When do the new Volusia County flood maps take effect?

No effective date has been set yet. The formal 90-day comment and appeal period opened with the Federal Register notice of January 21, 2026 (Docket FEMA-B-2578) and closed April 21, 2026. FEMA is now resolving comments and appeals. After that it issues a Letter of Final Determination, and communities then get roughly six months to adopt the maps before they become effective — which realistically puts the new maps' effective date in 2027. Until then, the 2014/2017/2018 maps remain the legal maps.

Is my Ormond Beach home's flood zone changing?

Almost certainly not in this round, whether you are inside city limits or in Ormond-by-the-Sea. The City of Ormond Beach is not among the communities FEMA listed with proposed changes in the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice, and a direct check of barrier-island addresses against FEMA's preliminary FIRM database (dataset 12127C, issued May 29, 2025) confirms the study's new flood-zone data covers only the northwest, St. Johns River portion of Volusia County, ending near the I-95/SR-415 corridor. The unincorporated areas being remapped are in west Volusia, such as DeLeon Springs and the Lake George corridor. Property-specific Letters of Map Revision still occur year-round, so an address-level check remains worthwhile.

Will my flood insurance go up when the new maps take effect?

Not automatically. Under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0, premiums are priced on property-specific risk factors, not the flood zone letter alone — so a zone change by itself does not reset your premium. What a zone change DOES do is control the lender mandatory-purchase requirement: moving into Zone A/AE/VE means a federally backed mortgage will require flood insurance; moving out means it becomes optional. If a future map moves your property into a high-risk zone for the first time, buying coverage before or within 12 months of the map change preserves access to NFIP's newly-mapped phase-in pricing.

Can I still appeal the new Volusia flood maps?

The formal community appeal window (90 days from the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice) closed on April 21, 2026. But individual owners are never locked out: a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) can remove a specific structure from the Special Flood Hazard Area at any time — including after the new maps become effective — if an elevation certificate shows the building sits above the base flood elevation.

Where can I see the preliminary flood maps for my address?

Three free official sources: FEMA's preliminary map portal at hazards.fema.gov (select Florida, then Volusia County), the FEMA Flood Map Service Center at msc.fema.gov for the current effective map to compare against, and Volusia County's own Flood Map Viewer. Ormond Beach city properties can also use the city's Forerunner floodplain tool or call the Planning Department at 386-610-0520.

Home › Coastal Assessment › Ormond Beach FEMA Flood Map Update

Ormond Beach FEMA Flood Map Update (2025–2026), Explained

Q: Did FEMA change the Ormond Beach flood maps in 2025?

Not yet — but new maps are in the pipeline. On May 29, 2025 FEMA issued preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for all of Volusia County as part of a St. Johns River watershed restudy (FEMA Project 20-04-0049S). Preliminary maps are for review only: they cannot be used to rate flood insurance or trigger lender requirements. The maps in legal effect for Ormond Beach today are still the county's current FIRMs (core panels effective February 19, 2014, with major revisions effective September 29, 2017 and four panels updated August 7, 2018).

Updated August 2026 · by Robert Kirkland, coastal Volusia REALTOR®

If you searched "Ormond Beach flood FEMA 2025 2026," here is the actual answer, with dates and primary sources — because most of what ranks for this is marketing fog. FEMA issued preliminary new flood maps for all of Volusia County on May 29, 2025. They are not in effect yet, the formal appeal window has already closed, and — the part that matters if you own or are buying in Ormond Beach — neither the City of Ormond Beach nor Ormond-by-the-Sea is being remapped. I verified that directly against FEMA's preliminary map database, address by address: the remapping covers the St. Johns River side of the county, roughly 20 miles west of the beach.

      The short version
      May 29, 2025 — FEMA issued preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for the whole county (Project 20-04-0049S, a St. Johns River watershed restudy spanning six counties).
January 21, 2026 — the Federal Register notice (Docket FEMA-B-2578) opened the formal 90-day comment/appeal period. It closed April 21, 2026.
Proposed changes in Volusia touch: Daytona Beach, DeLand, Pierson, and unincorporated west Volusia (the St. Johns River side — DeLeon Springs, the Lake George corridor). Verified against the preliminary map database: no Ormond Beach or Ormond-by-the-Sea panels are remapped — the new flood-zone data ends near the I-95/SR-415 corridor.
Today's legal maps are still the old ones (2014 core, 2017 major revision, 2018 panel updates). Expect the new maps to become effective in 2027 after FEMA's final determination plus the ~6-month adoption period.
A zone change doesn't reset your premium under Risk Rating 2.0 — but it does switch the lender mandatory-purchase requirement on or off.

    

The timeline, with sources

Volusia County FEMA flood map update — where it stands (August 2026)
Date	What happened	Status
Feb 19, 2014	Current countywide FIRM base becomes effective	In effect today
Sep 29, 2017	Major revision — significant portions of the county's maps updated	In effect today
Aug 7, 2018	Four panels revised	In effect today
May 29, 2025	FEMA issues preliminary FIRMs for all of Volusia County (Project 20-04-0049S — St. Johns River watershed restudy covering Bradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Putnam and Volusia counties)	Review only — cannot be used to rate insurance or trigger lender rules
Jan 21, 2026	Federal Register "Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations" notice (Docket FEMA-B-2578) — formal comment & appeal period opens	Done
Apr 21, 2026	Comment/appeal period closes	Closed
Next	FEMA resolves appeals → Letter of Final Determination → ~6-month community adoption period → new maps effective	Realistically 2027 — no date set yet

What actually changes for Ormond Beach

The January 2026 Federal Register notice names the specific Volusia communities where FEMA proposes base flood elevation, flood zone, or floodway changes: the City of Daytona Beach, the City of DeLand, the Town of Pierson, and unincorporated Volusia County. The City of Ormond Beach is not in that table — meaning FEMA is not proposing zone or elevation changes inside the city limits in this study round.

Before you exhale, three catches:

1. "Unincorporated Volusia County" on that list does not mean Ormond-by-the-Sea. Because Ormond-by-the-Sea is unincorporated, the county's appearance on FEMA's list reads like it could be in scope. So I checked, directly: I downloaded FEMA's preliminary FIRM database for the study (dataset 12127C, issued May 29, 2025) and ran Ormond-by-the-Sea addresses against it — oceanfront on Ocean Shore Blvd, riverside on John Anderson Dr, and interior streets. None of them fall inside the preliminary study area. The new flood-zone data covers only the northwest, St. Johns River portion of the county and stops near the I-95/SR-415 corridor. The unincorporated areas being remapped are places like DeLeon Springs and the Lake George corridor — not the barrier island. Ormond-by-the-Sea's zones (AE with VE oceanfront, covered in the cost guide) carry forward unchanged.

2. Property-specific revisions keep happening regardless. Separate from the countywide restudy, FEMA processed multiple Letters of Map Revision (LOMRs) touching Ormond Beach in 2025–2026 — those are surgical, parcel-level map changes that show up in "Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations" notices. Your individual lot can change even when the city's maps don't.

3. The county is tightening the rules underneath the maps. Through 2025 Volusia County has been advancing floodplain-ordinance changes for unincorporated areas — including a proposed two feet of freeboard (build height above base flood elevation) for homes in repetitive-loss areas, floodways, storm-surge and sea-level-rise areas, plus 1:1 compensatory storage for fill. If you're building or substantially improving in Ormond-by-the-Sea, the construction rules may move before the maps do.

What it means if you own (or are buying) here

Owners inside city limits: nothing changes today. Your zone, your insurance, and your lender's requirements all still run off the 2014/2017/2018 maps, and no changes are proposed for the city in this round. The city's CRS Class 5 discount (25% off NFIP premiums in high-risk zones) is unaffected.

Owners in Ormond-by-the-Sea: same answer as the city — your zone carries forward unchanged in this round (verified against the preliminary database, see above). Your risk picture is still the one on the current maps: AE on most of the island, VE on the oceanfront, and a dune system that's still being rebuilt. Owners in west Volusia (DeLand, DeLeon Springs, the Lake George corridor): you're the ones who should pull the preliminary map now. If it moves you into Zone A/AE, buying flood coverage before — or within 12 months of — the maps becoming effective preserves NFIP's newly-mapped phase-in pricing, and locking coverage while you're officially still in Zone X is the cheap way in. If it moves you out, your lender requirement could disappear when the maps go final — worth a calendar note, not a cancellation today.

Buyers: from now until the new maps go effective, every Ormond-area purchase should be checked against both maps — the current effective one (that's what your lender and insurer use at closing) and the preliminary one (that's the risk you'll own in 2027). A house that's Zone X today and AE on the preliminary map is priced like low-risk but will carry high-risk obligations. That two-map check is part of every KCAP report I run.

Check your address — official sources, free

• FEMA preliminary map portal — select Florida → Volusia County for the May 29, 2025 preliminary panels.
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center — the current effective map, for comparison.
• Volusia County flood maps & Flood Map Viewer — county GIS with parcels overlaid.
• City properties: the City of Ormond Beach Planning Department (386-610-0520) or its Forerunner floodplain tool.

Want the two-map check done for you — free?

Send me any Ormond Beach or Ormond-by-the-Sea address. I'll pull its current FEMA zone, its preliminary-map status, elevation, dune condition and a realistic insurance picture (CRS discount included) in one free KCAP report — before you're under contract, not after.

Get my free KCAP flood report →

Ormond Beach FEMA flood map FAQ

Did FEMA change the Ormond Beach flood maps in 2025?

Not yet. FEMA issued preliminary maps for all of Volusia County on May 29, 2025 — review-only drafts that can't be used to rate insurance or trigger lender rules. The maps legally in effect are still the 2014/2017/2018 FIRMs.

When do the new maps take effect?

No date is set. The appeal window closed April 21, 2026; FEMA now resolves appeals, issues a Letter of Final Determination, and communities get ~6 months to adopt — realistically a 2027 effective date.

Is my home's flood zone changing?

Almost certainly not in this round — for the city or Ormond-by-the-Sea. I checked addresses across the barrier island against FEMA's preliminary FIRM database directly: the study's new flood-zone data covers only the St. Johns River (northwest) side of the county and stops near I-95/SR-415. Parcel-level LOMRs still happen year-round, so an address-specific check is always worth a minute.

Will my insurance go up when the maps change?

Not automatically — Risk Rating 2.0 prices on property-specific risk, not the zone letter. But moving into A/AE/VE switches on the lender mandatory-purchase requirement, and buying before or within 12 months of the change preserves newly-mapped phase-in pricing.

Can I still appeal?

The formal window closed April 21, 2026, but a property-specific Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) is available any time if an elevation certificate shows your structure sits above the base flood elevation.

Where do I see the preliminary maps?

hazards.fema.gov (preliminary portal, Florida → Volusia County), msc.fema.gov (current effective maps), or Volusia County's Flood Map Viewer. City properties can also call Ormond Beach Planning at 386-610-0520.

Sources & methodology

All dates on this page come from the primary FEMA and Volusia County sources linked above, checked August 2026. The "Ormond-by-the-Sea is not remapped" finding is first-hand: I downloaded FEMA's preliminary FIRM database for this study (dataset 12127C, issued May 29, 2025, from the preliminary portal) and ran geocoded Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea addresses — Ocean Shore Blvd oceanfront, John Anderson Dr riverside, and interior streets — against its flood-hazard polygons. None intersect; the preliminary data's entire extent sits west of roughly the I-95/SR-415 corridor (DeLand, Pierson, DeLeon Springs, Lake George). Control points in DeLand and Pierson do fall inside the study area, confirming the check works. Preliminary-map status changes as FEMA processes appeals; I update this page when the Letter of Final Determination or an effective date is announced. Insurance behavior (Risk Rating 2.0, newly-mapped phase-in, mandatory purchase) is described per FEMA's published NFIP rules — confirm specifics for your property with a licensed flood insurance agent.

This page is educational information from a licensed real estate professional, not insurance, legal, or engineering advice. Flood zone determinations are made by FEMA and administered by the City of Ormond Beach or Volusia County (unincorporated areas). Verify any property's current and preliminary flood zone with the official sources above before making decisions. Simply Real Estate is an Equal Housing Opportunity broker.