ASSOCIATIONINSIGHT
Portable Sanitation Association International News
BIWEEKLY EDITION MARCH 31, 2021
Page 6
FEMA Updates Flood Map Tool
D
o you ever wonder if your job or event site might flood? Now
you can check FEMA's maps to get a sense of how likely that is
to happen.
Recently FEMA updated its online FIRMette Web tool, which
provides simple downloads of a Flood Insurance Rate Map. The
updated tool will have similar capabilities to its older mapping
system, but with a modernized and more user-friendly interface. Visit
FEMA.gov for instructions on how to use the new tool and to create a
FIRMette.
The FIRMette web tool helps FEMA provide digital flood maps to
millions of users each year through the Map Service Center. The
FIRMette web tool has generated about 20 million FIRMettes since
its introduction and continues to be an important application for Map
Service Center users.
In 2002, FEMA scanned the entire paper flood map inventory and
introduced the first version of the FIRMette Web tool. This early
version of the tool allowed users to create an official map that could be printed rather than ordered by mail. In
2018, FEMA introduced the Dynamic Map tool that allows users to create a FIRMette directly from the National
Flood Hazard Layer, which ensures that FIRMettes are produced with accurate and up-to-date information. Today,
84 percent of the FIRMettes are produced directly from the Dynamic Map tool. v
Flood hazard shown in the blue-green areas.
