Flood Zone Changes

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently provided the Town of Arlington with updated flood data. The Town is collecting feedback about the accuracy of the data on the map . There is a form below where you can submit feedback. This feedback should be limited to copyediting; identifying changes or corrections to non-technical information, such as typos with boundaries and road names.

We are NOT seeking feedback on the designated flood areas. That will happen in the next step, which will include a community meeting with FEMA. Feedback for this step must be received by Friday July 10th.

The Town will publicize the community meeting details when FEMA provides it via the website, Town Notice email, and social media.

Below you can see maps of the current flood zones and the preliminary changes FEMA has suggested. There is also a map with a swipe tool to move back and forth and compare the differences.

About these Maps This map is called the Flood Insurance Rate Map or FIRM. It identifies places that are likely to flood, which are called Special Flood Hazard Areas.

Let's say you live in a house that is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (Zones A and AE). This means that there is a 1% chance that your house will flood every year. In other words, out of 100 years, your house will likely flood once.

If you live in a moderate flood hazard area (Zone X), there is a 0.2% chance that your house will flood every year. You may experience 1 flood every 500 years.

Please note that these probabilities are estimates. Climate change is speeding up the number of floods we see and how severe they are. The reality looks very different from the estimates.

The map also shows the regulatory floodway. This is where water moves (rather than pools) during a flood. This occurs in Zone AE but is labeled differently.

If you have Feedback based on the changes, Please fill in your contact information and Comments below.