A flood insurance rate map (FIRM) is an official map of a community within the United States that displays the floodplains, more explicitly special hazard areas and risk premium zones, as delineated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
[2] Such maps are used in town planning, in the insurance industry, and by individuals who want to avoid moving into a home at risk of flooding or to know how to protect their property.
FEMA sells the official FIRMs, called community kits, as well as an updating access service to the maps.
In 2004, FEMA began a project to update and digitize the flood plain maps at a yearly cost of $200 million.
[3] In early 2014, two congressmen from Louisiana, Bill Cassidy and Steve Scalise, asked FEMA to consider the width of drainage canals, water flow levels, drainage improvements, pumping stations and computer models when deciding the final flood insurance rate maps.