The Southwest Florida Water Management District (District) is hosting a virtual public outreach and presenting preliminary flood prone area information for the Highlands Hammock watershed. The District will gather comments, and investigate any issues identified by the public.
This watershed study is funded by the District and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). Flood prone area information will be used by local governments and the District for floodplain management once finalized. This information is not currently being incorporated into the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps (DFIRMs); however, it may be used in future DFIRM updates.
This is your opportunity to view the preliminary flood prone area information and provide additional information to District representatives. We welcome any photos, documents, or historical information regarding your property to assist with further analysis. If you are going to submit a comment card, some helpful questions to consider when filling out a comment card are:
- Were you at your home for the model verification event (Hurricane Ian, September 28, 2022)? If so, how close did the floodwater get to your home?
- Have you ever experienced flooding in your home or on your property, if so, when?
- Have you seen water on your property and if so, how high did the water come up?
- Do you have photos of the flooding?
- Do you have an elevation certificate for your home?
If you would like to provide any comments or request an individual map of your property showing these potential changes, please click on the link below and fill out the necessary fields in the comment form.
Maps
The floodplain maps [provided below] show both the preliminary floodplain information from this study and the current effective FEMA flood zones. Use the index map to help determine which map number your property is located within, then open the corresponding map number to view the floodplain information. The following color symbols are used on the maps to distinguish between the preliminary floodplain information and the current effective FEMA information.
Preliminary:
- Blue areas represent the 100-year flood [zone A, AE].
- Pink areas represent floodplain with < 1 ft. avg flood depth [zone X (shaded)].
Current Effective FEMA:
- Yellow hatched areas represent the 100-year flood [zone A, AE].
- Black speckled areas represent the 0.2% annual chance flood [zone X (shaded)].
The 1% annual chance flood (100-year flood), also known as the base flood, is the flood that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. Unshaded areas are determined to be outside the 0.2% annual chance floodplain (500-year flood).
Please refer to the Read Me document [provided below] for more information about the floodplain model, the projected timeline for model approval, contact information and a list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
You can also visit the interactive map viewer to search for your address and view the floodplain information.