When do the new Volusia County flood maps take effect?

No effective date has been set yet. FEMA's proposed flood hazard determinations for Volusia County were published in the Federal Register on January 21, 2026 (Docket FEMA-B-2578), and the statutory 90-day appeal and comment period opened August 20, 2026, running to approximately November 18, 2026. After it closes FEMA resolves comments and appeals, then issues a Letter of Final Determination, and communities 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?

Yes. The formal community appeal and comment window opened August 20, 2026 and runs to approximately November 18, 2026. Submissions go through your community rather than directly to FEMA: property in unincorporated Volusia County goes to the county at kmatter@volusia.gov, and property inside a city's limits goes to that city. An appeal challenges the proposed flood hazard information and must include technical or scientific data, such as an elevation certificate or a surveyor's or engineer's analysis; anything else, such as a misspelled road name or an incorrect municipal boundary, is treated as a comment. Separately, 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).

Q: Is the FEMA flood map appeal period still open?

Yes. FEMA opened a 90-day appeal and comment period for the proposed Volusia County flood maps on August 20, 2026, and it runs through roughly November 18, 2026. An earlier version of this page said the window closed April 21, 2026, which was 90 days after the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice — but under 44 CFR Part 67 the appeal clock starts upon the second publication of the notice in a local newspaper, not on the Federal Register date, and that publication happened in August 2026. No new Federal Register proposed flood hazard determination notice covering Volusia County has been published since January 21, 2026, so this is the same study on its statutory appeal clock rather than a second remapping.

Updated September 1, 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 90-day appeal and comment period is open right now — it started August 20, 2026 and runs to about November 18, 2026 — 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.

Update — the appeal window is open again (and this page previously said otherwise)

On August 20, 2026, FEMA opened a 90-day appeal and comment period on the proposed Volusia County flood maps, per Volusia County's own announcement. It runs through roughly November 18, 2026.

Why this page used to say the window closed April 21, 2026. That date was 90 days after the Federal Register notice — but that is not the clock FEMA actually uses. Under 44 CFR 67.4, the statutory 90-day appeal period begins upon the second publication of the notice in a local newspaper, not on the Federal Register date. That local publication happened in August 2026. I have corrected the timeline below.

This is the same study, not a second one. I checked every "Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations" notice published in the Federal Register from July 1 through September 1, 2026 (documents 2026-13901, 2026-15938, 2026-15939, 2026-15943, 2026-17074, 2026-17075 and 2026-17076) — none of them list Volusia County. The governing notice is still the January 21, 2026 one, Docket FEMA-B-2578.

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) published FEMA's proposed flood hazard determinations for Volusia.
August 20, 2026 — the 90-day appeal and comment period opened, and is open now through about November 18, 2026. Appeals go through your community, not directly to FEMA: unincorporated Volusia owners submit to the county ([email protected]); inside a city, submit to that city.
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 (September 1, 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) — lists City of Daytona Beach, City of DeLand, Town of Pierson, unincorporated Volusia County	Published
Aug 20, 2026	90-day appeal & comment period opens (the clock runs from second local newspaper publication, per 44 CFR 67.4 — not from the Federal Register date)	Open now
~Nov 18, 2026	Appeal & comment period closes — 90 days from Aug 20. Confirm the exact date with your community before relying on it	Deadline
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. (Own property on that side of the county? The west Volusia version of this page has the measured changes for DeLand and Pierson.) Ormond-by-the-Sea's zones carry forward unchanged — and for the record, those zones are friendlier than the area's reputation: measured on the current maps, about 88% of Ormond-by-the-Sea is Zone X, with AE river pockets and VE along the oceanfront dune line.

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: mostly Zone X by land area, AE in the river pockets, VE along the oceanfront dune line — 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.

How to appeal or comment before the deadline (~November 18, 2026)

The window that opened August 20, 2026 is the one formal chance to challenge the proposed maps before FEMA finalizes them. Two different things go in it, and the distinction matters:

An appeal challenges the proposed flood-hazard information itself — a base flood elevation, a zone boundary, a floodway. FEMA requires technical or scientific data supporting the change; an opinion that the map "looks wrong" is not an appeal. In practice that usually means an elevation certificate or a surveyor's or engineer's analysis.
A comment covers everything that isn't a flood hazard — a misspelled road name, a wrong municipal boundary, a base-map error. No technical data required.

You submit through your community, not directly to FEMA. If your property is in unincorporated Volusia County, submissions go to the county — email [email protected] or mail the Thomas C. Kelly Administration Center — and must include the property owner's name, the full property address, and the specific feedback. If your property is inside a city's limits, you submit to that city instead; the county will not forward it for you.

For Ormond Beach and Ormond-by-the-Sea specifically: because no panels here are being remapped in this round, there is generally nothing to appeal — an appeal challenges a proposed change, and none is proposed for the barrier island. The deadline matters most to owners on the St. Johns River side of the county. That said, it costs ten minutes to confirm your own parcel against the preliminary portal below rather than take my word for it, and if you do find your address inside the study footprint, act before the window closes. A property-specific Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) remains available year-round, deadline or not, if an elevation certificate shows your structure sits above the base flood elevation.

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 90-day appeal and comment period opened August 20, 2026 and runs to about November 18, 2026. After it closes, FEMA resolves appeals, issues a Letter of Final Determination, and communities get ~6 months to adopt — realistically a 2027 effective date.

Is the FEMA flood map appeal period still open?

Yes. FEMA opened a 90-day appeal and comment period for the proposed Volusia County maps on August 20, 2026; it runs through roughly November 18, 2026. An earlier version of this page said the window closed April 21, 2026 — that was 90 days after the Federal Register notice, but FEMA's clock actually starts at the second local newspaper publication (44 CFR 67.4), which happened in August 2026.

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?

Yes — the formal window is open until about November 18, 2026. Submit through your community, not to FEMA directly: unincorporated Volusia goes to the county ([email protected]), city properties to that city. An appeal must include technical or scientific data; anything else counts as a comment. Separately, a property-specific Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) is available any time, deadline or not, 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

Correction, September 1, 2026: this page previously stated the appeal window closed April 21, 2026 — 90 days after the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice. That was the wrong clock. Under 44 CFR Part 67 the statutory 90-day appeal period begins upon the second publication of the notice in a local newspaper, and Volusia County announced that period opened August 20, 2026, running to approximately November 18, 2026. Before publishing this correction I verified that no new Federal Register "Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations" notice covering Volusia County has been published since January 21, 2026, by retrieving the full text of every such notice published between July 1 and September 1, 2026 (documents 2026-13901, 2026-15938, 2026-15939, 2026-15943, 2026-17074, 2026-17075, 2026-17076) and confirming none contains "Volusia" — so this is the same study (Docket FEMA-B-2578, Project 20-04-0049S), on its statutory appeal clock, not a second remapping. The exact closing date is derived by adding 90 days to the county's announced August 20 start; the county has not published a closing date, so confirm it with your community before relying on it. All other dates come from the primary FEMA and Volusia County sources linked above, checked September 1, 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.