{"id":1185,"date":"2026-04-07T17:18:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T03:18:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/?p=1185"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T04:06:23","slug":"oahu-flood-zone-description-and-property-look-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/oahu-flood-zone-description-and-property-look-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Oahu Flood Zone Description and Property Look Up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Zone<\/strong><\/td>What it is (Plain English)<\/strong><\/td>Is Insurance Mandatory?<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead>
Zone X<\/strong><\/td>Low-to-Moderate Risk.<\/strong> The “Safe” zone. Most of Kailua is here. Not in the 100-year floodplain.<\/td>NO.<\/strong> Lenders cannot require it. Policies are very cheap (optional).<\/td><\/tr>
Zone A<\/strong><\/td>High Risk.<\/strong> You are in the 100-year floodplain, but FEMA hasn’t calculated exactly how deep the water will get.<\/td>YES.<\/strong> Mandatory for all federally backed mortgages.<\/td><\/tr>
Zone AE<\/strong><\/td>High Risk (Detailed).<\/strong> Same as Zone A, but engineers have calculated the exact “Base Flood Elevation” (BFE)\u2014the depth water is expected to reach.<\/td>YES.<\/strong> Mandatory. Your rate depends on how high your house sits above that elevation.<\/td><\/tr>
Zone AEF<\/strong><\/td>The Floodway.<\/strong> The most dangerous part of Zone AE. This is the actual channel where water must<\/em> flow during a flood.<\/td>YES.<\/strong> Plus, strict rules: you usually cannot build anything<\/em> here that would block water flow.<\/td><\/tr>
Zone VE<\/strong><\/td>Coastal High Hazard.<\/strong> The “Velocity” zone. Risk of 3-foot waves or higher during a storm.<\/td>YES.<\/strong> Highest premiums of all zones due to wave damage risk.<\/td><\/tr>
Zone AH\/AO<\/strong><\/td>Shallow Flooding.<\/strong> Areas of “ponding” or sheet flow (usually 1\u20133 feet deep) on flat ground or hillsides.<\/td>YES.<\/strong> Mandatory.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To look up your home, go to the Oahu Preliminary Flood Map Slider<\/a><\/strong>.

The Colors:<\/strong> * Green (Any shade):<\/strong> No mandatory insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Goal:<\/strong> If the slider shows your property turning from Green to Blue<\/strong>, you are being “mapped in” and need to call an agent before June 10th to save money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue\/Magenta (A, AE, VE):<\/strong> Insurance is Mandatory<\/strong> with a mortgage.

Light Green or Dark Green (Zone X):<\/strong> The “Safe” Zone. No mandatory flood insurance. If you want a policy, it\u2019s usually very cheap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blue (Zone AE):<\/strong> High Risk. If your house touches this, the bank will<\/strong> require flood insurance. Engineers have calculated exactly how high the water might get here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Magenta\/Purple (Zone A):<\/strong> High Risk. Just like the blue zone, insurance is mandatory, but FEMA hasn’t calculated the exact water depth yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red (Zone VE):<\/strong> Coastal Danger. High risk from waves. This is the most expensive zone for insurance.

The “Newly Mapped” Discount:<\/strong> If your property is moving from Green to Blue<\/strong> on June 10, 2026, call your insurance agent now<\/strong>. If you buy a policy before the deadline, you can often lock in a much lower “Newly Mapped” rate. Waiting until June 11 could cost you thousands in higher premiums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Impact on Selling:<\/strong> If you are planning to list your home and it’s being moved into a high-risk zone, disclosed this early. Buyers will need to know about the mandatory insurance requirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Permitting:<\/strong> If you are in a blue or purple zone, any new construction or big renovations will have much stricter (and more expensive) building requirements after June 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zone What it is (Plain English) Is Insurance Mandatory? Zone X Low-to-Moderate Risk. The “Safe” zone. Most of Kailua is here. Not in the 100-year floodplain. NO. Lenders cannot require it. Policies are very cheap (optional). Zone A High Risk. You are in the 100-year floodplain, but FEMA hasn’t calculated exactly how deep the water … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-1185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-selling-your-home","tag-oahu-flood-zones"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1185"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1190,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1185\/revisions\/1190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oahure.com\/oahu-real-estate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}