How to Navigate New Flood Maps, Regulations

MORRISTOWN, NJ-Among the many challenges New Jersey property owners will face in recovering from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy is navigating new flood maps and regulations that will impact their reconstruction efforts and their insurance premiums going forward. 

While the Federal Emergency Management Agency designates flood hazard areas and flood zones, these designations do not incorporate specific building requirements. Those requirements are imposed by the State of New Jersey through the Flood Hazard Area Act, which requires that the lowest floor of any building built or reconstructed in a flood hazard area be at least one foot above the higher of the applicable State or FEMA “base flood elevation.” High risk areas, “Zone V” and “Zone A”, are commonly known as flood hazard areas. (Additional requirements are imposed on construction within Zone V.) A base flood elevation is the expected height above sea-level of a proverbial once-in-a-hundred-year flood in a given area.