Outer Banks Oceanfront Flood Zones and Insurance Information

OBX FEMA Flood Zones

There are 3 basic flood zones that will affect the cost of your home's insurance on the OBX.

X Flood Zone – This usually means the ground elevation is 10 feet or more above sea level and is not in any danger of flooding. Typically, with some exceptions, your lender will not require flood insurance on a property located in an X Flood Zone.

AE Flood Zone - the land is below the 10foot required elevation necessary for x zone and the property has a chance of flooding. Houses in these zones will require flood insurance and the structure should be elevated to obtain inexpensive flood insurance. So, if you see a house built on the ground and it is in an AE zone you will probably want to avoid it unless the builder brought in a bunch of sand and elevated the homesite to meet the FEMA requirements. There are a number of AE designations that correspond to the actual ground elevation in an area. i.e. AE4 and AE6.

VE Flood Zone – VE flood zones indicate that the velocity of waves crashing on your property will accompany any flooding possibilities. The VE designation is usually reserved for ocean fronts and some adjoining semi-ocean front properties.

Across the Outer Banks the Flood zones on the oceanfront typically are VE with the occasional X zone and AE zone. In most instances, your lender will require you to get a flood insurance policy on and ocean front home even if the property is located in an x flood zone.

Outer Banks Flood Maps Here you can find the Flood Zone of any house in Dare County. Open the site and click on the house at the top of the screen and then enter the address of the property.

FEMA Flood Maps

Insurance against flooding and heavy winds is available