Preliminary Flood Hazard Data Training Tutorial May 2013

2 What’s Inside? Thanks for your interest in the Preliminary Flood Hazard Data Tool! Preliminary flood hazard data (preliminary data) description Benefits of centralized preliminary data Guided tour of associated Mapping Information Platform (MIP) new features Guided tour of preliminary data search tool Additional guidance and resources

3 Preliminary Flood Hazard Data Contents Preliminary data provide the public an early look at their home or community’s risk to flood hazards Preliminary data accessible from the public search tool include: 1. Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) 2. Flood Insurance Study (FIS) Report 3. FIRM Database

4 Benefits of Centrally-Hosted Preliminary Data By making these data available through this solution, preliminary data will be in a centralized and easily accessible location, along with FEMA’s other flood mapping products and tools Citizens can now access both preliminary and effective flood hazard data on the same site through the Map Service Center Additional benefits include:  Quick and easy search functions  Ability to search for the data by state and county  FMIX customer service support

5 Benefits of Preliminary Data There are several benefits for citizens and professionals in viewing a community’s preliminary data before they become effective:  The public can voice their opinions or concerns regarding how the data may affect them or to question data accuracy  Insurance agents can compare existing FIRMs with preliminary FIRMs to see how their clients may be affected  Loan and mortgage brokers can use preliminary data as a guide to determine whether a property may be mapped into a high-risk area, allowing the borrower to be informed of any changes or requirements before finalizing the loan  Real estate agents and brokers can determine what changes are likely to occur and how it might affect any properties for sale  Engineers, developers, and builders can plan for safer construction

6 CDS Solution Completing the ‘Produce Preliminary Products’ after 3/29 will ensure products are part of the new solution Preliminary data files are available for public viewing when the ‘Distribute Preliminary Map Products’ activity is complete  FIS and FIRM available as PDF files  FIRM Database available for download as a zip file Preliminary data files are removed from public viewing when ‘Submit MSC Deliverable’ activity is complete (Completed in close proximity to the LFD date) No FIRMette tool capabilities:  Preliminary mapping products will not be viewable in an application that provides the FIRMette web tool

7 MIP Changes The following screens depict Mapping Information Platform (MIP) changes associated with this Release

8 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Product (Mapping Partner) New Preliminary FIS and FIRM validation step If your project is in ‘Produce Preliminary Map Products’ after April 1 st, files will have to meet new validation requirements, even if they have previously passed validation When there are no data uploaded, status will show ‘No Data’

9 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Product (Mapping Partner) Check status of uploads by selecting ‘Update Status’ Upload data by selecting ‘Submit Data Files’

10 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Product (Mapping Partner) ‘Validation Required’ and ‘Validate Contents’ will appear after upload is complete After uploading your study’s preliminary FIS and FIRM data, select ‘Validate Contents ’

11 Preliminary FIRM and FIS Validation Requirements (Mapping Partner) Auto-Validation is performed within the ‘Produce Preliminary Map Products’ activity FIS and FIRM validations are automatically triggered when Metaman completes and passes validation FIS and FIRM validation must pass before DFIRM DB QA validation is automatically triggered FIRM Database validation process is unchanged

12 Preliminary FIRM and FIS Validation Requirements (Mapping Partner) Submitting party must create a Raster Flood Insurance Rate Map (RFIRM) folder (subdirectory) for the preliminary content submission:  Example:“J:\FEMA\ \ \ \ \Submis sion Upload\Mapping.Preliminary_DFIRM_DB\ \RFIRM” RFIRM folder must contain FIRM file(s) with a standard naming format with PDF extension:  Countywide format: C.pdf  Single jurisdiction:.pdf  Example: 12345C123B.pdf or B.pdf  RFIRM folder must contain 400 dpi PDF files  Suggested to lock PDF files from further modification

13 Preliminary FIRM and FIS Validation Requirements (Mapping Partner) RFIRM folder must also contain a FIRM Index File(s) with a specific naming format with PDF extension:  Countywide format: CIND.pdf  Single jurisdiction: IND.pdf  Example: 12345CIND0A.pdf or IND0A.pdf  RFIRM folder must contain 400 dpi PDF files  Suggested to lock PDF files from further modification

14 Submitting party must create an FIS report folder for the preliminary content submission:  Example: "J:\FEMA\ \ \ \ \SubmissionRepository\Mapping.Preliminary_DFIRM_DB\ \FIS"  Validation will take place in the J Drive first FIS folder must contain FIS Report file(s) with a standard naming format with PDF extension:  Countywide format: CV.pdf  Single jurisdiction: V.pdf  Example: 12345CV001A.pdf or V001A.pdf Preliminary FIRM and FIS Validation Requirements (Mapping Partner)

15 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) Select ‘Continue’ Congratulations! Your preliminary FIS and FIRM data passed

16 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) Select ‘View Details’ If ‘Metadata Profile Validation’ failed, select ‘View Details’ to learn why your submission failed FIS/FIRM Validation and DFIRM DB QA Validation should indicate ‘Validation Required’

17 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) If ‘FIS/FIRM Validation’ failed, select ‘View Details’ to learn why your submission failed DFIRM DB QA Validation should indicate ‘Validation Required’ Select ‘View Details’

18 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) If ‘DFIRM DB QA Validation’ failed, select ‘View Details’ to learn why your submission failed Select ‘View Details’

19 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) If data files aren’t over-written when uploading new files with the same naming convention, remove failed files through Citrix Contact MIP Help if you need assistance deleting files from the file submission upload folder After viewing details for any validation failure, select ‘Submit Data Files’ to upload new data

20 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) ‘Update Contents’ may be selected before or after ‘Submit Data Files’ ‘Update Contents’ will refresh the screen and allow you to view the new file path

21 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) After uploading new data files in response to the failed report, select ‘Update Status’

22 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) After selecting ‘Validate Contents,’ the validation results will appear as pass or fail The ‘Validate Contents’ button will appear after ‘Update Status’ has been selected

23 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) Once all Validations have passed and the Mapping Partner selects ‘Continue’ on the previous screen, the ‘Produce Preliminary Map Products: Analysis’ page will appear: Enter in number of printed panels and select ‘Continue’ Select ‘Continue’

24 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) Once completing the ‘Analysis’ page, the ‘Review’ page will appear: Submitting party may enter any comments Select ‘Complete Activity’

25 MIP Activity: Produce Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) This illustrates the same MIP activity screen in the previous slide, with expanded sections Submitting party may enter comments Submitting party may expand the circled sections in red to view their submission work

26 MIP Activity: Validate Content Submission: Preliminary Map (Reviewer) ‘ FIS/FIRM Validation Results’ viewing details Once navigating to this screen, the audience changes to the Reviewer Reminder: Ensure Mapping Partner completes previous activity in order to keep the workflow moving & onto the QR3 review

27 Once all items have passed validation, you can complete the ‘Validate Content Submission’ activity: Select ‘Complete Activity’ MIP Activity: Validate Content Submission: Preliminary Map (Reviewer)

28 MIP Activity: Perform National DFIRM QA (Reviewer) When in this activity, QR 1 & 2 are complete If everything passes, the reviewer will navigate to this page (QR 3) Reviewer is looking over preliminary map panel and FIS If QR 3 fails, then the activity will go back to the Mapping Partner in QR 2 (‘Produce Preliminary Map Products’) Select ‘Continue’ when complete Reviewer will approve or reject data submission, comments are required if submission is rejected

29 MIP Activity: Perform National DFIRM QA (Reviewer) Select ‘Complete Activity’ This screen provides a summary of activity details

30 MIP Activity: Distribute Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) Once QR 1-3 complete and pass, the activity returns to the Mapping Partner By completing the ‘Distribute Preliminary Map Products’ activity, your study’s preliminary data will be made to available the public

31 MIP Activity: Distribute Preliminary Map Products (Mapping Partner) The manually- entered date will be the same date shown on the public facing site It is imperative that this task is completed on or shortly after the preliminary maps are mailed because this will trigger the preliminary data to be uploaded to the centrally-hosted site This date should also be the same date stamped on the preliminary maps

32 Revised Preliminary Data If you must revise preliminary data, a new project must be created  Publish the entire data package again When the revised preliminary data move past the ‘Distribute Preliminary Map Products’ activity, two sets of preliminary data will appear publically, the original and the revised  Contact MIP Help to manually hide the preliminary data files that were revised  Data from the same project should appear in one place – not split between Regional and CDS-hosted sites

33 Exception Processing Projects that started QR 3 before April 1 st may post preliminary data to legacy sites Projects that started QR 3 after April 1 st will post preliminary data to the CDS site  Preferred: Delay completing QR 3 until after April 1 st  Should not rush projects to pass validation prior to CDS solution implementation If your project is in ‘Produce Preliminary Map Products’ after April 1 st, files will have to meet new validation requirements, even if they have previously passed validation Note: If you ask MIP Help to reset the workflow back to the ‘Produce Preliminary Map Product’ activity, data will have to pass new validation requirements Exception cases will be addressed individually

34 Un-publishing Preliminary Data In rare cases and after FEMA approval, data can be removed from the MSC  Please seek approval from FEMA if you need to un-publish data  Contact MIP Help for support  In the case of partial file removal (e.g. FIRM, FIS, and/or FIRM Database), language will indicate “No record found” for the removed product type in the MSC search results

35 Tour of Preliminary Data Search Tool The following screens show the step-by-step public-facing process of viewing a community’s preliminary flood hazard data

36 Access Preliminary Data Official Direct Link:  PTS should publish this link when directing the public to preliminary data: From the page listed above, users may access the search tool:  An alternate site is also available from this page to view preliminary data in case the MIP is inaccessible MSC Product Catalog, ‘Preliminary Mapping Products’ MSC Product Catalog

37 State, District, or Territory The direct search tool link opens this page Begin entering in the search criteria for your area of interest, beginning with the state, district, or territory

38 County, Parish, etc. Then, select your area’s county or parish If preliminary data does not exist for an area (i.e. there is only effective data), no options will appear in the drop down box

39 Get Preliminary FEMA Map Products Select ‘Get Preliminary FEMA Map Products’ Disclaimer language

40 View Preliminary Data Panel number State and County information

41 View Preliminary Data View or download preliminary mapping products. To view FIRM Database, user must have a GIS viewing software Preliminary mapping product issue date

42 View Preliminary Data Clicking on a ‘?’ icon opens a page with additional information To find your location on a FIRM, start with the Index file Information describing how to view the FIRM Database

43 Regional Legacy Sites Specific guidance is forthcoming from FEMA HQ

44 Existing PTS Sites Projects that started QR 3 before April 1 st may post preliminary data to legacy sites Projects that started QR 3 after April 1 st will post preliminary data to the CDS site When your region begins publishing preliminary data to the CDS site, update the regional websites to reflect this change  Web traffic should be directed to the new search tool using this link: Sample web text: To view your community’s Preliminary Flood Hazard Data or for more information, visit

45 Resources For questions, please contact MIP Help at Public resources:  Preliminary Flood Hazard Data FAQs  Preliminary Flood Hazard Data Flyer  Preliminary Flood Hazard Data Preliminary Flood Hazard Data  Understanding Preliminary Flood Hazard Maps Understanding Preliminary Flood Hazard Maps  Understanding the Changes to Your Community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map Understanding the Changes to Your Community’s Flood Insurance Rate Map