Flood Mapping Quick Start Guide_April 2026

North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint
Blueprint Tool Flood Mapping Quick Start Guide

The North Carolina Flood Resiliency Blueprint is a statewide initiative helping communities and the
State identify and implement actions that will reduce the cost and disruption from future floods. This
document is intended to help users access flood maps and explore flood risk data for specific buildings.
“Regulatory” flood maps and data products are developed to support the FEMA National Flood
Insurance Program. Studies have confirmed what many communities have observed, that significant
flood damage occurs outside of the High Risk flood areas identified in regulatory maps. To better
understand where and how flooding is likely to occur, DEQ partnered with NC Department of Emergency
Management to develop improved 2-D rain-on-grid flood models for the Tar-Pamlico, Neuse, White Oak,
Cape Fear, and Lumber Basins. These “advisory” datasets can help communities and citizens better
understand their current and future flood risk.
Accessing the map:
1. Start by accessing the tool at frbt.deq.nc.gov and select ‘Proceed as Guest’.
2. Once in the home page, navigate to the ‘Flood Risk Management’ tab at the top right.
Exploring the flood map and risk data:

1. a gridded heat map of flood risk covering
North Carolina.

2. To explore the data more closely, zoom into an area of
interest by using the +/- buttons in the bottom right.
i. You can select an individual building to learn
more about the structure’s risk of flooding.

3. The default map and risk data are the “Regulatory” mapping products. Open the Flood Hazard
Type drop-down menu at the top left of the map window which includes the different Flood Hazard
Types. This will replace the data on the map with a different kind of flood data. Select ‘Advisory
Flood’.
i. *You may also want to explore the ‘Future Conditions 1% Annual Chance’ group which
includes projected flood data for 2050 and 2100.

4. Now navigate to the ‘Percent Annual Chance’ slider to the right of the Flood Hazard Type
dropdown. This will change the map data to correspond to different flood recurrence intervals.

5. Finally, explore the different types of impacts by opening the
‘Select Impact Type’ drop down menu to the left of the map
viewer. Each Impact Type represents a different way to
measure the impact of flooding on individual structures.

6. Continue to explore flood resilience in your area. To learn
more about the Blueprint Tool, visit the YouTube Playlist or
contact the Blueprint team at [e-mail].