National Flood Insurance Program

Congress established the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) with the passage of the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968. The NFIP is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and community participation in the program is voluntary. Currently, all Connecticut municipalities participate in the NFIP (Community Status Book). The NFIP is comprised of three elements:

Flood Maps
Flood Regulations
Flood Insurance

FEMA produces Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) which identify the Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA) within a community. These are high flood risk areas that would be inundated by the 100-year flood, also called the base flood. Communities participating in the NFIP must regulate development within SFHAs by adopting and enforcing a local floodplain management ordinance or zoning regulation which meets minimum Federal requirements, although many communities adopt higher regulatory standards. Property owners in participating communities are able to purchase flood insurance through the NFIP. Flood insurance coverage is a mandatory requirement of a mortgage if the structure is located in the SFHA. Flood insurance can be purchased for structures located both within or outside the SFHA.

The NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). View more resources for Current and Prospective CRS Communities.

Additional Flood Management Resources

Flood Maps

Flood Maps – Maintained through FEMA, flood maps are a tool that communities use to know which areas have the highest risk of flooding.

FEMA Map Service Center – The FEMA Map Service Center (MSC) contains effective, preliminary and historic flood insurance rate maps (FIRM) and Flood Insurance Studies (FIS) for every municipality in Connecticut. The MSC also contains links to letters of map change (LOMC) and the National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) viewer and Flood Map Changes Viewer showing preliminary flood maps.

Limit of Moderate Wave Action (LiMWA) Viewer – LiMWA Viewer developed by FEMA Region I for New England delineating Coastal AE zones

Letters of Map Change (LOMC) – Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA), Letter of Map Revision (LOMR), Letter of Map Revision based on Fill (LOMR-F), Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR)