Buyer guide
The Draft 2026 FEMA Flood Maps — What They Mean If You're Buying in Houston
Harris County's flood maps were rebuilt for the first time since 2007. They are not final, they change nothing about your insurance today, and they may still be the most important thing you check before you write an offer this year.
What happened
On 2 February 2026, FEMA released draft Harris County flood map data to local floodplain administrators — the first countywide rebuild since 2007. Public release followed in May 2026. All 22 watersheds in the county were remodelled using post-Harvey NOAA Atlas 14 rainfall rates, roughly roughly 30% higher than the figures behind the old maps, together with updated LiDAR topography.
The scale is unusual. Roughly 200 square miles are added to mapped floodplains. About 175,000 housing units move into a floodplain and 60,000 move out — a net of around 115,000. Some 110 school campuses are newly mapped.
Read this part carefully, because it is where people get it wrong
These are draft maps. Not preliminary, not effective. They are explicitly not open for formal comment or appeal yet, and they cannot be used for insurance or regulatory decisions. Harris County's own guidance is that nothing changes right now regarding flood insurance requirements or development regulations. Anyone telling you your rates are going up in 2026 because of these maps is either confused or selling something.
The timeline
- 2 February 2026 — draft data released to floodplain administrators
- May 2026 — public data release, followed by community outreach
- February–May 2027 — formal FEMA appeals and comment period
- Mid-2027 to 2028 — revisions
- November 2028 — estimated final map approval
That is a two-and-a-half-year runway. It is long enough to feel irrelevant and short enough to matter to anything you buy and hold.
Why a buyer should care now
Because you are not buying for this month. If a house moves into a mapped floodplain in 2028, three things follow: a lender may require flood insurance where it does not today, the annual carrying cost changes, and the pool of buyers who can afford it when you resell narrows. None of that shows up on the listing.
One Harris County commissioner put the problem plainly on the record — people are going to be buying homes tomorrow and will not know anything about these maps. That is the whole issue. The information exists and almost nobody is checking it.
This cuts both ways. About 60,000 housing units move out of mapped floodplains under the drafts. If you own one of those, that is worth knowing before you accept an offer that prices in flood risk you may not have.
Where the impact lands
Cypress is the most affected region in the county. Four Cypress-area communities alone account for a net increase of roughly 24,500 single-family homes and 6,100 multifamily units added to floodplains.
I cover Cypress and the surrounding ZIPs — the Cypress guide is here · Is Cypress sinking?, and the wider northwest Houston hub covers 77070, 77064 and 77065.
Be wary of the numbers circulating from insurance-industry press releases — figures like 170,000 properties reclassified and $50 billion in affected assets do not reconcile with the county and Rice Kinder Institute analyses. The figures on this page come from the latter.
How to check a specific address
Harris County's MAAPnext tool includes a mapping-change comparison slider that shows the current designation and the draft one side by side. It runs on desktop only. Beyond that, the diligence has not changed: pull the flood determination for the parcel, get the claims history verified independently, ask for an elevation certificate, and get a bound insurance quote rather than an estimate before your option period expires. The full flood diligence checklist is here.
Common questions
Are the 2026 FEMA flood maps final?
No. FEMA released draft data to floodplain administrators on 2 February 2026, with public release in May 2026. The sequence is draft, then preliminary with a formal appeals and comment window in February–May 2027, then effective — estimated November 2028. Harris County officials have been explicit: the drafts are not regulatory, and nothing changes right now about flood insurance requirements or development rules.
Does this change my flood insurance today?
No. Draft maps cannot be used for insurance or regulatory decisions. What they change is your information. If a house you are considering moves into a mapped floodplain when these become effective, that affects what it costs to insure and what it sells for later — even though it affects nothing this month.
How much is actually changing?
About 200 square miles are added to Harris County floodplains. Roughly 175,000 housing units move in and 60,000 move out, a net of about 115,000. Around 110 school campuses are newly mapped in a floodplain.
Why are the maps changing so much?
The maps they replace date from 2007 and were built on Tropical Storm Allison-era rainfall data. The new modelling uses post-Harvey NOAA Atlas 14 rainfall rates — an increase of roughly 30% — along with updated LiDAR topography. All 22 county watersheds were remodelled.
Which areas are most affected?
Cypress. Four Cypress-area communities alone account for a net increase of about 24,500 single-family homes and 6,100 multifamily units added to floodplains — the largest impact of any region in the county.
How do I check my address?
Harris County's MAAPnext tool has a mapping-change comparison slider showing the current and draft designations side by side. It is desktop-only and not mobile-compatible. If you want, send me the address and I will run it.
Send me an address and I'll check it
Current zone, draft zone, and what the difference would mean for what you are paying.