Welcome to Louisiana's Flood Maps!

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* Defined as flood zone and Base Flood Elevation (BFE) depicted on the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM)

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Version 1.0

Use this online tool to study flood hazards at your site or to explore how flood maps are changing in your parish.

Disclaimer

The LSU AgCenter Interactive Mapping Tool is for educational purposes only. It is not to be used for official business in issuing building permits or in rating NFIP insurance.


FEMA provides two official sites for accessing FIRM data:

FEMA Flood Map Service Center
National Flood Hazard Layer (NFHL) Viewer


For more information about local building ordinance enhancements, and to find out which official FIRMs (Preliminary or Effective) or ABFEs are being used for any regulatory purposes please contact your local floodplain administrator.


Digital floodplain images provided on this LSU AgCenter site are produced from FEMA provided database files; however, this portal is not an official FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) access tool.


The site uses Bing Maps for roads, aerials, and geocoding addresses. Locating property on the Aerial/Roads Hybrid view is usually more accurate than geocoding the address.

Note to users with Disabilities

Alternate text does not appear on pages with the maps as the maps convey spatial data and have various layers of data which can be selected or de-selected individually. For information about a specific location, the 'Identify Feature Properties' function may be used to click on the map and generate a information window with details about underlying map layers

Questions about this application?

Send all questions and comments to floodmaps@agcenter.lsu.edu


© LSUAgCenter

Layer Info

Please report any issues to FloodMaps@agcenter.lsu.edu

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Flood Maps

The most widely distributed flood map product in the United States is the Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). FIRMS have been furnished predominantly as paper maps, which are still being used in many communities. FEMA now provides FIRMS in digital form; these work well in map-layering systems and enable information from the map to be read electronically. Read more about how FIRMs are made and used.

Effective FIRM

is the FIRM that is used to rate NFIP flood insurance policies. Older FIRMs were delivered as paper products; newer FIRMs are delivered as true digital products. For older FIRMs we display a scanned image of the paper map that has been processed somewhat to improve the alignment of features shown on the map (such as road intersections) with their position as determined by high resolution imagery. Use the Legend “FIRM (Scanned paper or gray-scale).” For newer FIRMs we display the data as it is provided to us by FEMA. Use the Legend “Effective FIRM (Digital).

Preliminary FIRM

is a FIRM presented to a community as part of the production or revision process. FEMA provides the Preliminary FIRM and the underlying Flood Insurance Study (FIS) to communities for review and comment, and considers those comments when producing the final product. The Preliminary FIRM becomes a Future FIRM when FEMA issues a Letter of Final Determination (LFD). The Preliminary and Future FIRMs are never used for rating flood insurance, but may be used by the community for regulating development. Preliminary FIRMs present the most up-to-date flood risk information until they are replaced by their Future FIRM. Use the legend “Proposed FIRM (Digital)”

Future FIRM

is the FIRM that was delivered to the community as a Preliminary FIRM and, after review and expiration of comment and appeals periods, has been adopted by the community and/or determined by FEMA to become the next Effective FIRM. The Future FIRM will become the Effective FIRM on the Study Effective Date (SED), which is six months after the date of the Letter of Final Determination (LFD). LFD and SED are shown in the 'Events' tool. The Future FIRM is not used for insurance until the Study Effective Date; it may be used by the community for regulating development. Future FIRMs present the most up-to-date flood risk information. Use the Legend “Proposed FIRM (Digital)”

Historical FIRM

is the FIRM that was retired when the Future FIRM became the new Effective FIRM. Historical FIRMs that were issued originally as paper products are displayed as scans of the paper map. Historical FIRMs that were issued as digital products are shown in gray-scale, but remain fully digital. Use the Legend “FIRM – (Scanned paper or gray-scale). On this site we show only the most recent Historical FIRM. Earlier historical FIRMs for the community may be available at the FEMA Map Service Center(http://msc.FEMA.gov).

Advisory Base Flood Elevation (ABFE)

is a temporary Base Flood Elevation issued by FEMA after a disaster for use during recovery, while the FIRM is being revised to reflect risks discovered in the disaster event. ABFEs are never used for rating insurance. They may be used by the community to regulate some or all development. ABFEs were issued across coastal Louisiana following hurricanes Katrina and Rita and communities were required by the state to adopt ABFEs as a regulatory standard for rebuilding or forfeit hazard mitigation funding. ABFEs are retired by the next revised FIRM.

Credits

1. Ground Elevation is provided by USGS's elevation web service. If unable to find elevation at the specified point, the service returns an extremely large, negative value (-1.79769313486231E+308).

2. LRC (Louisiana Residential Code) Wind Speed as of February 1, 2018 is provided by Applied Technology Council's Wind Speed Service. This "Ultimate Design Wind Speed" must be used with the 2015 and later versions of the International Residential Code. See wind speed maps for earlier standards and applicable code versions.

3. Community Contacts information is maintained and provided by a service of the La Department of Transportation and Development, Office of Floodplain Regulations.

LA Floodmaps

The information provided is not a depiction of current flooding. These are FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps, provided for education purposes. Flood Event Resources

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Effective FIRM (Digital)

  • The Limit of Study line is used to indicate the terminus of a 1- percent-annual-chance floodplain of a stream or backwater area that has not been independently studied by detailed analyses, or of a stream that has been studied by detailed methods.
  • Base Flood Elevation Line; Elevation in Feet*
  • Cross-Sections; Elevation in Feet*
  • 1-percent-annual-chance Flood Hazard Area (Zones A, AE, AO, AH, AR, A99, V, and VE)
  • Floodway Area
  • Flood Zone X
  • 0.2-percent-annual-chance Flood Hazard Area (shaded Zone X)
  • Flood Zone X: Area with Reduced Flood Risk due to Levee
  • Zone D Area Not Included
  • *Referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988.

Proposed FIRM (Digital)

Used for Preliminary FIRM and Future FIRM

  • The Limit of Study line is used to indicate the terminus of a 1- percent-annual-chance floodplain of a stream or backwater area that has not been independently studied by detailed analyses, or of a stream that has been studied by detailed methods.
  • Base Flood Elevation Line; Elevation in Feet*
  • Cross-Sections; Elevation in Feet*
  • 1-percent-annual-chance Flood Hazard Area (Zones A, AE, AO, AH, AR, A99, V, and VE)
  • Floodway Area
  • Flood Zone X
  • 0.2-percent-annual-chance Flood Hazard Area (shaded Zone X)
  • Flood Zone X: Area with Reduced Flood Risk due to Levee
  • Zone D Area Not Included
  • Seclusion Area: The levee, dike or other structure that impacts flood hazard areas inside this boundary has not been shown to comply with Section 65.10 of the NFIP Regulations. As such, these FIRM panels will be revised at a later date to update the flood hazard information associated with this structure.
  • *Referenced to the North American Vertical Datum of 1988.

FIRM (Scanned paper or Grayscale)

May be an Effective FIRM or Historical FIRM

  • SPECIAL FLOOD HAZARD AREAS INUNDATED BY 100-YEAR FLOOD:
    • ZONE A - No base flood elevations determined.
    • ZONE AE - Base flood elevation determined
    • ZONE AH - Flood depths of 1 to 3 feet (usually areas of ponding); base flood elevations determined
    • ZONE AO - Flood depths of 1 to 3 feet (usually sheet flow on sloping terrain); average depths determined. For areas of alluvial fan flooding; velocities also determined.
    • ZONE A99 - To be protected from 100-year flood by federal flood protection system under construction; no base flood elevations determined.
    • ZONE V - Coastal flood with velocity hazard (wave action); no base flood elevations determined.
    • ZONE VE - Coastal flood with velocity hazard (wave action); base flood elevations determined.
  • FLOODWAY AREAS IN ZONE AE
  • OTHER FLOOD AREAS:
    • ZONE X - Areas of 500-year flood; or 100-year flood with average depths of less than 1 foot or with drainage areas less than 1 square mile; and areas protected by levees from 100-year flood.
    • ZONE B - Areas of 500-year flood as listed on older maps.
  • OTHER AREAS:
    • ZONE X - Areas determined to be outside 500-year floodplain.
    • ZONE C - Areas determined to be outside 500-year floodplain as listed on older maps.
    • ZONE D - Areas in whichflood hazards are undetermined.
  • Floodplain Boundary
  • Floodway Boundary
  • Zone D Boundary
  • Boundary Dividing Special Flood Hazard Zones.
  • Base Flood Elevation Line; Elevation in Feet*
  • Cross Section Line
  • Base Flood Elevation in Feet Where Uniform Within Zone*
  • Elevation Reference Mark
  • Stream Distance Marker (shown at approximate 5000 foot intervals)
  • *Referenced to the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 on older maps.

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