Is Deltona included in the new flood maps?

No. Deltona is not among the communities FEMA listed with proposed changes (City of Daytona Beach, City of DeLand, Town of Pierson, and unincorporated Volusia County), and the preliminary study's flood-zone data ends north of Deltona — its footprint covers the northwest, St. Johns River portion of the county. Deltona, DeBary, Orange City and Lake Helen keep their current effective maps in this round.

When do the new west Volusia flood maps take effect?

No effective date is set. The formal 90-day comment and appeal period opened with the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice (Docket FEMA-B-2578) and closed April 21, 2026. FEMA now resolves appeals, issues a Letter of Final Determination, and communities get roughly six months to adopt the maps — realistically a 2027 effective date. Until then, the 2014/2017/2018 maps remain the legal maps.

Will my flood insurance go up when the maps change?

Not automatically. Under NFIP Risk Rating 2.0, premiums are priced on property-specific risk, not the zone letter alone. What a zone change does control is the lender mandatory-purchase requirement: moving into Zone A or AE means a federally backed mortgage will require flood insurance. 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, and in unincorporated areas like DeLeon Springs the county's CRS Class 5 standing already gives NFIP policies a 25% discount in high-risk zones.

Can I still appeal the new maps?

The formal community appeal window closed on April 21, 2026. Individual owners are never locked out, though: 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 maps for my address?

FEMA's preliminary map portal at hazards.fema.gov (select Florida, then Volusia County — the May 29, 2025 panels and FIRM database), the FEMA Flood Map Service Center at msc.fema.gov for the current effective map to compare against, and Volusia County's Flood Map Viewer. City of DeLand properties can also contact the city's floodplain administrator.

Home › Coastal Assessment › West Volusia FEMA Flood Map Update

DeLand & West Volusia FEMA Flood Map Update (2025–2026)

Q: Did FEMA change the DeLand flood maps?

New maps are in the pipeline but not yet in effect. FEMA issued preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Volusia County on May 29, 2025 as part of a St. Johns River watershed restudy (Project 20-04-0049S), and the City of DeLand is one of the four Volusia communities FEMA listed with proposed flood hazard changes in the January 21, 2026 Federal Register notice. The maps legally in effect today are still the 2014/2017/2018 FIRMs. Measured against the preliminary database, the restudied portion of DeLand's land goes from about 5.8% to about 5.4% Special Flood Hazard Area — totals barely move, but zone boundaries shift parcel by parcel, so individual properties can flip either direction.

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

The coast gets the flood headlines, but here's the fact almost nobody has reported: FEMA's new preliminary flood maps for Volusia County don't remap the beach — they remap west Volusia. The May 29, 2025 preliminary maps are a St. Johns River watershed restudy, and the communities with proposed changes are DeLand, Pierson, and unincorporated northwest Volusia (DeLeon Springs, the Lake George corridor), plus the western fringe of Daytona Beach. I pulled FEMA's preliminary map database and measured what actually changes — dates, numbers and sources below.

The short version

May 29, 2025 — FEMA issued preliminary maps for the county (Project 20-04-0049S, a six-county St. Johns River watershed restudy). The formal appeal window (Federal Register, Jan 21, 2026, Docket FEMA-B-2578) closed April 21, 2026; new maps realistically take effect in 2027.
In the study: northern DeLand (~60% of the city's land), Pierson, DeLeon Springs, the Lake George/Astor corridor, unincorporated northwest Volusia, and Daytona Beach's western fringe.
NOT in this round: Deltona, DeBary, Orange City, Lake Helen — and nothing on the coast.
Measured (details below): the totals barely move — DeLand's restudied area goes ~5.8% → ~5.4% Special Flood Hazard Area; Pierson ~11.1% → ~11.8% — but zone boundaries shift parcel by parcel, so individual properties flip both directions even while the totals hold still.
A zone change doesn't reset your premium (Risk Rating 2.0) — it switches the lender mandatory-purchase requirement on or off, and moving into a zone for the first time unlocks newly-mapped phase-in pricing if you act within the window.

The timeline, with sources

Volusia County FEMA flood map update — where it stands (August 2026)
Date	What happened	Status
Feb 19, 2014 / Sep 29, 2017 / Aug 7, 2018	Current effective FIRMs (countywide base + major revision + panel updates)	In effect today
May 29, 2025	FEMA issues preliminary FIRMs + FIRM database for Volusia County (Project 20-04-0049S, St. Johns River watershed restudy: Bradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Putnam, Volusia)	Review only — can't be used to rate insurance or trigger lender rules
Jan 21, 2026	Federal Register "Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations" (Docket FEMA-B-2578) — lists City of Daytona Beach, City of DeLand, Town of Pierson, unincorporated Volusia County	Done
Apr 21, 2026	90-day comment/appeal period closes	Closed
Next	FEMA resolves appeals → Letter of Final Determination → ~6-month community adoption → new maps effective	Realistically 2027 — no date set

What actually changes — measured, not guessed

I downloaded FEMA's preliminary FIRM database for the study (dataset 12127C, issued May 29, 2025) and compared it against the current effective flood maps, using official Census boundaries with water areas removed. Two headline results:

DeLand: today about 4% of the city's land is in a Special Flood Hazard Area — DeLand is overwhelmingly Zone X. The preliminary study covers roughly the northern 60% of the city's land; within that area, the SFHA share goes from about 5.8% today to about 5.4% on the preliminary map. Slightly less mapped high-risk land, not more — with some areas trading modeled-elevation Zone AE for approximate Zone A as the hydrology was re-run.

Pierson: the SFHA share ticks up, from about 11.1% to 11.8% of the town's land — roughly 45 acres newly mapped into Zone A along the low-lying areas.

The number that matters isn't the total — it's the boundary. A restudy redraws lines street by street: some parcels come out of the floodplain, others go in, and the citywide percentage can hold nearly still while your lot flips. That's why the only check that matters is your address against both maps — the current one (what your lender and insurer use today) and the preliminary one (what you'll own in 2027).

Who's in the study — and who isn't

In scope: the St. Johns River side of the county — DeLand (northern portion), Pierson, DeLeon Springs, the Lake George and Astor corridor, unincorporated northwest Volusia, and the undeveloped western fringe of Daytona Beach. The preliminary flood-zone data ends near the I-95/SR-415 corridor.

Not in this round: Deltona, DeBary, Orange City and Lake Helen sit south of the study footprint and keep their current maps — despite what some marketing articles imply, there is no proposed change there. And the coast isn't touched at all: I verified the barrier island's zones carry forward unchanged, address by address.

What it means if you own (or are buying) in west Volusia

Check your address on the preliminary map now (links below). If it moves you into Zone A or AE: your premium doesn't automatically jump (Risk Rating 2.0 prices the property, not the letter), but once the maps go effective a federally backed mortgage will require flood insurance. Buying coverage before — or within 12 months of — the change preserves NFIP's newly-mapped phase-in pricing, and buying while you're officially still Zone X is the cheap way in. In unincorporated areas (DeLeon Springs, Lake George corridor), Volusia County's CRS Class 5 standing already takes 25% off NFIP premiums in high-risk zones.

If it moves you out: your lender requirement could disappear when the maps go final — a calendar note for 2027, not a cancellation today. And remember what west Volusia's own recent history teaches: the St. Johns basin flooded hard after Ian's rainfall in 2022, including areas outside every mapped zone. The map is a lender trigger, not a promise.

Buyers: between now and the effective date, every DeLand-area purchase should be checked against both maps. A house that's Zone X today but Zone A on the preliminary map is priced like low-risk land carrying a 2027 obligation — and the reverse is a quiet discount opportunity.

Check your address — official sources, free

• FEMA preliminary map portal — Florida → Volusia County: the May 29, 2025 preliminary panels and FIRM database.
• FEMA Flood Map Service Center — the current effective map, for comparison.
• Volusia County flood maps & Flood Map Viewer — county GIS with parcels overlaid.

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

Send me any DeLand, Pierson, DeLeon Springs or west Volusia address. I'll pull its current FEMA zone, its status on the May 2025 preliminary map, and what that means for insurance and lender requirements — before you're under contract, not after.

Get my free flood report →

West Volusia FEMA flood map FAQ

Did FEMA change the DeLand flood maps?

New maps are in the pipeline, not in effect. DeLand is one of the four Volusia communities with proposed changes in the Jan 21, 2026 Federal Register notice. Measured: the restudied ~60% of the city goes from ~5.8% to ~5.4% SFHA — totals barely move, but boundaries shift parcel by parcel.

Is Deltona included?

No. Deltona isn't on FEMA's proposed-changes list and the study's data ends north of it. Deltona, DeBary, Orange City and Lake Helen keep their current maps this round.

When do the new maps take effect?

No date set. Appeals closed April 21, 2026; after FEMA's Letter of Final Determination there's a ~6-month adoption period — realistically 2027.

Will my flood insurance go up?

Not automatically — Risk Rating 2.0 prices the property, not the zone letter. But moving into A/AE switches on the lender requirement, and buying before or within 12 months of the change preserves newly-mapped phase-in pricing. Unincorporated Volusia's CRS Class 5 gives 25% off NFIP in high-risk zones.

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.

Sources & methodology

How the measured numbers were produced (August 2026): I compared FEMA's current effective flood-zone polygons (National Flood Hazard Layer) against the preliminary FIRM database's flood-zone shapefile (12127C, May 29, 2025) inside official Census boundaries for DeLand and Pierson, with Census water areas removed, computing each zone's share of land area. The preliminary study covers ~60% of DeLand's land (the city extends south of the study footprint) and 100% of Pierson's; the effective-vs-preliminary comparison is restricted to the covered area so it's apples-to-apples. Land-area computation for DeLand runs ~15% above the Census land figure because of wetland classification differences — treat the percentages as close approximations, not survey values. Shares describe land area, not addresses or structures. I update this page when FEMA issues the Letter of Final Determination.

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 DeLand, Town of Pierson, 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.