NFIP coverage is available only in participating communities. To learn if a community is participating in the NFIP, contact a property insurance agent or broker or community officials. FEMA publishes maps indicating communities' flood hazard areas and the degree of risk in those areas. Flood insurance maps usually are on file in a local repository in the community such as the town hall or county building. A toll-free telephone number and mailing address for the Flood Map Distribution Center are listed in the Flood Insurance Address and Telephone Directory, and may be used to order maps.
Delivery is usually within two to four weeks.
There is a charge for maps for some users, so it is advisable to call for detailed information. Almost every type of walled and roofed building that is principally above ground and not entirely over water may be insured if it is in a participating community. Contents within insurable walled and roofed buildings also may be insured under separate coverage. Buildings over water or principally below ground, gas and liquid storage tanks, animals, birds, fish, aircraft, wharves, piers, bulkheads, growing crops, shrubbery, land, livestock, roads, machinery or equipment in the open, and motor vehicles are not insurable. Most contents and finishing materials located in a basement or in enclosures below the lowest elevated floor of an elevated Post-FIRM building are not covered.