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<br />2 GUIDE TO FLOOD INSURANCE RATE MAPS <br /> <br />ABBREVIATIONS <br />USED IN THIS <br />GUIDE <br /> <br />BFE <br />Base Flood Elevation <br /> <br />ERM <br />Elevation Reference Mark <br /> <br />ETJ <br />Extraterritorial Jurisdiction <br /> <br />FBFM <br />Flood Boundary and Floodway Map <br /> <br />FEMA <br />Federal Emergency Management Agency <br /> <br />FHBM <br />Flood Hazard Boundary Map <br /> <br />FIA <br />Federal Insurance Administration <br /> <br />FIRM <br />Flood Insurance Rate Map <br /> <br />FIS <br />Flood I nsurance Study <br /> <br />FMOC <br />Flood Map Distribution Center <br /> <br />MIP <br />Map Initiatives Project <br /> <br />NFIP <br />National Flood Insurance Program <br /> <br />NGVO <br />National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 <br /> <br />SFHA <br />Special Flood Hazard Area <br /> <br />INTRODUCTION <br /> <br />The National Flood Insurance Program <br />(NFIP) is a Federal program, established <br />by Congress in 1968, that allows property <br />owners to purchase federally backed <br />flood insurance within communities that <br />participate in the Program, <br /> <br />In return for this insurance protection, <br />participating communities implement <br />floodplain management measures to <br />reduce flood risks to new development. <br />Through this mechanism, the Federal <br />Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) <br />and participating communities are able <br />to reduce future flood losses. <br /> <br />Under the NFIp, FEMA is required to <br />develop flood risk data for use in both <br />insurance rating and floodplain <br />management. FEMA develops these data <br />through Flood Insurance Studies (FISs), <br /> <br />In FISs, both detailed and approximate <br />analyses are employed. Generally, <br />detailed analyses are used to generate <br />flood risk data only for developed or <br />developing areas of communities, For <br />undeveloped areas where little or no <br />development is expected to occur, FEMA <br />uses approximate analyses to generate <br />flood risk data, <br /> <br />Using the results of an FIS, FEMA <br />prepares a Flood I nsurance Rate Map <br />(FIRM) that depicts the Special Flood <br />Hazard Areas (SFHAs) within the studied <br />community. SFHAs are areas subject to <br />inundation by a flood having a one, <br />percent or greater probability of being <br />equaled or exceeded during any given <br />