Fountain Valley High-Risk Flood Zone Re-Designated 

Release Date: January 11, 2001
Release Number: R9-01-01

» 2001 Region IX News Releases

Flood Insurance Rate Maps Revised

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) completed and certified the restoration of the Santa Ana River flood control system from Imperial Highway to the Pacific Ocean. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and Orange County were required to identify the underlying floodplains or "special flood hazard areas" that remain due to local storm-water flooding after the protection from the Santa Ana River was in place. The identification of the underlying floodplains was completed for the majority of this area and Letters of Map Revision were issued with an effective date of June 14, 2000. The identification of underlying floodplains for sections of Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach had not been completed at that time. The flood study for the remaining areas of Fountain Valley has now been completed and a Letter of Map Revision has been issued effective January 10, 2001 to formally change the Flood Insurance Rate Map. The remaining analysis for Huntington Beach is expected to be completed by the end of February 2001.

This Letter of Map Revision removes the A99 special flood hazard area in southwestern Fountain Valley, from Newland Street in the west to Bristol Street in the east, and from Slater Avenue in the north to Garfield Avenue in south. This area has been converted from a Zone A99 area into a flood Zone X where flood insurance is not required by federally regulated lenders.

Find Out If your Property has been Removed from the Zone A99 and Placed in Zone X

A composite reference map of Fountain Valley has been provided to give a general idea of the areas that have been removed from the Santa Ana River based flood Zone A99. If your property will be placed in a Zone X you may be eligible for a refund from your current flood insurance policy. See the instructions below under the heading "Flood Insurance Premium Refunds Available After January 10, 2001". To actually determine if your property has been removed from the Zone A99 and placed in a Zone X you should inspect the revised flood map panels attached to the Letter of Map Revision that was sent to your community officials.

Flood Zone Definitions

When inspecting the flood map panels a basic understanding of the flood zone definitions is helpful. Special flood hazard areas have a 1% or greater chance of being flooded in any given year. They are shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps with flood zone designations that begin with the letter A or V. Under the law, federally regulated lenders must require borrowers with buildings that are located in these zones to purchase and maintain flood insurance. Flood zone definitions include the following:

Flood Insurance Requirements No Longer Apply to Buildings Removed from Special Flood Hazard Areas

Special flood hazard areas, or the "100-Year Floodplains," are shown on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps with flood zone designations that begin with the letter A or V. Under the law, federally regulated lenders must require owners of buildings within these zones to purchase and maintain flood insurance. When FEMA revises these maps, the federal mandatory purchase requirement no longer applies to buildings that are removed from Zones A or V and placed in a Zone B, C, or X. (Note that a lender may still require a borrower to purchase flood insurance even if no longer required to do so by the Federal government.)

Flood Insurance Premium Refunds Available After January 10, 2001

This applies only to property owners whose buildings are removed from the Zone A99 and placed in a Zone X. If your lender will now remove their flood insurance requirement, you are eligible for a full refund of your federally backed flood insurance policy for the current policy year, except when a claim has been paid or is pending. To find out if you are eligible for a refund, a property owner should:

  1. Contact the community to determine if the building has been removed from the special flood hazard area. A list of community contacts is provided below. You may need to inspect the revised map panels attached to the Letter of Map Revision located at the community offices. If you determine that your building has been removed from the Zone A99 and placed in a Zone X, you can proceed with the remaining steps.
  2. Obtain a copy of the Letter of Map Revision from the community. It is not necessary to obtain a copy of the map panel that is attached to the letter.
  3. Send the lender a copy of that Letter of Map Revision along with a written request asking for a new flood map determination for your building based on this map revision. (Note: some lenders may charge a small fee.) Ask the lender for a letter confirming in writing that (1) the insurance was required as part of the mortgage, and (2) the requirement for flood insurance no longer applies because your building is now in a Zone X.
  4. If your lender purchased the flood insurance policy for you and billed you for it, ask that lender to cancel the flood insurance policy and issue you a refund. Many of the policies purchased by lenders are not backed by the National Flood Insurance Program and therefore have a range of different refund standards. If you bought your flood insurance policy directly from an insurance agent see step 5 below.
  5. If the lender provides you with a letter removing their requirement to carry a flood insurance policy, send that letter to your insurance agent and ask to have that policy cancelled. Typically, most insurance companies can process this refund within 60 days. The National Flood Insurance Program backs most flood insurance policies sold by insurance agents. For those policies a full refund is provided for the policy year that was in effect on January 10, 2001, which is the date of these Letters of Map Revision.

Residents of Zone X

FEMA also urges property owners to consider voluntary purchase of flood insurance because it is not just the high-risk areas that are in danger of flooding. About 25% percent of all flood insurance claims are from buildings located outside of the identified high-risk areas in Zone X. Property owners should consider any previous localized flooding that has occurred before canceling flood insurance for property that will now be in a Zone X. If your building is in a Zone X you may be eligible to purchase a Preferred Risk Policy at a substantially lower price than standard flood insurance policies. See your insurance agent for details.

For More Information

Interested property owners may contact community representatives using the numbers given below. Each community has a set of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps for their respective areas available for public viewing. It is the lender, not the community officials, that must make the final determination if flood insurance is required based on the Letter of Map Revision. Contact your insurance agent for information about purchasing flood insurance or obtaining refunds from existing flood insurance policies.

Orange County 714-834-4773
City of Huntington Beach 714-374-5395
City of Anaheim 714-765-5139
City of Newport Beach 949-644-3275
City of Costa Mesa 714-754-5245
City of Orange 714-744-5561
City of Fountain Valley 714-593-4433
City of Santa Ana 714-647-5800
City of Garden Grove 714-741-5312
City of Westminster 714-898-3311 ext. 215

For questions about the National Flood Insurance Program, property owners can call 1-800-427-4661 or visit our web site at http://www.fema.gov/nfip/.

Last Modified: Friday, 24-Oct-2003 11:58:52