Harris County's Draft Flood Maps Are Out — Look Up Your Address

FEMA has released draft flood maps for Harris County. The maps currently in effect lean on rainfall data from the Tropical Storm Allison era. The draft uses Atlas 14 data gathered after Harvey, which puts rainfall rates more than 30 percent higher than the old maps assumed. More land falls inside the high-risk floodplain as a result, though not everywhere — some areas come out lower. You can look up your own address at maapnext.org, the Harris County Flood Control District's site. It has a slider that shows the current map next to the draft, so you can see what changed on your block.

Worth being clear about: nothing about your flood insurance requirement or your development rules changes right now. The draft maps are not regulatory. They move through three stages — draft, where they sit now during technical review, then preliminary, which opens a formal public comment and appeal period, then effective. That last step is roughly two to three years out, and the schedule depends on FEMA's review.

I've been selling Houston real estate for more than eighteen years, and flood zone status comes up in nearly every transaction now. Buyers ask, lenders check, and it moves the insurance number. Knowing where your property sits on the draft is worth ten minutes, whether you're thinking about selling or just staying put. If you want help making sense of what you find, call or text me at 281-818-8177.