FEMA Flood Map for Trinidad Way

Information as of 22 June 2020

When in doubt, contact your insurance agent.

Storm Surge Info

This map (click to enlarge or shrink) is extracted from the Collier County reference site,
which has gotten fancier over the years and is now difficult to use:

Three different codes affect Trinidad Way - zone “AH” (gold  ) for many of us, zone “X500” (purple  ) for some, and zone “X” (yellow  ) for the rest of us. Note that your bank, if you have one, can require insurance purchase independent from these designations. It is also possible that having any portion of the lot within a lower-rated zone may cause the entire property to be considered within that zone. Your insurance agent is your best source of correct information for your specific property. The full text of the document describing the zones is found here, with excerpts as follows:

6. What is a “100-year flood” and how is it different from a “1-percent-annual-chance flood” or a “base flood?”

The term “100-year flood” is misleading. It is not the flood that will occur once every 100 years. Rather, it is the flood that has a 1-percent chance of being equaled or exceeded each year. Thus, the 100-year flood could occur more than once in a relatively short period of time or even within the same month. Because this term is misleading, FEMA has also defined it as the “1-percent-annual-chance flood.” The “1-percent-annual-chance flood” is the term that is now used by most Federal and State agencies and by the National Flood Insurance Program.

8. What are the different flood hazard zone designations shown on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM), and what do they mean?

There are also some rules (check with your insurance agent) regarding grandfathered insurance rates. It's not completely clear whether a FIRM was in effect when Triniday Way was built; the last revision was in 2005. Either way, the published information would seem to indicate that anyone who presently carries flood insurance should not have to be concerned about the new map, as long as they maintain coverage ‑ but don't miss the comment on Preferred Risk as well. The following is excerpted from the full rules, where “community” refers to Collier County:

To recognize policyholders who have remained loyal customers of the NFIP by maintaining continuous coverage and/or who have built in compliance with the FIRM, the Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration has “Grandfather rules” to allow such policyholders to benefit in the rating for that building....

Pre-FIRM (construction prior to the date of the community's initial FIRM)
1. If a policy was obtained prior to the effective date of a map change, the policyholder is eligible to maintain the prior zone and base flood elevation as long as continuous coverage is maintained. The policy can be assigned to a new owner at the option of the policyholder…

Post-FIRM (construction on or after the date of the community's initial FIRM)
1. If a policy was obtained prior to the effective date of a map change, the policyholder is eligible to maintain the prior zone and base flood elevation as long as continuous coverage is maintained. The policy can be assigned to a new owner at the option of the policyholder…

While this all appears to sound good regarding rates, the following “kicker” is added. This states that on the date of each renewal, Preferred Risk policies may only be written for buildings in class X – there are no classes of B or C in the new maps –  or in the old maps, for that matter:

Preferred Risk Policies
1. Buildings written on Preferred Risk Policies are required to be located in zones B, C, or X on the FIRM in effect on the date of application and on the date of each subsequent renewal.
2. A building, which becomes ineligible for a Preferred Risk Policy due to a map change to a special flood hazard area, can be rewritten on a standard rated policy using zones B, C, or X.