Floodplain Information

Polk County adopted new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM) created by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in September 2011. The maps have not changed significantly but technology/mapping methods showing details have improved.  General Information on FIRM’s can be found on FEMA’s website.

If you live adjacent to a water body, these new maps may have prompted your bank or mortgage company to send you a letter requiring you to buy flood insurance. If you have not previously been required to carry flood insurance, maps showing the floodplain can be found at FEMA’s Floodplain Maps.

The flood hazard boundaries can also be viewed on Polk County’s Interactive GIS website, with the flood boundaries overlaid on recent aerial photography.  Click on the Department Maps tab on the GIS website and choose the Zoning Map View. Click on the Floodplains layer on the left side of the screen to view the floodplain boundaries.

If your house or cabin shows up in the floodplain but you feel this is an error there is a process to have the structure removed from the floodplain and eliminate the need for flood insurance. In most cases this will be a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA). It may require you to contact a private surveyor. An overview of map change processes and the forms required for map changes to avoid flood insurance are found at FEMA's LOMA process.

Polk County Regional Flood Elevations
Determined by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources