Blog · October 14, 2026 · Kansas
Elk County Flood Zone Map: checking a property's flood zone
The zone on FEMA's map affects insurance, building and resale near Longton.
Main page: Elk County, KS GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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Weighing a property around Howard? Checking the Elk County flood zone map reveals whether the lot falls inside a mapped floodplain, and the lookup is free. Covered here for Elk County: locating a parcel on FEMA's map, decoding A, AE and X, and matching it with the county parcel viewer.
Getting started with the Elk County flood zone map
For a more interactive look, open the National Flood Hazard Layer viewer, where zone shading sits over a photo base, whether the land is near Elk Falls or elsewhere in the county. Vacant ground around Elk Falls can still be found: search the nearest road and click inside the land.
Getting to the right map
Go first to the ORKA parcel viewer; it includes each assessed parcel around Busby and Oak Valley. In and around Busby, enter a street address, an owner's name or a parcel number, and the matching parcel lights up. For acreage around Longton, save the parcel ID before closing the panel; each office in the county asks for it first.
Elk County in a few facts
Howard serves as the county seat, which is where the courthouse records live. Smaller places on the map include Elk Falls, Grenola, Longton, and Moline, where town lots give way to larger tracts. Roughly 2,467 people live in Elk County (Census Bureau estimate, 2023) across some 644 square miles. Elk County was organized in 1875, so old deeds can run back a long way.
Legal descriptions in Kansas
Kansas follows the Public Land Survey System, so deeds around Moline reference sections and townships. A standard section is about one square mile, roughly 640 acres, with 36 sections to a township, though sections near Howard can be irregular. Write down the legal description for the tract near Moline for any title or survey request.
Reading A, AE and X
For land near Howard, zones beginning with A or V are Special Flood Hazard Areas, meaning a 1% or greater chance of flooding each year. If you're looking near Oak Valley, a shaded X area marks moderate flood hazard, between the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floods; unshaded X means minimal mapped risk.
Parcel lines plus flood zones
When the zone clips a corner of a lot near Busby, the location of the house or building pad decides a lot.
Insurance, lenders and building
If a building sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area and a federally regulated lender is involved, flood insurance is generally required in communities in the NFIP, which applies near Howard as much as anywhere. New construction in a floodplain near Oak Valley can trigger elevation rules; ask the local floodplain administrator early.
Questions to ask before you buy
If you're looking near Moline, ask the seller about past flood claims before closing; getting a quote early avoids surprises.
Field tips
Most viewers work in a phone browser, handy when you're parked on a road near Busby, so load it before you lose signal. A printout of the tract near Longton keeps working without signal.
Before you lean on the lines
On ground around Grenola, the acreage figure is an estimate; only a licensed surveyor sets the real boundary on the ground. For property near Longton, records update in batches, so a deed recorded last month may not show yet.
Neighboring parcel maps
The county borders Butler County, Chautauqua County, Cowley County, Greenwood County, and Montgomery County, and each of those keeps its own parcel map for land near Elk Falls. Acreage along the edge near Elk Falls can show up in two county records, so open the adjacent map before you assume the acreage. On ground around Elk Falls, the Platbookmapper state page links each bordering county map for Kansas.
Beyond the mapped zones
Small streams around Elk Falls aren't always studied in detail, so ask neighbors about past flooding. Marshy spots near Busby can limit building too; check the National Wetlands Inventory mapper for a first look.
Who handles what
If the acreage or value on a parcel near Elk Falls looks off go to the County Appraiser, since that office keeps the assessment data. Zoning, permits and septic questions near Howard are for the local planning and health departments, town or county, depending on location.
Elk County: common questions
What does Zone AE mean near Busby?
Closer to Elk Falls, an AE zone has a 1% annual chance of flooding and a base flood elevation; unnumbered A zones don't list one.
Where can I see the county flood zone map for free near Longton?
Good question; search the address near Howard on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center; then confirm the parcel on the county viewer.
Can I see flood zones on the ORKA parcel viewer around Elk Falls?
If the land is near Moline, a flood layer may appear in the ORKA parcel viewer layer list, but FEMA's own map is the official source.
How do I get a property removed from a flood zone in Elk County?
Generally, FEMA's LOMA process is the usual route when a building near Howard sits above the base flood elevation, and lenders accept the result.
Is the parcel map a survey in Elk County?
No; boundary questions near Elk Falls need a licensed surveyor.
Open the official Elk County, KS parcel map See it in the Platbookmapper directory
Not a survey. County GIS and tax parcel maps are assessment and planning layers. They are not a substitute for a recorded plat, deed, or licensed survey, especially for fences, setbacks, or boundary disputes.