Type an address, see its zone on FEMA's current flood map for Lincoln County in plain words — and what the 2015 map does and doesn't say about the water downtown already sees.
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Type a Damariscotta-area address to see its flood zone on FEMA's current effective map, in plain words. Downtown already takes water on the highest tides, and the zone on the map is what your lender and any flood-insurance quote go by — worth knowing before you buy, build or renew a policy here.
FEMA's effective flood map for Lincoln County dates to July 2015, and it maps the 1%-annual-chance storm — not the ordinary highest tides. The municipal waterfront lot already floods on king tides today, and with projected sea-level rise 16 of the town's 22 National Register buildings would flood at five feet. So a "minimal hazard" zone on the 2015 map is not a promise a low street stays dry; it is what the federal map currently says about a major storm. For the dates the water runs highest, see this town's Highest Tides to Watch page.
The seawall and raised parking-lot project on the municipal waterfront — federal economic-development money plus a local share — became a statewide pilot for climate adaptation, and the Miles Street causeway that carries the route to the hospital has closed in storm surge several times a year. The flood zone of a single address is one piece of that larger picture.
If an address falls in a Special Flood Hazard Area (zones starting with A or V), federally backed mortgages require flood insurance, and it is separate from a homeowners policy. A minimal-risk zone (X) doesn't forbid flooding — many flood claims come from outside the high-risk zones — it just isn't federally required. The National Flood Insurance Program explains the difference.
Zone results come live from FEMA’s National Flood Hazard Layer (the current effective flood map), with addresses located by the US Census Bureau’s public geocoder. Maps get revised; the official record is always the FEMA Map Service Center.
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