In late 2024 in Palm Beach County FEMA is about to impliment the latest revisions to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). When these new maps are officially adopted there will be a whole buch on folks in places like North Palm Beach, Juno Beach and Jupiter that will find they are now offiially in a Flood zone. If your house is now in the Special Flood Hazard Area, and you have a loan, you will be notified that they you now required to carry flood insurance.
First things first as they say. If you’re reading this then you probably should have flood insurance. That said many folks who look at the new map will note, as I did, that the flood zone may just touches your property. If this is the cae then it is worth investigating if you qualify for ask FEMA to remove your structure from the SFHA flood zone. The way to do this is to files for a Letter of Map Amendment.
Will the house qualify? To qualify for this the Lowest Adjacent Grade (LAG) at the corners of your house need to be HIGHER than the Base Flood Elevation for the speacial flood hazard area that touches your property. For me it was changed to 6′ and the LAG at my house was 6.5′ (NAVD 88).
