Blog · October 14, 2026 · Louisiana
Using the Terrebonne Parish Flood Zone Map
The zone on FEMA's map affects insurance, building and resale near Bayou Blue.
Main page: Terrebonne Parish, LA GIS & Parcel Viewer (official map link, county facts and neighboring maps).
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Before an offer near Chauvin, look at the Terrebonne Parish flood zone map: a mapped flood zone changes insurance, permits and resale. In this parish guide: locating a parcel on FEMA's map, decoding A, AE and X, and pairing it with the Terrebonne Parish ArcGIS parcel map around Houma.
Where the Terrebonne Parish flood zone map lives
If you're looking near Bayou Cane, start with FEMA's Flood Map Service Center: enter the street address, and pick the FIRMette or map view. A tract near Houma without an address can still be found: zoom in from Interstate 49 and click the spot.
The free map to start with
Your first stop is the Terrebonne Parish ArcGIS parcel map; it includes each assessed parcel in the parish, Dulac included. Out toward Bayou Blue, type a street address, an owner's name or a parcel number, and the matching parcel lights up. If you're looking near Bayou Cane, copy the parcel ID while you have it open; each clerk in the parish uses it to find the file.
Reading A, AE and X
An AE label carries a published BFE, and an unnumbered A zone has none; builders around Bayou Blue design to it. For property near Bayou Blue, a shaded X area is moderate risk, between the 1% and 0.2% annual chance floods; unshaded X is minimal risk.
Land on the parish line
Terrebonne Parish borders Assumption Parish, Lafourche Parish, and St. Mary Parish, and each of those keeps its own parcel map. Acreage along the edge near Houma can show up in two parish records, so check the adjacent map too. For a parcel near Bayou Blue, our state page links each bordering parish map across Louisiana.
Reading the legal description
Louisiana uses the Public Land Survey System, so rural legal descriptions near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge cite section, township and range. Each section is nominally a mile square, about 640 acres, with 36 sections to a township, though real sections near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge vary in size. Copy the legal description from the record for the parcel near Bourg when you talk to a surveyor.
Getting answers from the right desk
Recorded documents for a parcel near Dulac come from the Clerk of Court, often with an online index. Building or septic questions for a lot near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge are for the local planning and health departments, town or parish, depending on location.
Questions to ask before you buy
For acreage around Bourg, request about past flood claims before closing; getting a quote early keeps the budget honest.
The paper trail behind a parcel
When the details count, request the recorded deed from the Clerk of Court; the viewer just points to it, whether the land is near Chauvin or elsewhere in the parish. For acreage around Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge, long-held tracts in the parish can sit on many deeds, and a title company earns its fee before a purchase.
Water near Bayou Blue
Low-lying fields near Chauvin may not have detailed mapping, so look for water marks and debris lines. Wetlands near Bayou Cane can limit building even outside a flood zone; check the National Wetlands Inventory mapper for a first look.
On site with the map
The parcel map usually runs in a mobile browser, useful out on a road near Houma, so load it before you lose signal. A saved image of the lot near Houma and its lines helps when you meet an owner or agent.
Parcel lines plus flood zones
FEMA doesn't draw property lines, so check the Terrebonne Parish ArcGIS parcel map too to see exactly which lot near Houma you're looking at.
A quick look at the area
Houma holds the county offices, which is where the courthouse records live. Smaller places on the map include Bayou Blue, Bayou Cane, Bourg, and Chauvin, where town lots give way to larger tracts. Around 103,616 people live in Terrebonne Parish (Census estimate, 2023) spread over about 1,230 square miles. The parish dates to 1822, which matters when you trace an old farm's title around Bourg. Features like Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge are easy to spot when you zoom out.
Insurance, lenders and building
For a structure inside an A or V zone and a federally regulated lender is involved, flood insurance is generally required in communities in the NFIP, whether the land is near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge or elsewhere in the parish. Remodeling a house in a zone near Chauvin often needs a floodplain permit; check with the parish or town building office early.
Quick answers
Do I need to worry about flooding in Zone X in Terrebonne Parish?
Good question; Zone X near Houma means moderate (shaded) or minimal (unshaded) mapped risk; many owners near Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge buy coverage anyway.
What is a LOMA around Bayou Blue?
For acreage around Houma, a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) from FEMA can remove a structure on naturally high ground; a surveyor's elevation data supports it.
How often are flood maps updated near Bayou Blue?
Out toward Chauvin, FEMA revises flood maps panel by panel as new studies finish, so look at the panel date.
Is flood insurance mandatory near Bourg?
Around Bourg, 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 for land near Chauvin?
The deed for land near Dulac carries the legal description; copy it for any survey or title request.
Open the official Terrebonne Parish, LA 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.