can be superseded by newer ones, and that letters issued before 1997 are not on the site, so ask the local map repository, often the building or zoning office, for older records.[1][2]

What tools do Broward and Palm Beach County offer?

Each county posts its current maps, and city floodplain managers can answer property-specific questions.

• Broward County: new FEMA flood maps took effect July 31, 2024. The county's Flood Zone Maps page links to the maps and directs questions to your Community Floodplain Manager.
• Palm Beach County: updated FEMA maps took effect December 20, 2024, adding thousands of residents in the eastern county to high-risk zones and raising the Base Flood Elevation by one foot or more on more than 16,000 parcels. The county offers a Find Your Flood Zone lookup and, as of 2026, an unincorporated-area flood zone hotline (561-233-5374); city residents should contact their municipal floodplain manager.
• Boca Raton: the city's Know Your Flood Zone page links to a FIRM lookup by address, and the Floodplain Manager can tell you whether a building is in the Special Flood Hazard Area, whether the area has drainage problems or repeated flood claims, and whether the city holds an elevation certificate for it.[3][4][5]

Is a flood zone the same as an evacuation zone?

No. Palm Beach County explains that a hurricane evacuation zone covers areas that may be inundated by storm surge, while a flood zone reflects risk from flooding such as poor drainage, sheet flow or coastal tides. The county provides separate lookup tools for each, so check both when evaluating a property.

If you believe a property was wrongly placed in a high-risk zone, you can ask FEMA for a Letter of Map Amendment. If FEMA approves it, the owner can send the determination to the lender and request that the federal flood insurance requirement be removed.[6][5][2]