For the next 90 days, Butler County residents can weigh in on preliminary flood maps.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has drawn updated maps for several communities, including Oxford, Hamilton, and Middletown. They outline new Special Flood Hazard Areas, or places with a 1% annual chance of flooding.
Most are around smaller streams along the Great Miami River, says John Wethington, FEMA Region 5 risk analysis branch chief. They are:
- Coldwater Creek
- Dicks Creek
- North Branch Dicks Creek
- Pleasant Run
- Sevenmile Creek Tributary 1
- Sevenmile Creek Tributary 1 (Split flow)
- Indian Creek
- Great Miami River Tributary 1
- Indian Creek Tent Creek
“The first step to reduce flood risk is to know your flood risk,” Wethington said. “Updates to flood maps give reliable, accessible information about a property's flood risk so that people can make informed decisions about where to live, what to build, and how to protect their families, homes and businesses.”
Flood maps are also used to determine whether people need to buy flood insurance for their property.
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Residents and businesses in Butler County can now review the preliminary flood risk information and flood insurance rate maps online.
People are able to submit appeals and comments to FEMA during the agency’s 90-day period, which lasts from Dec. 18 to March 18, 2025.
View the updated maps
Butler County residents can view the preliminary maps on FEMA’s website.
The FEMA Map Service Center allows you to search maps by state and county. If you don’t see your community’s preliminary information, you can contact the FEMA Mapping and Insurance Exchange for help.
Call: 1-877-336-2627
Email: FEMA-FMIX@fema.dhs.gov
How to make an appeal or comment
Comments and appeals can be submitted to your local floodplain administrator, or directly to FEMA.
Email: FEMA-R5-MAP@fema.dhs.gov
According to FEMA, appeals should be accompanied by data and documentation indicating that the proposed new or modified flood hazard information shown on the preliminary products is scientifically or technically incorrect.
Comments usually involve changes to items such as road locations and road names, corporate limits updates, or other base map features.
Insurance implications
The flood map updates will change the ways some Butler County residents insure their property.
“People who are mapped into a high-risk flood zone are required to have flood insurance if they have a federally backed mortgage, or if they have other federally backed loans that are secured by a collateral in the floodplain,” said James Sink, regional flood insurance liaison for FEMA Region 5.
Sink recommends talking to your insurance agent, or visiting floodsmart.gov, to get a quote before the updated flood maps go into effect mid-2026.
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People who are newly mapped into the floodplain can receive a discount through the National Flood Insurance Program.
While only people living in the high-risk flood zones are required to have flood insurance, Sink says getting coverage can be helpful for anyone.
“Sixty percent of flood insurance claims in Butler County do come from outside of identified high-risk flood zones,” Sink said. “Anywhere it rains, it can flood.”
And, as climate change continues, flooding only becomes more likely in Ohio.