San Francisco Bay Area Coastal Study

The Federal Emergency management Agency (FEMA) is performing new detailed coastal engineering analyses of the shoreline and coastal areas within the nine counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. The model output from the regional models is used to estimate wave run-up and over-topping along the Bay’s myriad of shoreline structures and steep shorelines, as well as overland wave propagation over beaches, marshes, and inland developed areas. These onshore analyses will form the basis for potential revisions to the Base Flood Elevations (BFEs) and Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) within the coastal areas of the nine Bay Area counties. Coastal High Hazard Areas (Zone VE) will be mapped when supported by flood hazard modeling results.