Flood Zones in Burleigh County, North Dakota

A second flood-map event: the 2022 preliminary FEMA remap, separate from 2011

Beyond the 2011 flood itself, Burleigh County has been through a distinct, more recent flood-mapping episode worth knowing about on its own terms. On May 13, 2022, FEMA released preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) and an accompanying Flood Insurance Study for portions of Burleigh County, including the City of Bismarck, showing updated flood-hazard determinations. According to local reporting at the time, the proposed update would have added roughly 1,500 county parcels and about 650 city parcels to the list of properties carrying increased flood risk -- a substantial jump, not a minor technical correction.

That preliminary map triggered a formal, statutory response process: a 90-day appeal period ran from February 17 to May 18, 2023 (the clock started from the second required newspaper posting in the Bismarck Tribune), during which property owners and the city could submit scientific or technical data disputing FEMA's proposed flood-hazard determinations. Bismarck's own mayor was among those who publicly pushed back, urging FEMA to reconsider the new risk map and citing concerns about the impact on a high-poverty area of the city. Whether and how the final maps were adjusted after that appeal period, and what their current effective status is, is not something to assume from the 2022 preliminary version -- confirm current, effective FIRM status for a specific parcel directly (see below) rather than relying on either the pre-2022 map or the 2022 preliminary proposal.

The actual ordinance and permit authority: Article 21, under state floodplain-management law

Burleigh County's floodplain rules aren't a freestanding local policy -- they're Article 21 of the county zoning ordinance, adopted under North Dakota Century Code Chapter 61-16.2 (the state's floodplain management framework), and the county's Building/Planning/Zoning Department administers them through a designated Floodplain Administrator. That administrator function is the actual point of contact for two distinct kinds of questions: what FEMA flood zone a specific parcel currently sits in (as opposed to what an older or superseded map showed), and whether a floodplain development permit is required before building, filling, or substantially altering land within a mapped flood hazard area.

The county's own Flood & Elevation Tool lets you look up modeled flood-inundation depths for the Missouri River and Apple Creek and overlay FEMA's FIRM floodway and floodplain boundaries for a specific parcel -- a useful first screening step, though it should be treated as a starting point rather than a substitute for a direct determination letter from the Floodplain Administrator, particularly for any parcel affected by the 2011 remapping, the 2022 preliminary update, or both.

What to actually verify before relying on a parcel's flood-zone status

1. Get the parcel's current, effective FEMA flood-zone designation directly from Burleigh County's Floodplain Administrator or FEMA's Flood Map Service Center (msc.fema.gov) -- not from a listing description, an older plat, or the county's general reputation for flood risk near the Missouri River.
2. If the parcel is in one of the 11 townships remapped after 2011, or in an area the 2022 preliminary update proposed moving into higher risk, ask specifically whether that proposed change is currently reflected in the effective map or is still pending.
3. Ask whether a floodplain development permit under Article 21 would be required for your specific building plans (new construction, substantial improvement, or fill) before assuming a building permit alone covers floodplain compliance.
4. If flood insurance cost or availability is a factor in your purchase decision, get a current flood-insurance quote tied to the parcel's actual, current flood-zone designation rather than an estimate based on the pre-2022 map.
5. For any parcel near the Missouri River specifically, ask the Floodplain Administrator whether elevation-certificate documentation exists for the parcel or a neighboring structure, since that data can affect both insurance premiums and what elevation a new structure would need to meet.