FLOODPLAIN MAPPING
Looking for the latest information about the floodplains in your neighborhood? Bucks County has some great tools to help you research this information.
Visit the Bucks County website (click here) to research your home and the floodplains.
Some Helpful Tips for Navigating the site…
Once the website is loaded, using your mouse, select the “Find an address” tool which is located in the center of the top blue tool bar on the website. The tool looks like a bulls eye.
Enter just the street address (i.e. 401 Gibson Ave) then click on the “Locate” button. This will zoom into the property with the property identified. To zoom in even closer, click on the “zoom in” button on the flagged property. You can also pan around and zoom in and out using your mouse similar to other mapping programs. Once you have the view where you want it, close the “Find an address” window by clicking on the “x” with a circle around it located in the right top corner of the “Find an address” window.
Just under the top blue tool bar on the website, there is a slider bar where you can change the basemap image. To the left of the slider bar is a button labeled as “More…”. Hover over this button with your mouse and you will see several options available here. By default, “Floodplains” and “Property Records” will be selected as active. The “Floodplains” active by default are the existing FEMA floodplains which were put into effect in 1999. You can toggle this on and off as well as the “Preliminary Floodplains”. The “Preliminary Floodplains” are the new FEMA floodplain maps going into effect in March, 2015.
By toggling between “Preliminary Floodplains” and “Floodplains” you can see how the mapping has changed and what impact may be had on the property in question. Red is Zone A which the 100 year floodplain. Yellow is Zone X which is the 0.2 percent annual chance flood hazard also known as the 500 year floodplain. There are no regulatory impacts with the 500 year floodplain. Orange is the Zone AE 100 year floodplain resulting from a detailed study. Blue is also in Zone AE and is the floodway which is also in the 100 year floodplain.