Go to the city, township or county development department for more information on this area.

No, I would not build in a flood plain. In some areas homes were built when the plain was mapped to be smaller. More houses get built there (and upland from the plain); there's less land to absorb the water; the area that actually floods grows and grows.

Paddle away!

(Or you could build on stilts and get a dinghy for high tide. )

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Here, after deadly Hurricane Hazel took 81 lives in 1954, strict controls were enacted essentially forbidding building on flood plains.

You cannot build in flood plains in some localities at all.

You need a lot of due diligence to make sure there are no wetland restrictions on the land.

Thank you all

I would also be very wary. In addition to the items already mentioned, if you would need a septic system there's a good chance a lot that does not drain well or holds water would not pass a perc test. I think that if the land seems underpriced, there is probably a reason why.

I want to share my experience with flood maps. After a year-long battle with our mortgage company, I know a little about floodplains. They are determined by FEMA, and a local courthouse map may not be accurate. Our property is along the Ohio River. Our house is high on a knoll, about 100 yards from the river. When we built in 1998, we were told we were not in the floodplain. Well that was the 50-yr plain, and after 4 years or so, they went to the 100-yr floodplain. So they said we needed flood insurance. No problem. It was about $300/yr. Then last year, our mortgage company tells us we are in zone A19 and not zone B, therefore we needed to get other insurance for zone A19 or they would provide it at $1000/yr. We had to obtain maps from FEMA, have an elevation study done (at the price of $800) and it took nearly a year, but we did prove that we are in zone B, not the higher risk A19. Now, according to the elevation study, our lowest elevation adjacent to the house was only 6" above the plain - but hey - it's above. (The things is, when looking at the 2-dimensional map, it appears that where our house sits, its completely out of any flood zone, but most of our property is). Now, if we had a basement and not crawl space - its a whole other set of rules. We are perfectly willing to buy flood insurance for our own peace of mind, but $1000/yr on top of our regular home-owners insurance was a bit steep. (and it was $1000/yr EVERY year for the life of the loan - it would not decrease as our loan amt decreases) We are glad we had the elevation study done, not only to prove what zone we're in, but its just good info to have.

Enough rambling - bottom line is, if you are going to finance a house, you need to do more than look at the maps in your county courthouse. They may not be what FEMA goes by, which is what your financial institution will use. There are stipulations about the level of garage, the driveway, and even the maintenance equipment (heat pump/air conditioner) Oh, and building a house on stilts does NOT count. And neither does adding fill dirt. Just a couple things we learned from reading the FEMA stipulations.

sorry so long - but hope it helped

A lot of misinformation or information being applied improperly about what you can and cannot do in a floodplain. Yes FEMA develops the floodplain maps. However local counties or cities adopt these maps, agree to enforce floodplain development, and in return the residents have opportunity to buy federally underwritten flood insurance. If communities adopt more stringent ordinances, the rates for flood insurance can be discounted.

Can you bring in fill to raise your land level to a level higher than the floodplain - yes, this is not restricted by FEMA. Are the maps absolutely accurate, well to the limits of the technology yes, but if you have more accurate information you can submit it (this is called Letter of Map Change - LOMC).

Can you build basement in the floodplain - no finished space below grade. As to driveway elevations, not regulated by FEMA. And yes, elevating on stilts is a perfectly acceptable way to raise the living area of a house and reduce your flood insurance rates (it does not however take you out of the floodplain for obvious reasons).

The wisdom of building in a floodplain, I leave that to you to decide. But building in a floodplain, building properly, and adequately insuring your structure can all be accomplished.

"A lot of misinformation or information being applied improperly about what you can and cannot do in a floodplain. Yes FEMA develops the floodplain maps. However local counties or cities adopt these maps, agree to enforce floodplain development, and in return the residents have opportunity to buy federally underwritten flood insurance."

Re- the above statement, check out the following link and read the section "Are the flood maps wrong?" It reads:

The general lack of detailed topographic mapping throughout this nation means that the floodplain boundaries in most communities cannot be accurately mapped. Since, FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) cannot afford to field check all floodplain boundaries, some areas of high ground are shown as floodplain, and some low areas are not.

Here is a link that might be useful: PROCESSING LETTERS OF MAP AMENDMENT OR REVISION

FEMA is does not have the last word, local laws do.

There are localities that are large enough they have their own flood plane maps and enforcement.

FEMA is mostly for flood insurance, and as noted is often pretty far from accurate.

Topographic map work in built up areas is often of poor quality at best.

Even the highest resolution quadrangle maps routinely 'pink out' built up areas and do not show elevation counters.

FEMA does not map 50-year floodplain. FEMA maps 100-year floodplain and 500-year floodplain only. So if your map showed a 50-year floodplain, it was NOT developed by FEMA for the purposes of flood insurance. And Brickeye is correct, floodplain management is a local ordinance and local regulation issue (as is enforcement).

And yes, if the maps are inaccurate there is a process to revise the maps - at least on this point we are consistent. However the burden to change the maps does not rest with FEMA, it rests with the person desiring to change the maps to provide information to show they are inaccurate. Maps are accurate until you demonstrate otherwise.

I might suggest that if you have questions about what FEMA does/does not do, that you at least refer to the FEMA website. I like to get the information directly from the source, I find it more probable that I get accurate this way.

brickeye - when you say "FEMA does not have the last word, local laws do," what does that mean exactly? I feel like its the mortgage companies that have the last word about whether or not you need flood insurance. And they base their decision on FEMA maps, not local maps. That is why we had to have the FEMA map revised.

kcmo_ken - you are right about this...

"And yes, if the maps are inaccurate there is a process to revise the maps - at least on this point we are consistent. However the burden to change the maps does not rest with FEMA, it rests with the person desiring to change the maps to provide information to show they are inaccurate. Maps are accurate until you demonstrate otherwise."

This is exactly what we had to do, and took nearly a year. But we finally got the map changed and proved we were not in the more risky flood zone.

Back to the OP's question - IMO if they are going to finance the house, they may want to find out what flood zone the property is in if they want to avoid paying big bucks for flood insurance. And that means finding out which maps the financial institution will use.

I wouldn't ever build at even the 100 year flood level . . . I grew up in a house which backed up to the flood plains of a river. In the flood plain there was a barn (our neighbors) built on a mound at the 100 year flood level. I remember several times the barn flooding and trying to get the horses out. It is in Atlanta which reached the 500 year plus flood level recently - the water was almost over the barn

The restrictions of what you can and cannot do in the floodplain (build/no build, elevate on fill, elevate on piers, minimum elevation of lowest finished floor, etc.) are all established and enforced by local ordinance. FEMA establishes minimum ordinance that the local community has to adopt, and the incentive FEMA provides for adopting and enforcing the ordinance is that Federal flood insurance is available to residents of that community. However while FEMA establishes minimum ordinance, communities are free to pass more restrictive ordinances relative to floodplain development. However either way, these are local ordinances enforced at the local level.

Now then, floodplain development is different than the requirement to obtain flood insurance. The mortgage company is interested in protecting their financial interest, and if you are in the floodplain and it is a Federally backed mortgage you will be required to obtain and maintain flood insurance (and unless you have a jumbo, it is likely Federally backed). The mortgage company will make the decision of flood insurance requirement based on the FEMA maps (which are coincidentally referred to as National Flood Insurance Program maps, back to the insurance requirement and not the development requirement). There may be other flood insurance available, but the most commonly available is NFIP underwritten (and therefore uses NFIP maps).

Coming from someone that lives adjacent to a stream (identified as floodplain property). The house however is sited outside the floodplain. And while I am not required to purchase flood insurance but I do maintain a minimal level of coverage just-in-case. And being outside the floodplain, I pay based on preferred rate policy.

"brickeye - when you say "FEMA does not have the last word, local laws do," what does that mean exactly? I feel like its the mortgage companies that have the last word about whether or not you need flood insurance. And they base their decision on FEMA maps, not local maps. That is why we had to have the FEMA map revised. "

The local folks decide where you can build.

I have lived in a number of areas that have simply halted all construction within flood plains as THEY define them, and others that have huge 'nature easements' from every stream that restrict land use.

One place has rules that allow building in 100 year flood plains, but you must use a poured concrete foundation. NO building within 50 year flood plains at all.

They have their own photogrammetry performed on high resolution aerial photography they commissioned since the FEMA maps and other topographic maps are often so out of date.

A lot of this was an outgrowth from repeated flooding by local streams (twice a year, spring and fall) for many years.

There are also a lot of restrictions on new development requiring catch basins to hold runoff and slow the release to prevent downstream flooding.

The biggest problem is all the non-migratory Canadian Geese it has attracted to the catch basins.
With no hunting in the built up areas, the geese stay and reproduce until something is done to remove them (and an attempt at 'relocation' was a dismal failure).