Do you need flood insurance?

If you live or own property in Cambridge, especially in North Cambridge, Cambridge Highlands, Strawberry Hill, West Cambridge or Neighborhood 9 you should be aware of the proposed revisions to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs) proposed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Your property may be in the proposed new flood plain limits and you may be required to purchase flood insurance. FEMA is in the process of updating the FIRMs for Cambridge and surrounding communities. This process will revise the limits of the flood plain, which in Cambridge is principally located in the Alewife area. Approximately 160 additional buildings are proposed to be included in the revised flood plain limits in Alewife.

Preliminary flood maps and the Flood Insurance Study (FIS) prepared by FEMA are available for review on line (below) and at these Cambridge locations:

Dept. of Public Works – 147 Hampshire Street
City Clerk’s Office – 795 Massachusetts Avenue
Conservation Commission Office – 344 Broadway
Community Development Department Office – 344 Broadway
Department of Public Works – 147 Hampshire Street
Inspectional Services Department - 831 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge Public Library - Longfellow School, 359 Broadway
Boudreau Branch Library - 245 Concord Ave
Collins Branch Library - 64 Aberdeen Ave
O'Neill Branch Library - 70 Rindge Ave
Central Square Branch Library - 45 Pearl St
O'Connell Branch Library - 48 Sixth St
Valente Branch Library - 826 Cambridge St.

The City urges any residents/property owners/businesses who think they may be affected by the proposed revised flood maps to contact:

Daisy Sweeney, FEMA Insurance Specialist: 617-832-4788/ daisy.sweeny@dhs.gov
David Mendelsohn, FEMA Region 1: 617-832-4713/ david.mendelsohn@dhs.gov
Richard Zingarelli, DCR: 617-626-1406/ richard.zingarelli@state.ma.us
Catherine Woodbury, Cambridge DPW: 617-349-4818/ cwoodbury@cambridgema.gov

For more information see the links below. Please note that all the documents below are in pdf format. Some of the files are large and may take a while to download.

Additional Information

Preliminary Flood Plain Map with Parcel Information

FEMA Preliminary Flood Insurance Rate Map information

Flood Insurance Study (FIS) (abridged – Cambridge information only)

Flood Insurance Study (FIS) (Middlesex County, all jurisdictions)

Volume 1 – Flood Insurance Study
Volume 2 – Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles – Aberjona River – Greens Brook
Volume 3 – Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles – Guggins Brook – River Meadow Brook
Volume 4 – Exhibit 1 - Flood Profiles – Run Brook – Witch Brook

Maps – Exhibit 2 Flood Insurance Rate Maps (Cambridge maps only)


Map 1 - (25017C0418E) Includes a small area in Cambridge bordering with the Town of Belmont and includes portions of the following neighborhoods: Cambridge Highlands and Strawberry Hill.

Map 2 - (25017C0419E) Includes an area bordering with the Town of Arlington and City of Somerville and includes portions of the following neighborhoods: North Cambridge, Cambridge Highlands, Strawberry Hill, Neighborhood 9 and Neighborhood 10.

Map 3 - (25017C0438E) Includes an area bordering with the City of Somerville and includes portions of the following neighborhoods: North Cambridge, Neighborhood 9, Agassiz and Mid Cambridge.

Map 4 - (25017C0557E) Includes an area bordering with the Town of Watertown and the Charles River and includes portions of Neighborhood 10.

Map 5 - (25017C0576E) Includes an area bordering with the Charles River and includes portions of the following neighborhoods: Neighborhood 10, Mid-Cambridge, Cambridgeport, Area IV, Wellington Harrington and MIT/Area 2.

Map 6 - (25017C0577E) Includes an area bordering with the Charles River and Cities of Somerville and Boston and includes portions of the following neighborhoods: MIT/Area 2, East Cambridge, Area IV and Wellington Harrington.

If you have difficulty locating your property on one of these maps, you can contact Cambridge DPW at 617. 349.4800.

Flood Insurance Information (FEMA)

The National Flood Insurance Program
Flood Insurance and Flood Map Fact Sheet
Answers to Tough Questions
Personal Property Coverage Fact Sheet
Saving of Flood Insurance - Information on Grandfathering Rule
Your Homeowners Insurance Doesn’t Cover Floods….

Mapping Information

FEMA Map Assistance Center – 1-877-336-2627 (toll free)
Vertical Datum - New Mapping Procedures
GIS in Flood Map Modernization

Technical Details (New)

FEMA Technical Notebook for Mystic River Study - Middlesex County Technical Data Notebook (TSDN) prepared by ENSR and Dewberry for use in developing preliminary flood insurance rate maps for Middlesex County. Contains flood profiles, data tables, FIS data checklist, floodway data table, Mystic River FIS text, and workmaps. This link is a 27 MB compressed file containing Microsoft Access databases, ArcView shapefiles, DXf files, PDFs and Word document.