FEMA Map Service Center -

	Help and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

	Getting Started - Registering. Three Ways to Shop for Products. Adding to, Removing from or Updating Items in the Cart. Checking Out: Entering billing and shipping information. Checking Out: Entering credit card information. Accessing the Digital Post Office. Frequently asked questions: How do I find the flood map for my address? How do I find all the maps for my community or county? How do I make a FIRMette? What is a map, study or NFIP kit? I forgot my logon ID, how can I access my account? I forgot my password, how can I access my account? How do I get on the map or study revision list for a community or county?
	Getting Started - Registering. All customers wishing to make purchases at the FEMA Flood Map Store are required to register. Registering allows you to create an account that will store your address(es) so that you do not have to reenter this information on future visits. Registering also allows you easy access to previous orders in My Account and access to the Digital Post Office. In registering, you are asked to provide your email address as a user ID and to provide a password for verification. The password is case sensitive. Please remember this information, as it is required for access to the Digital Post Office. After registration, you simply logon for future visits to the store. If you already have a customer account at Map Service Center, your FEMA Store account is different. You will still need to register and keep track of your FEMA Store login ID and password. There is a place on the registration form where you can enter your current Map Service Center customer ID. Providing your current MSC customer ID will assist us in processing and referring to your order more quickly and will make sure we can associate your online purchases with your existing account. top.
	Three Ways to Shop for Products. The FEMA Store presents three ways to shop for FEMA and NFIP products: The Catalog allows you to find products associated with a particular state, county or community. Nationwide products are also included in the catalog. To find the products for a particular jurisdiction, simply start by clicking the product type. Then follow the selection boxes down to the desired jurisdiction. If you would like all the products for a particular jurisdiction then select the "Get Kit" option. A FEMA-issued flood map kit contains all the flood maps for that particular jurisdiction. A FIS kit contains all the FIS study volumes and floodway maps (if available) for that particular jurisdiction. Simply add the kit to the cart. The total price of all the kit items will appear in the cart. Some study kits are too large to order on-line and will have to be ordered through phone, fax or email. Map Search allows you to view and select a map product geographically. Types of map products available from Map Search include Public Flood Maps, Q3 and Q3 CBRA, Flood Map Status (Single Issue or Yearly Issue), and Community Status Books (Single Issue or Yearly Issue). Users can locate a particular flood map product by using the interactive map interface, or by simply typing in an address or a pair of latitude-longitude coordinates. The result of your selection will be sent to the shopping cart automatically. Quick Order is aimed at the Map Service Center customers who are familiar with FEMA products. Quick Order allows you to enter in map panel IDs and quickly search the database for corresponding map panels for paper copies or digital copies on-line or CD-ROM. Product IDs must be entered with no spaces within the ID number. Quick Order also allows you to enter in a County FIPS Code and / or a FEMA Community ID and order the map or study kits for that jurisdiction. top.
	Adding to, Removing from or Updating Items in the Cart. Adding an item to the cart is simply a matter of clicking "Add to Cart" where the icon and link appear. You can remove an item from the cart simply by clicking "Remove from Cart" when viewing the cart's contents. If you would like to order more than one item simply change the number under the Quantity column to the desired number and click "Refresh Cart" or anywhere in the page margins. top.
	Checking Out: Entering billing and shipping information. If you are a registered shopper, simply logon before the shipping and billing page appears. If you are not registered and wish to become so simply click the "Register" link at the shipping and billing page. After registering, your address(es) will appear in the drop down selection box next to Select an Address. You can also enter in additional addresses at this stage or update a previously entered address. If you are an unregistered shopper, click to enter an address link and fill out the required information. Only one shipping and billing address is permitted with each order. top.
	Checking out: Entering credit card information. The final step in the shopping process is to enter in your credit card number, credit card expiration date and name on the card. The Map Service Center only accepts MasterCard, VISA or American Express. Before clicking "Place Order" make sure that your order is correct. You will be provided with three attempts at entering your credit card information. After a third failed attempt, you will be logged out and returned to the Welcome Page. Once you have clicked Place Order you will not be able to stop the order from being processed. Please only click the Place Order button once. If you are a registered customer you can view the contents of previous orders from the "My Account" link. Unregistered customers can access previous orders by entering their email address in the box provided under "My Account". top.
	Accessing the Digital Post Office. After purchasing on-line versions of products, you can access the Digital Post Office directly from the Order Thank You Page. You can also access the Digital Post Office from the upper right link in the navigation bar at the top. And you can access the Digital Post Office from the My Account page. (You must be logged in to access the Post Office.) Once one of these links is clicked, the Digital Post Office will open automatically and retrieve the products you have ordered within the last 10 days. From the "Mail Box" you can view, print or save the file. top.

	Frequently asked questions:
	Q. How do I find the flood map for my address? A. Under U.S. Street Names within Map Search, enter your address in the boxes provided. Be as precise as you can in entering the full address: street address, city, state or zip code. Click the "Find" button and the window should change to confirm the correct address. If you get a response that says "Unknown Street Address" check to make sure that you have entered in the information correctly and retry. Then click the "Search" button. You will be presented a list of results. The FEMA Issued Flood Maps are selected by default. Your address may fall within an area that is unmapped or a panel that is not printed. If so the information retrieved on the results page will indicate so. top. Q. How do I find all the maps for my community or county? A. Under the "Catalog" button select "FEMA Issued Flood Maps." Then use the selection boxes that pop up to find the jurisdiction you are interested in. Once you have found the appropriate jurisdiction select "Get Kit" to retrieve the map kit for that jurisdiction. The kit will contain all the maps for that particular jurisdiction. top. Q. What is a map, study or NFIP kit? A. A kit contains all the products of a particular type for a jurisdiction. A FEMA Issued map kit will contain all the maps for the jurisdiction selected. A Flood Insurance Study (FIS) Study kit will contain all the studies for a jurisdiction. A FIS is only sold as a kit as you must purchase all of the entire study components together. This includes the FIS study volumes and floodway maps (FBFM) if available. A National Flood Insurance (NFIP) manual kit contains the different components that are contained within the Standard Manual or the Producer's Edition manual. Like the FIS Study kit, you must purchase all the NFIP kit components together. top. Q. I forgot my user ID, how can I access my on-line account? A. Your user ID is your full email address. top. Q. How do I make a FIRMette? A. For detailed instructions on making a FIRMette, refer to the FIRMette Tutorial. top. Q. I forgot my password, how can I access my account? A. If you have forgotten your password you may request that it be mailed to the email address you use as a user ID. Go to the Login screen and follow instructions to have your password emailed to you. top. Q. How do I get on the revision list for a community or county? A. When ordering a map kit for a particular jurisdiction, click the revision list checkbox that is presented along with the kit information. You can also select this when you are viewing the shopping cart. Once clicked, a minimum of $1500 is added to a deposit account to ensure that you receive revised maps for the area you have selected. You can increase this amount by multiples of $500. If you are ordering a jurisdiction with lots of maps, please consider adding more to the minimum fee so that there will be enough to process a large revision. As new maps or studies are issued for that community, the cost will be deducted from the deposit account that you have established. top.

FEMA Map Service Center, P.O. Box 1038 Jessup, Maryland 20794-1038 Phone: (800) 358-9616

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