What does AE flood zone mean?

An AE zone is a high-risk flood area with a 1% chance of flooding in any given year, where FEMA has set a base flood elevation through a detailed study. It is part of the Special Flood Hazard Area.

Do I need flood insurance in an AE zone?

Lenders must require flood insurance for buildings in AE zones when the loan is from a federally regulated or insured lender and the community participates in the NFIP. Your lender or a licensed agent can confirm.

What is a base flood elevation?

The base flood elevation (BFE) is the height floodwater is expected to reach in a flood that has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. It is shown on FEMA maps for AE, AH and VE zones.

Flood zone AE: what it means for your home and insurance

High risk (Special Flood Hazard Area)Also shown as A1–A30 (older maps)

Inside the 1% annual chance floodplain, with a base flood elevation set by a detailed FEMA study.

Free property report with the FEMA flood zone plus wildfire, wind, earthquake and landslide risk. Open the full address analyzer.

What zone AE means

Zone AE is land FEMA expects to flood in the base flood — the flood with a 1% chance of happening in any given year — and it is part of the Special Flood Hazard Area. It is the most common high-risk zone on flood maps along rivers, lakes and many coastal areas without significant wave action.

Unlike zone A, AE areas were mapped with a detailed hydraulic study, so the map shows a base flood elevation (BFE): the height floodwater is expected to reach in the base flood. Older maps label the same zones A1 through A30.

FEMA calls the flood with a 1% chance of being equaled or exceeded in any given year the "base flood" (often called the 100-year flood). A 1% chance each year adds up: over 30 years it works out to roughly a 26% chance of at least one such flood.

Insurance in zone AE

This is a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). Under federal law, if you have a mortgage from a federally regulated or insured lender — or a loan backed by FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — on a building in an SFHA in a community that participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the lender must require flood insurance. Your lender or a licensed agent can confirm what your loan requires.

Standard homeowners policies exclude flood damage. Flood coverage is bought separately, either through the NFIP or from a private flood insurer.

How high your lowest floor sits relative to the BFE is one of the most important facts about a home in an AE zone. An Elevation Certificate documents it.

If you believe your building sits above the mapped flood level, a licensed surveyor or engineer can prepare an Elevation Certificate, and you can ask FEMA for a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) to remove the building from the SFHA.

Reducing flood risk

Compare your lowest floor elevation (from an Elevation Certificate) with the BFE on the map.
Elevating the home above the BFE is the most effective structural measure.
Install flood vents in crawlspaces and enclosed areas below the lowest floor so water can flow through instead of pushing on walls.
Raise furnaces, water heaters, electrical panels and HVAC equipment above expected flood levels.
Use flood-resistant materials (tile, concrete, closed-cell insulation) below the base flood elevation.
Install a backflow valve so floodwater cannot push sewage back into the house.
Grade soil away from the foundation and keep gutters, downspouts and drains clear.

Your community’s floodplain administrator can tell you which building requirements apply locally.

Zone AE questions

What does AE flood zone mean?: An AE zone is a high-risk flood area with a 1% chance of flooding in any given year, where FEMA has set a base flood elevation through a detailed study. It is part of the Special Flood Hazard Area.
Do I need flood insurance in an AE zone?: Lenders must require flood insurance for buildings in AE zones when the loan is from a federally regulated or insured lender and the community participates in the NFIP. Your lender or a licensed agent can confirm.
What is a base flood elevation?: The base flood elevation (BFE) is the height floodwater is expected to reach in a flood that has a 1% chance of happening in any given year. It is shown on FEMA maps for AE, AH and VE zones.

Check the flood zone for any address

We look up the address in FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer and show the zone alongside the rest of the property’s risk profile.

Free property report with the FEMA flood zone plus wildfire, wind, earthquake and landslide risk. Open the full address analyzer.

Other flood zones

All FEMA flood zones

This page is general education about FEMA flood zone designations, not insurance or legal advice and not an offer of coverage. Zone definitions come from FEMA’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps; maps change, and the official map for any property is on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center. Your lender or a licensed agent can confirm the flood insurance requirements for a specific home.