Flood check
- Enter your address to see it on the flood maps (local maps for 95821 too).
- Slide to when you’d buy, and see the day cover starts.
- Call your agent with four questions.
Your address on the flood maps
Your answer shows here
- ?FEMA: not checked
- ?State: not checked
- ?Levee: not checked
- ?Cal OES: not checked
- ?First Street: not checked
One flag on any map is enough to plan as if you’ll flood.
See each map
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FEMA flood map ↗Fills in from your address
Sets the insurance rules. Lenders require flood insurance in A and V zones.
ZIP center: Zone X, minimal mapped hazard
Read the map yourself
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California Best Available Maps ↗Fills in from your address
100-, 200- and 500-year floodplains. 200-year is the level California requires for Central Valley cities.
ZIP center: outside mapped 100-, 200- and 500-year floodplains
Read the map yourself
More maps to check yourself 0 of 1
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County levee-break maps ↗County · American River North
Five possible breaks in the levees north of the American River, each with a depth map. Find your street: any color over it means water there.
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MyHazards ↗State · Cal OES
Type your address and open the Flood tab.
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First Street Flood Factor ↗Independent estimate · not an official map
A free 1–10 score that counts rain-driven flooding and the next 30 years. 3 and up means some risk the official maps may not show.
Am I covered?
Home and renters policies don’t cover flood. A flood policy is separate, and most new ones take 30 days to start, so people can’t buy cover only once a flood is on its way. FEMA (FIA) Even just one inch of water can cause $25,000 of damage to your home. FEMA
Buy todaycoverage starts in 30 days
No wait if your lender requires flood insurance at closing or you add coverage at renewal; 1 day if your home was mapped into a high-risk zone in the last 13 months. Private policies set their own wait. A flood already under way when you buy isn’t covered.
Call your insurance agent
Start flood insurance now. Ask these four, with your declarations page in hand.
- Do I have flood insurance now, for the building and for my belongings?
- If I buy today, what day does it start? Is there a 30-day wait for me?
- Can you quote both the federal NFIP policy and a private one?
- What would each cost a year, and what is the deductible?
More about flood insurance
Renters can buy flood insurance
Insure your belongings: the federal program covers contents up to $100,000, with the same 30-day wait. Private policies are another option. Your landlord insures the building.
Outside a high-risk zone?
Cover isn’t required there, but heavy rain and levee problems flood lower-risk areas too, and many flood claims come from outside high-risk zones. It also costs less there.
NFIP or private?
NFIP (federal)
- Limit
- Up to $250,000 for the building, $100,000 for belongings
- Wait
- Usually 30 days
- Hotel or rent if you must move out
- Not covered
- Basement belongings
- Limited
- Renters
- Belongings only, up to $100,000
- After Dec 11
- No new policies or renewals until Congress acts; existing policies stay in force
- Price
- Set by FEMA for each building; same from every seller
Private flood
- Limit
- Often higher; varies by insurer
- Wait
- Varies; often shorter
- Hotel or rent if you must move out
- Included in some policies
- Basement belongings
- Varies by policy
- Renters
- Varies
- After Dec 11
- Not affected
- Price
- Set by the insurer; compare quotes
Both are sold through insurance agents. Brace For It doesn’t sell insurance or get paid for referrals.
Check my policy
6 questionsGrab your homeowners or renters “declarations page,” the one- or two-page summary.
Does it list flood insuranceage?
Gap: no flood insuranceage. See when cover would start, above.Ask your agent: “What would a flood policy cost here, and what date would it start?”
Does it cover water or sewer backup?
Gap: drains that back up in heavy rain are often excluded.Ask your agent: “Can I add water and sewer backup, and what does it cost?”
Is your home covered at “replacement cost”?
Gap: “actual cash value” pays less, after depreciation.Ask your agent: “What would replacement cost add to my premium?”
Does it include “loss of use” or living expenses?
Gap: if you have to move out, you may pay for a hotel yourself. NFIP flood policies don’t pay for it.Ask your agent: “If my home can’t be lived in, what pays for a place to stay?”
Could you pay your deductible this winter?
Gap: a deductible you can’t pay makes the cover hard to use. Plan for it now.Ask your agent: “What’s my deductible, and what would a lower one cost?”
Does it cover mudslides or earth movement?
Most policies exclude these. It matters most on or below a slope.Ask your agent: “Am I covered for mudflow or earth movement after heavy rain?”
In 95821: why “Zone X” isn’t “no risk”
Levees reduce risk; they don’t remove it. The county’s break maps show where water would go if one failed. That’s why one flag on any map counts, not only FEMA’s.
Sources
- FEMA: Flood Map Service Center and National Flood Hazard Layer · checked Oct 20, 2026
- California DWR: Best Available Maps (100-, 200- and 500-year floodplains) · checked Oct 20, 2026
- US Census: Geocoder (turns the address into a point on the map; nothing is kept) · checked Oct 20, 2026
- Sacramento County: American River North flood map (five breach scenarios) · checked Oct 20, 2026
- Sacramento County: Levee failure · checked Oct 20, 2026
- Cal OES: MyHazards · checked Oct 20, 2026
- First Street: Flood Factor (independent model, not a regulatory map) · checked Oct 20, 2026
- FEMA: Flood Insurance Protects You All Year Long (“Even just one inch of water can cause $25,000 of damage to your home”), Jun 27, 2024 · checked Oct 28, 2026
- FEMA (Federal Insurance Administration): NFIP Policy Issuance 5-98 (the 30-day wait “was established to prevent abuse … when flooding was imminent”), 1998 · checked Oct 28, 2026
- FloodSmart: What’s your flood risk? (zones; claims outside high-risk zones) · checked Oct 19, 2026
- FloodSmart: What flood insurance covers (“Your flood insurance coverage will go into effect 30 days after your date of purchase”; limits, exclusions, renters’ contents) · checked Oct 28, 2026
- Colorado DHSEM: Waiting period and exceptions · checked Oct 19, 2026
- FEMA: Flood-in-progress exclusion · checked Oct 19, 2026
- Congressional Research Service: What Happens If the NFIP Lapses? (IN10835) (authorized through Dec 11, 2026), updated Sep 11, 2026 · checked Oct 28, 2026
- NOAA: 1991–2020 monthly rain normals for each published ZIP’s station, via ACIS (wet months) · checked Oct 20, 2026