Preliminary Flood Maps 2017

On April 14, 2017 the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued the updated Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and Flood Insurance Study (FIS) to the City of Biddeford and other York County communities.  Read the FEMA issuance letter (PDF)

Purpose

The purpose of this release is for planning purposes as well as to allow communities an opportunity to review the maps and identify changes or corrections to non-technical information such as road and stream names.

Note: this issuance does not begin the statutory 90-day appeal period within which technical-based appeals (such as appeals based on engineering analysis) can be submitted to FEMA.  

Use of Preliminary FIRMs

At this time, however, the Preliminary FIRMs may be of use to property owners to assist them in advance in:

• Deciding whether or not they wish to appeal the Preliminary FIRMs once the 90-day appeal period begins,
• Planning for future construction projects
• Give consideration about their current and future flood insurance status

Next Steps

The City of Biddeford will be notified 2 weeks before the 90-day Statutory Appeal Period begins.  Following the resolution of all appeals FEMA will issue the City a Letter of Final Determination (LFD).  Once the LFD has been issued, the new FIRM and FIS will take effect 6 months later, during which time the City of Biddeford will be required to amend its Floodplain Management Ordinance to ensure compliance with FEMA requirements.

Locating Individual Maps

For ease of locating individual maps, there is an index (PDF) for Biddeford with a zoom-in of the Coast.

For Preliminary FIRMs and the FIS, visit the FEMA Map Service Center and search "Maine" and "York County."