Floodplain Management Training

FEMA Region 2's Floodplain Management Training Series provides brief training videos on key topics within the National Flood Insurance Policy (NFIP) program.

You will learn about:

• This history and basics of NFIP
• How structural damage is determined
• How flood mapping is determined
• NFIP requirements for development in a floodway
• Risks associated with basements

This brief introductory module provides an overview of the history of FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), key terminology, and the role of the local NFIP participating community in Floodplain Management. Viewers can also learn the basic components of NFIP compliance, what the Community Rating System (CRS) program is, and how to find additional online resources at FEMA.gov.

This brief training module defines Substantial Improvement and Substantial Damage (SI-SD) and the role of a community official in making SI-SD determinations for whether work on existing structures must meet current standards for new construction. This module describes the components of calculating the total cost of work, methods for determining the market value of a structure, and calculating the resulting percentage against the NFIP’s 50% threshold. The criteria for historic structures, correcting pre-cited violations, and the importance of post-disaster damage assessments are also covered.

This brief training module reviews FEMA's regulatory products for mapping flood hazards, as well as the processes for changing the regulatory flood maps outside of a full flood risk project study or restudy including Physical Map Revisions (PMRs) and Letters of Map Change (LOMCs). Viewers can learn about the types of map amendments and revisions, the application forms for various types of requests, key terms like lowest adjacent grade and lowest lot elevation, and the determination documents FEMA issues after reviewing the map change request.

This brief introductory module covers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) definition of a regulatory floodway and describes how a floodway boundary is created during a flood hazard study. Additionally, the NFIP requirements for proposed development in a floodway that local officials must regulate to, including the floodway encroachment analysis (or “no-rise analysis”) requirement, are discussed. An overview of best practices for maintaining the natural functions and features of floodways is also provided.

This brief overview module covers the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) definition of basements, describes why basements create a higher risk of flood damage to structures, and that they are not allowed as new construction or as substantial improvement in the floodplain. The concept of the lowest floor for floodplain management purposes, flood insurance coverage limitations, and the standards for above and below-grade crawlspaces are also discussed.

View the entire training video series on YouTube.