What is the 100-year flood?
The term 100-year flood is misleading. It is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. Rather, it is the flood elevation that has a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded each year. Thus, the 100-year flood could occur more than once in a relatively short period of time.

The 100-year flood, which is the standard used by most federal and state agencies, is used by the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) as the standard for floodplain management and to determine the need for flood insurance. A structure located within a special flood hazard area shown on an NFIP map has a 26%chance of suffering flood damage during the term of a 30-year mortgage.

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1. What does it mean if my community does not participate in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)?
2. What are FEMA's requirements to remove land or a building from the 1% annual chance flood hazard area?
3. What is the 100-year flood?
4. I have lived here forever and have never been flooded. Why do I need flood insurance?
5. What elevation is used when rating a structure for a flood insurance policy?
6. My family has lived in our house for many years, and we had a big flood that was called the 100-year flood. We weren't damaged. Why do I need flood insurance?
7. My bank said I'm in the floodplain and have to buy insurance. I don't believe it. What can I do?
8. Who can prepare an Elevation Certificate?
9. What do I need to know if my building is in the floodplain?
10. If I own a repetitive loss property, are there grant funds available to mitigate against future flood losses?