Where can I find flood maps?
FEMA is the official public source for flood maps for insurance purposes:
- FEMA’s Flood Map Service Center
- FEMA’s Flood Hazard Map FAQs
NOAA is responsible for producing flood forecast maps that combine precipitation data with USGS streamflow data:
- National Flood Forecasts
- Interactive Flood Information Map
- Coastal Inundation Dashboard: Real-time and historical coastal flooding information
USGS flood map products include:
- USGS Flood Information: Maps and resources for current and historical floods.
- Flood Inundation Mapper: Shows where river flooding might occur over a range of water levels. Only available for a few areas.
- Flood Event Viewer: Data collected during short-term flood events like hurricanes and multi-state storms. Includes rapid-deployment gages, temporary sensors, and high-water marks.
- Coastal Change Hazards Portal: Extreme storms, shoreline change, and sea-level rise.
Related Content
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Guidelines for determining flood flow frequency—Bulletin 17C
Accurate estimates of flood frequency and magnitude are a key component of any effective nationwide flood risk management and flood damage abatement program. In addition to accuracy, methods for estimating flood risk must be uniformly and consistently applied because management of the Nation’s water and related land resources is a collaborative...
England, John F.; Cohn, Timothy A.; Faber, Beth A.; Stedinger, Jery R.; Thomas, Wilbert O.; Veilleux, Andrea G.; Kiang, Julie E.; Mason,, Robert R.
Field manual for identifying and preserving high-water mark data
This field manual provides general guidance for identifying and collecting high-water marks and is meant to be used by field personnel as a quick reference. The field manual describes purposes for collecting and documenting high-water marks along with the most common types of high-water marks. The manual provides a list of suggested field...
Feaster, Toby D.; Koenig, Todd A.
Identifying and preserving high-water mark data
High-water marks provide valuable data for understanding recent and historical flood events. The proper collection and recording of high-water mark data from perishable and preserved evidence informs flood assessments, research, and water resource management. Given the high cost of flooding in developed areas, experienced hydrographers, using the...
Koenig, Todd A.; Bruce, Jennifer L.; O'Connor, Jim; McGee, Benton D.; Holmes, Robert R.; Hollins, Ryan; Forbes, Brandon T.; Kohn, Michael S.; Schellekens, Mathew; Martin, Zachary W.; Peppler, Marie C.
The world's largest floods, past and present: Their causes and magnitudes
Floods are among the most powerful forces on earth. Human societies worldwide have lived and died with floods from the very beginning, spawning a prominent role for floods within legends, religions, and history. Inspired by such accounts, geologists, hydrologists, and historians have studied the role of floods on humanity and its supporting...
O'Connor, Jim E.; Costa, John E.
Mapping a flood before it happens
What's missing from flood forecasts? Maps—The only maps generally available today are maps used for planning. They are maps of theoretical floods, not maps of flooding forecast for an approaching storm. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the National Weather Service (NWS) have developed a way to bring flood forecasting and flood...
Jones, Joseph L.
Large floods in the United States: where they happen and why
The spatial distribution of large gaged floods throughout the United States shows that the locations of most of the largest flows are related to specific combinations of regional climatology, topography, and basin size. Key factors include the general northward trend of decreasing atmospheric moisture, proximity to oceanic moisture sources such as...
O'Connor, Jim E.; Costa, John E.
Significant Floods in the United States During the 20th century - USGS Measures a Century of Floods
Perry, Charles A.
USGS Science – Leading the Way for Preparedness
Learn About USGS Hazards Science and More About National Preparedness Month: The very nature of natural hazards means that they have the potential to impact a majority of Americans every year. USGS science provides part of the foundation for emergency preparedness whenever and wherever disaster strikes.
Stormy weather: How the USGS goes to work monitoring its effects
Atmospheric rivers are a global weather phenomenon that can bring large amounts of rain or snow to the U.S. West Coast each year. These rivers of wet air form over the Pacific Ocean near Hawaiʻi and pick up large amounts of moisture from the tropics and on their way to the West Coast. This moisture is carried in narrow bands across the Pacific Ocean to California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada.
Fighting the Floods
The USGS response to the Louisiana floods is part of the larger USGS flood science mission...
ARkStorm: California’s other "Big One"
For emergency planning purposes, scientists unveiled a hypothetical California scenario that describes a storm that could produce up to 10 feet of rain, cause extensive flooding (in many cases overwhelming the state’s flood-protection system) and result in more than $300 billion in damage.
Understanding Floods | Long-term Streamflow Data Collection
The USGS is developing methods to improve data collection during floods to gain new insight into the rise and fall of flood waters. In the past, the only data left behind after a flood was how high the water got, or the peak of the flood. This video presents the methodology that hydrologists are using to set up a Continuous Slope-area Reach in remote areas that are
Flood inundation mapping - Interactive floodplain mapping tool.
The USGS Flood Inundation Mapper
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Floods are the leading cause of natural-disaster losses in the United States. Although the amount of fatalities has declined due to improved early warning systems, economic losses have continued to rise with increased urbanization in flood-hazard areas. The USGS
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Flood Inundation Mapper
The recent (3/18/16) real-time report from the USGS Flood Inundation Mapper for Petersburg, IN, showed that the moderate flood would continue to decline in the hours ahead.
Flood Inundation Mapper
A powerful new tool for flood response and mitigation are digital geospatial flood-inundation maps that show flood water extent and depth on the land surface. Because floods are the leading cause of natural-disaster losses, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is actively involved in the development of flood inundation mapping across the Nation pursuant to its major science
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Flood Sign in Tualatin River, OR
Peak flood height of 1996 flood, as observed in the Tualatin River, OR.