As one of the most common natural disasters in the world, floods occur everywhere. While no location is immune to flooding, they all have their own Flood Protection Elevation (FPE), which gives a minimum height below which your property may be damaged by floodwaters.

A high-risk flood zone usually has a much higher FPE than a low-risk area. If your house suffers substantial damage, or you are planning on making large improvements to the property, your community can require you to comply with an FPE higher than the minimum in place for the rest of your region. As you would expect, the cost of retrofitting your home to a higher FPE increases along with the elevation and safety. If you are building a house in a flood zone, consider building you house at a higher elevation than the FPE, or employ one of the various techniques for flood proofing your property.

Your communitys Flood Protection Elevation is an important number to know. It corresponds to your areas level of flood risk. To determine your level of flood risk and to view maps of flood hazards in your area, you should consult the National Flood Insurance Programs maps. These maps are regularly reviewed to ensure the most accurate information regarding flood hazards in your area. Also, these maps determine the cost of your flood insurance.

According to FEMA, everyone lives in a flood zone, but the level of flood risk changes. Find a map on FEMAs website and determine if you live in a low, moderate, or high-risk flood zone. Knowing the flood risk for your location can help you determine which retrofitting methods are best suited to your home.

With the threat of flooding so serious for everyone, its vital that homeowners research they flood zone risk level and prepare for a disaster. This is the only way to soften the blow of large-scale disasters like hurricane Katrina.