Preliminary & Effective Maps

If your community has a Preliminary FIRM, chances are you are looking at it frequently as a regulatory tool, to understand potential shifts to your community's risk distribution, or to inform residents of future changes. We've added Preliminary FIRMs to our mapping feature so that you can now view both Preliminary FIRMs as well as Effective FIRMs in the same place.

For those communities that do not have an active Preliminary FIRM, only Effective FIRM information will show. Preliminary FIRM information is retrieved directly from FEMA's map service, so FIRM maps will automatically update when changes are made in FEMA's database.

You can find Preliminary FIRM information in both the Map and the Property Info Panel:

In the Map

FIRM information in the Map is now divided into two layers: Effective FIRM and Preliminary FIRM. You can toggle between these map layers using the Map Panel (more on this below). To switch between FIRM versions in the Map Panel, click the toggle button to the right of Effective FIRM or Preliminary FIRM. In the Property Info Panel

When you search for an address in the Address Search Bar, the Property Info Panel will display. It will also display if you click on an Elevation Certificate instance in the Map. The Panel is divided into two sections: FIRM Map Info and Permits. Within the FIRM Map Info section, Preliminary FIRM and Effective FIRM information is displayed in two columns, side by side.

New Map Sub-Layers

We've also added two new sublayers to the map. Sublayers are nested within Layers. Unlike Layers, they cannot be toggled on or off — their visibility is controlled by the Layers they are nested in. New sublayers include:

• Floodway - The Floodway sublayer depicts the Regulatory Floodway in your community. This sublayer can be used to check compliance with your community's development guidelines. It is depicted as a hatched overlay on the map.
• LiMWA - The Limit of Moderate Wave Action (LiMWA) is defined by FEMA as "…the inland limit of the area expected to receive 1.5-foot or greater breaking waves during the 1-percent annual chance flood event." It is displayed as a black patterned line on the map.

Map User Interface Changes

To accommodate future features and increase usability, we've made some organizational changes to the Map feature.

Map Panel

The map panel contains layer keys and visibility toggles. To locate this panel, click the map layers icon in the bottom right corner of your Map. It is positioned above the Map's zoom buttons. As noted above, FIRM zones, floodway information, and LiMWA information, are nested within FIRM layers. When either the Effective FIRM or Preliminary FIRM are toggled on, all zone, floodway, and LiMWA information will display for that FIRM version.

Address Search Bar

The Address Search Bar is now located in the top left corner of your map. To find information for a specific property, type the address in the Address Search Bar. You can either click one of the autocomplete selections or press enter once you've typed your address to display the Property Info Panel. As before, the map will zoom to the searched address and a blue location marker will be placed on the property.

Property Info Panel

The Property Info Panel can be displayed using the Address Search Bar or by clicking on an Elevation Certificate instance on the Map. Information on the Property Info Panel is divided into two sections: FIRM Map Info and Permits:

• FIRM Map Info - If your community has both an Effective map and a Preliminary map, the FIRM Map Info section will provide data for both versions. If your community has only an Effective map and no Preliminary map, only Effective map data will be provided. A new data row has also been added to this section. BFE Depth is now provided for AO Zones. Where no data is provided by FEMA's map service, a dash (-) will appear in lieu of information.
• Permits - If the property searched has an Elevation Certificate associated with it, it will appear under Permits. If no Certificates are available, the Permits section will read: No permits found. Elevation Certificates can also be found in the Certificates section of your app, which can be located by clicking on Certificates in the dark blue sidebar.

Base Map

Base maps are now cropped by community jurisdictional boundary so that you will only see applicable map information for your own community.

Map Feature

We've added a map to your CRS dashboard to assist you with flood information requests and elevation certificate management. To navigate to this new feature, just click Map in the dark blue sidebar.

Your map currently has four data layers that can be turned on or off using the blue toggle switch:

Flood Zones

Zones X (shaded), AE, AO, AH, A, VE, and D are contained in this map layer, differentiated by color. Where applicable, zone BFEs and/or depths are displayed on the map.

CBRS

The Coastal Barrier Resources System (CBRS) boundaries are included, along with the 20 ft CBRS buffer zones.

Certificates

Your uploaded Elevation Certificates are now automatically displayed on the map as orange points. When zoomed out, Elevation Certificates that are either very close to one another or assigned to a single property are clustered under a larger icon displaying the number of ECs at the location. To get a closer look, either zoom in or click on the cluster for automatic zoom.

Land Information

The Land Information layer contains topographic contour lines for the map. Contour intervals are depicted directly on the contour lines in meters.

Address Details

For address-specific data, click on an EC point or use the search bar (titled Search for address) in the upper right hand corner.

An information window will appear with the following information:

• Address
• Flood Zone
• BFE
• Datum
• FIRM Panel
• FIRM Effective Date
• Initial FIRM Date
• CBRS

If the address has one or more associated Elevation Certificates, they will appear under Elevation Certificates in the window. Listed ECs are links, clicking on them will open the associated PDF in a new tab.

The information contained in the Address Detail window is given for a geocoded point, and should not be used as an official determination.

Create New Log

Not all Assistance Requests will come through your Resident's Flood Information Center, so we've built a way for you to create a new log for any phone calls, walk-ins, and emails. Just click on the Create New button.

Once you've added a new log, we've also given you the ability to edit entries so that you can document information required for your CRS activities. This can also be done for any log that is created through your Resident's Flood Information Center. The fields you can edit include:

320 Map Information Services

• Address
• BFE
• Flood Zone
• Rep. Loss Area
• FIRM Panel
• Depth of BFE
• Coastal A Zone or CBRS
• Sensitive or Wetland Area

360 Flood Protection Assistance

• On-site Visit
• Property Protection Advice
• Financial Advice
• Insurance Information

For any additional notes on what you spoke about with the inquirer, you can write them down in the Notes field.

Export Logs

In order to receive credit for 320 Map Information Services and 360 Flood Protection Assistance, you'll need to submit your logs to your ISO rep.

To do this, we've recently added the ability to export your logs. When you click on the export button, you'll then be asked to select a period for your export. We have three options:

• Recertification - This will export all logs that were created in your last recertification cycle (1 year).
• Verification — This option will export all logs that were created in your last verification cycle (3 or 5 years).
• All Logs — This option will export all logs that have been created in your account.