Blog · October 14, 2026 · Texas
Medina County Flood Zone Map, Texas: a practical guide
Flood zones are set by FEMA, and checking one near Biry takes a few minutes.
Main page: Medina County, TX GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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Before you buy or build near Yancey, pull up the Medina County flood zone map: the zone on that map shapes insurance, building rules and resale. In this Medina County guide: locating a parcel on FEMA's map, reading the zone codes, and pairing it with the appraisal district interactive map.
The Medina County flood zone map: start here
For a tract near D'Hanis, start with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center: enter the street address, then open the map view for that panel. Vacant ground around Lake Medina Shores is still easy to locate: pan from the closest town then click the parcel area.
Where the parcel data lives
Your first stop is the appraisal district interactive map; it includes each assessed parcel from Lake Medina Shores to Lytle. If you only know roughly where the land is, follow the nearest road on the aerial until the lines appear, then click inside the one you want, which applies near Biry as much as anywhere. For a tract near Biry, save the parcel ID while you have it open; every office in the county will want it.
Beyond the mapped zones
Creeks and ditches near Yancey may not have detailed mapping, so walk the land after rain. Marshy spots near Devine can limit building too; the National Wetlands Inventory mapper shows mapped wetlands.
Decoding the flood zone labels
If the land is near Hondo, A and V zones mark the Special Flood Hazard Area, which FEMA defines as a 1% annual chance of flooding. If the land is near Lake Medina Shores, shaded Zone X is moderate risk, between the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floods; plain X, or C on older maps, is minimal risk.
Questions to ask before you buy
For acreage around Hondo, request whether the home has flooded before closing; an insurance quote early avoids surprises.
Limits of the parcel data
If you're looking near Devine, listed acreage is an estimate; only a licensed surveyor can set the real boundary on the ground. Out toward San Antonio, records update in batches, so a deed recorded last month might lag behind.
A quick look at the area
Hondo serves as the county seat, where most land records are kept. You'll also find Castroville, Devine, LaCoste, and Lytle, each with its own cluster of lots. Around 54,797 people live in Medina County (Census estimate, 2023) spread over about 1,325 square miles. Medina County was organized in 1848, which matters when you trace an old farm's title.
Recorded documents worth pulling
Out toward Biry, the map is an index, not the title: recorded deeds, subdivision plats and easements for parcels in the county are filed with the County Clerk. With a lot near Lytle, use the instrument number shown in the record panel and the lookup takes minutes.
Next door to Medina County
Medina County meets Atascosa County, Bandera County, Bexar County, Frio County, and Uvalde County; every one of them runs a separate parcel map. Ground near LaCoste that runs to the line may be split in two county records, so look at the adjacent map as well. Around Devine, the Platbookmapper state page lists every neighboring county map across Texas.
Field tips
The parcel map usually runs in a mobile browser, useful out on a road near Biry, but coverage can be spotty out of town. A saved image of the lot near Castroville and its lines is a good backup.
Matching the zone to the lot lines
FEMA doesn't draw property lines, so pair it with the appraisal district interactive map to see exactly which lot near LaCoste you're looking at.
Sections, lots and bearings
Older tracts around LaCoste commonly use metes-and-bounds descriptions, listing bearings, distances and landmarks. Subdivision lots in LaCoste refer to a recorded plat, which is simpler to follow. Write down the legal description for the tract near Yancey before you request a deed or survey.
What a flood zone means for a buyer
Closer to LaCoste, an Elevation Certificate from a surveyor helps: it records the building's elevation against the base flood. Building or adding on near Biry in a mapped zone can trigger elevation rules; check with the county or town building office before you plan.
Quick answers
What is a base flood elevation for land near Natalia?
For a tract near Yancey, the base flood elevation is the water level expected in the 1% annual chance flood; local rules may require building above it.
How can I tell if a house near San Antonio is in a flood zone?
In most cases, FEMA's free map shows the zone for any spot near Hondo; no account is needed.
Do I need to worry about flooding in Zone X around Lake Medina Shores?
In most cases, Zone X near Castroville means moderate (shaded) or minimal (unshaded) mapped risk; FEMA notes that a large share of claims come from these areas.
When is flood insurance required near San Antonio?
Closer to Bader, it's typically required only for structures in high-risk zones with federally backed loans; outside those zones it's your call.
What's a legal description in Medina County?
For land near Castroville, it's the formal description of the land in the deed; a surveyor can interpret it.
Open the official Medina County, TX 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.