Relocation · Flood zone
Puerto Rico flood zone lookup
FEMA’s flood zone for any spot in Puerto Rico: type an address, use your location or tap the map. You get the zone, whether flood insurance is required there, the date of the map, and what Puerto Rico’s newer advisory maps say.
Look up a spot
Tap your street to check that spot. Use two fingers to move the map on a phone.
What each zone means
FEMA sorts land by the chance of a flood in any one year. The high-risk zones, every zone starting with A or V, are the 1%-a-year flood, the one flood insurance rules are written around. Puerto Rico’s map uses all of these.
- High risk, coastalZone VE
A 1% chance of flooding in any year, about 26% over a 30-year mortgage.
The shore where storm waves of 3 feet or more come with the flood. FEMA has worked out how high the water and waves can reach.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice. New buildings must stand on piles or columns above the flood level.
- High riskZone AE
A 1% chance of flooding in any year, about 26% over a 30-year mortgage.
Land a river, creek or the sea can cover in a 1%-a-year flood. A detailed study set how high the water can rise.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice.
- High riskZone A
A 1% chance of flooding in any year, about 26% over a 30-year mortgage.
Land that can flood in a 1%-a-year flood, mapped without a detailed study, so there is no flood height on the map.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice.
- High riskZone AO
A 1% chance of flooding in any year, about 26% over a 30-year mortgage.
Shallow flooding, usually water running down a slope, 1 to 3 feet deep. The map gives a depth instead of a height.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice.
- High riskZone AH
A 1% chance of flooding in any year, about 26% over a 30-year mortgage.
Shallow ponding, 1 to 3 feet deep, where water collects and stays.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice.
- High riskZone A99
A 1% chance of flooding in any year until a federal flood-protection project now being built is finished.
Land a flood-control project under construction will protect once it is done.
Insurance: With a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender, flood insurance is required here (the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule). Without one it is your choice.
- Moderate riskZone X (shaded)
A 0.2% chance of flooding in any year (the 500-year flood), or the 1% flood less than a foot deep.
Outside the high-risk area, but close to it: a bigger, rarer flood reaches here.
Insurance: Not required by federal rules, though a lender can still ask for it. Policies here usually cost less than in high-risk zones.
- Lower riskZone X (unshaded)
Above the 500-year flood on FEMA’s map.
FEMA’s lowest mapped risk. Heavy rain and blocked drains can still flood streets and homes here.
Insurance: Not required by federal rules. Policies here are the cheapest; a new policy usually takes 30 days to start.
- Not studiedZone D
Possible, but FEMA has not studied the risk here.
An area FEMA has not analysed. The risk is unknown, not low.
Insurance: Not required by federal rules. Policies are available, priced without a mapped risk.
Zone X is not zero risk
- From 2014 to 2024, almost one-third of the claims filed with the National Flood Insurance Program came from outside its high-risk areas (FloodSmart). Heavy rain, blocked drains and mountain flash floods do not follow the map’s lines.
- After Hurricane María, FEMA drew new advisory flood heights for Puerto Rico, and the Planning Board adopted them on April 13, 2018 for rebuilding and permits (the Board’s notice). They mark high-risk land where FEMA’s older map does not: at a spot we checked in Levittown, Toa Baja, FEMA’s map shows the 500-year zone and the advisory map Zone A.
- Outside the high-risk zones a policy is not required and usually costs less. A new policy usually takes 30 days to start, so it cannot wait for a storm on the forecast.
Whose maps these are
- FEMA’s flood map
- The official flood insurance rate map, read from FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer at every lookup. Most of Puerto Rico’s panels took effect on November 18, 2009, the rest on April 19, 2005; your answer names your panel and its date. Lenders and flood insurance follow this map.
- Puerto Rico’s advisory maps
- FEMA’s post-María advisory flood heights, adopted by the Planning Board on April 13, 2018. The Board uses them for building permits; they do not set insurance rates. Your answer links the advisory sheet for your area.
- Your address
- Found with the U.S. Census Bureau’s address search. We don’t keep the address you type or the spot you pick; a spot is rounded to about 10 meters before it is looked up.
- To be sure for one building
- Ask your lender for its flood determination, or a licensed surveyor for an elevation certificate. If the building stands above the flood height, FEMA can take it out of the high-risk zone with a Letter of Map Amendment, through the Flood Map Service Center.
Sources: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer; FEMA: flood zones; FloodSmart: what is my flood risk; Puerto Rico Planning Board: adoption of the advisory flood maps (2018); FEMA Flood Map Service Center.
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Common questions
- What does my flood zone mean for flood insurance?
- In a high-risk zone, any zone whose name starts with A or V, flood insurance is required if the mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender: the National Flood Insurance Program’s mandatory purchase rule. In Zone X it is not required by federal rules, though a lender can still ask for it, and a policy usually costs less. A new policy usually takes 30 days to start, so it cannot wait for a storm on the forecast.
- How often do Puerto Rico’s flood maps change?
- Rarely. FEMA’s flood insurance rate map changes only when FEMA finishes a new study and adopts it after a public appeal period. Of the 297 map panels covering Puerto Rico, 155 took effect on November 18, 2009 and 142 on April 19, 2005, and they are still the official map. One building can leave a high-risk zone sooner, with a Letter of Map Amendment from FEMA, when a survey shows it stands above the flood height.
- What are the ABFE advisory flood maps?
- ABFE stands for Advisory Base Flood Elevations: the flood heights FEMA drew for Puerto Rico after Hurricane María, from newer data than the 2005 and 2009 maps. The Puerto Rico Planning Board adopted them on April 13, 2018 for rebuilding and building permits. They do not set flood insurance rates or decide whether a policy is required; FEMA’s official map does. Some land is high risk on the advisory map and not on FEMA’s, so the lookup shows both.
- Is a “zona inundable” the same as a flood zone?
- Yes. Zona inundable is Spanish for flood zone, the term on the Planning Board’s maps and in Puerto Rico’s permits. A high-risk zona inundable is any zone starting with A or V, on FEMA’s map or the advisory one; this lookup gives both for the same spot.