Citizens may also find and plot routes and directions to Evacuation Shelters. The Sarasota County Evacuation Zones application can determine your hurricane evacuation zone by either entering an address or by simply clicking or tapping on the map. The Community Flood Zones are generated from the County's detailed flood studies. The current Flood Information Maps (FIRM) are effective November 4, 2016. The Sarasota County Flood Zone Locator application allows all interested parties to determine if a property or address lies in a FEMA-designated or Community Flood Hazard Area. All construction projects in a special flood hazard area (flood zones A, AE, AH, VE) must use the current FIRM effective until March 27, 2024. The New FIRM Maps will add a new flood zone to some of the coastal areas, Coastal A Zone with a LIMWA, Limit of Moderate Wave Action. The preliminary flood maps (FIRM, Flood Insurance Rate Map and FIS, Flood Insurance Study) dated will become effective March 27, 2024. Base flood elevations derived from detailed analyses are shown at selected intervals within these zones.Sarasota County and the City of Sarasota have received the Letter of Final Determination for the new flood maps. These areas have a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 year mortgage. VE - Coastal areas with a 1% or greater chance of flooding and an additional hazard associated with storm waves.

Average flood depths derived from detailed analyses are shown within these zones. Base flood elevations derived from detailed analyses are shown at selected intervals within these zones.ĪO - River or stream flood hazard areas, and areas with a 1% or greater chance of shallow flooding each year, usually in the form of sheet flow, with an average depth ranging from 1 to 3 feet. These areas have a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 ‐ year mortgage. Because detailed analyses are not performed for such areas no depths or base flood elevations are shown within these zones.ĪE - The base floodplain where base flood elevations are provided.ĪH - Areas with a 1% annual chance of shallow flooding, usually in the form of a pond, with an average depth ranging from 1 to 3 feet.

The SFHA designations which appear within Bay County are explained further below.Ī - Areas with a 1% annual chance of flooding and a 26% chance of flooding over the life of a 30 year mortgage.

The areas of minimal flood hazard, which are the areas outside the SFHA and higher than the elevation of the 0.2-percent-annual-chance flood, are labeled Zone C or Zone X (unshaded). Moderate flood hazard areas, labeled Zone B or Zone X (shaded) are also shown on the FIRM, and are the areas between the limits of the base flood and the 0.2-percent-annual-chance (or 500-year) flood. SFHAs are labeled as Zone A, Zone AO, Zone AH, Zones A1-A30, Zone AE, Zone A99, Zone AR, Zone AR/AE, Zone AR/AO, Zone AR/A1-A30, Zone AR/A, Zone V, Zone VE, and Zones V1-V30. The 1-percent annual chance flood is also referred to as the base flood or 100-year flood. SFHA are defined as the area that will be inundated by the flood event having a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year.

Flood hazard areas identified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map are identified as a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA).

Fema flood zone ae