Blog · October 14, 2026 · Iowa
Madison County Flood Zone Map (Iowa)
Look up any Madison County address on FEMA's flood map, read the zone, and match it to the parcel record for land around Winterset.
Main page: Madison County, IA GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, Madison County facts and neighboring maps).
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A Madison County flood zone map check belongs in the due diligence for any Madison County property, from a house lot in Bevington to farm ground near St. Charles. For any tract in Madison County, Iowa, the answer affects insurance, permits and resale.
Below are the FEMA links, a plain reading of the zone labels, notes on where water shapes land around Bevington, and short answers to common questions.
Look up the Madison County flood zone map step by step
Start at the FEMA Flood Map Service Center and enter the property address in Winterset or anywhere else in the county. If a property near East Peru has no street number yet, search the nearest road and pan to it. For an interactive view of the county, the National Flood Hazard Layer viewer is easier to use and reports the zone wherever you click near Winterset. Switch to the Madison County Beacon site and find the same property near East Peru. Laying the county parcel outline beside the FEMA shading displays whether a homesite near East Peru sits above or inside the zone.
Search Madison County parcels by owner, address or ID
Madison County publishes its parcels on the Madison County Beacon site, which runs on Schneider Geospatial's Beacon platform, free to use for a lot in Bevington or a property near Earlham. In the county version, the search page takes an owner, an address or a parcel ID, and each report links back to the map view for the property near Bevington. For a backup route to the map covering Earlham, our Madison County directory entry keeps the link current.
Zone A, AE and X in plain English
On the FIRM covering Madison County, zones that start with A or V are Special Flood Hazard Areas, land with a 1-percent chance of flooding in any given year (the base or 100-year flood). Where a Madison County tract displays Zone AE, there's a base flood elevation to compare a building against; in Zone A there isn't one. Shaded Zone X around Winterset is moderate risk, between the 1-percent and 0.2-percent annual chance lines. Unshaded Zone X near East Peru is minimal risk.
Low ground and small streams around Winterset
A low spot on a Madison County tract outside any mapped zone, which is why it's worth walking the ground after a heavy rain.
Neighboring maps around Madison County
Madison County borders Adair County, Clarke County, Dallas County, Guthrie County, and Polk County, and each keeps its own parcel map and records. Our Iowa page links each map neighboring Madison County.
Towns and land across Madison County
Town lots cluster around Winterset, the county seat, and Bevington, Earlham, East Peru, and Macksburg. Unincorporated communities in Madison County, including Barney, Hanley, and Old Peru, display up as small groups of parcels along the roads. Roughly 561 square miles of land and about 16,971 residents (2023 estimate) make up Madison County. Outside Bevington, most of the county map is farm, ranch or timber ground with large, irregular tracts.
Recorded documents in Madison County, Iowa
For land near Winterset, the deed itself lives in the county recording office, and the map is an index to it. Copy the parcel number and legal description from the county record well before you request a deed for land near Patterson.
What a flood zone means for a Madison County buyer
The zone displays up again when a loan on a house near East Peru is underwritten. When a structure near East Peru sits in a Special Flood Hazard Area and secures a loan from a federally regulated or insured lender, a flood policy becomes a loan condition, provided the community near Winterset takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program. In Zone X near Winterset, federal rules do not require a policy; pricing a policy for land near East Peru is still worth a call. If a building near East Peru sits above the flood line, FEMA's LOMA process allows a review, supported by elevation data from a licensed land surveyor. New construction in a Madison County Special Flood Hazard Area frequently requires a permit and an elevation check; the Madison County floodplain administrator can say what applies.
Quick answers for Madison County
Do I need a permit to build in the floodplain near St. Charles?
Building in a Special Flood Hazard Area near St. Charles most frequently needs a floodplain permit and may require elevating the structure, so check with the county floodplain administrator.
Where do I get an elevation certificate in Madison County?
A licensed land surveyor or engineer prepares it, and the building office serving St. Charles may already have one on file for newer construction.
What does BFE mean on the flood map for St. Charles?
For a county property in Zone AE, it's the projected water surface in the base flood, and a surveyor compares the building near St. Charles to it.
What does 100-year flood mean for Madison County land?
Not at all; a Madison County tract in that zone carries a 1-in-100 chance in any single year, not a once-a-century schedule.
Is there a floodplain layer in the Madison County Beacon site?
Check the layer list in the Madison County Beacon site; if Madison County includes a floodplain layer, confirm the zone on FEMA's map anyway.
Can a flood zone in Madison County be changed?
For a lot in St. Charles, hire a surveyor for an elevation certificate, then file a LOMA request with FEMA.
Open the official Madison County, IA parcel map Madison County 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.