A Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) is a flood map created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and is used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for floodplain management, mitigation, and insurance purposes.  A FIRM will generally show roads and map land marks, a community’s base flood elevations, flood zones, and floodplain boundaries.   

FIRMs display areas that fall within the 100-year flood boundary.  Areas that fall within the boundary are called special flood hazard areas (SFHAs) and they are further divided into insurance risk zones.  The term 100-year flood indicates that the area has a one percent chance of flooding in any given year, not that a flood will occur every 100 years.  Such maps are used in town planning, in the insurance industry, and by individuals who want to avoid moving into a home at risk of flooding.  Property owners can use a FIRM to get reliable indications of what flood zone they are located. Town and municipalities use FIRMs to plan zoning areas, while most places will not allow construction in a flood way.  Maps are, however, constantly being updated due to changes in geography, construction and mitigation activities, and meteorological events.