Find the Base Flood Elevation and the ground elevation for any Houston-area address, and see how high the property sits relative to FEMA's modeled flood line.
Free lookup. No account required. Greater Houston coverage.
The Base Flood Elevation, or BFE, is the water height FEMA models for a 1% annual chance flood at a location. What actually matters for a buyer is the gap between the ground and that line. This free tool pulls the BFE from FEMA and the ground elevation from USGS LiDAR, then shows the difference so you can see whether the property sits above or below the flood line.
The BFE is the elevation, in feet above sea level, that floodwater is expected to reach during a 1% annual chance flood (often called the 100-year flood). It is the official benchmark FEMA uses for properties in a Special Flood Hazard Area, and it drives both building requirements and flood-insurance pricing.
A BFE of 50 feet means nothing until you compare it to the ground. The gap between ground elevation and BFE is called freeboard. Positive freeboard means the property sits above the modeled flood line. Negative freeboard means it sits below it, which usually means higher risk and higher insurance cost.
Enter the address above. Floodfolio returns the Base Flood Elevation from the FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer along with the ground elevation from USGS LiDAR, so you can see both numbers and the gap between them.
Freeboard is the difference between your ground elevation and the Base Flood Elevation. A positive number means the ground is above the flood line, a negative number means it is below. Lenders, insurers, and floodplain rules all care about this gap.
Not directly. FEMA only assigns Base Flood Elevations inside Special Flood Hazard Areas. For a Zone X address this tool shows the ground elevation and the nearest mapped BFE so you still have a reference point.
Ground elevation comes from USGS LiDAR at 1-meter horizontal resolution, with typical vertical accuracy of 1 to 2 feet. It is an estimate of the ground at that point, not a surveyed elevation certificate for the structure.
FEMA satellite map, full storm claim history, repetitive-loss data, and a shareable PDF for any Houston address.
Run a Full Report →