To protect public health and safety and minimize public and private losses due to flood conditions, the Canaveral Port Authority has adopted flood damage prevention standards for new construction and substantial improvements within areas of special flood hazard, as identified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency on its Flood Insurance Rate Map. These regulations are designed to eliminate uses and practices that can increase erosion or flood heights and velocities, as well as promote construction methods that can protect vulnerable facilities against flood damage.

General Standards for all Flood Hazard Areas

1. Structures should be anchored to prevent flotation, collapse or lateral movement and constructed with materials and by methods that minimize flood damage.
2. Electrical, heating, ventilation, plumbing, air conditioning equipment, water supply systems, sanitary sewage systems and on-site waste disposal systems should be designed to minimize or eliminate infiltration of flood waters into the systems and, as applicable, prevent discharge from the systems into flood waters.
3. Adequate drainage paths should be provided around structures to guide stormwater run-off and shallow flood waters away from them.

Specific Zone Standards

In areas of special flood hazard:
1. The lowest floor of a structure, including basement, must be elevated at least one foot above the level of the base flood elevation (BFE). Buildings located in A zones may be floodproofed to at least one foot above the BFE instead of being elevated.
2. Elevated buildings that include fully enclosed areas formed by foundation and other exterior walls below the BFE must be designed to allow floodwaters to enter and exit relatively freely. This allows the pressure of the flood waters on the exterior walls to equalize automatically. These fully enclosed areas can be used only for parking, building access and limited storage of maintenance equipment.

In Coastal High Hazard areas (V zones):
1. Buildings must be located at least 100 feet landward of the reach of the mean high tide.
2. Buildings must be elevated so that the bottom of the lowest supporting horizontal members are at least two feet above the base flood elevation, with open space below. This open space can be screened only with open lattice work or decorative screening designed to wash away in a flood, and the space can be used only for parking, building access and limited storage of maintenance equipment.
3. All structures must be securely anchored on pilings or columns which are anchored to resist flotation, collapse and lateral movement due to water or wind loads. Fill cannot be used for structural support.
4. There cannot be any alteration of sand dunes or mangrove stands which would increase potential flood damage.

In Areas of Shallow Flooding (A0 zones):
1. The lowest floor of any building, including the basement, must be elevated to the depth number specified on the Flood Insurance Rate Map, in feet, above the highest adjacent grade. If no depth number is specified, the lowest floor must be elevated at least two feet above the highest adjacent grade, OR
2. The building must be completely floodproofed to at least one foot above that level.

When you apply for a building permit in any of these zones of special flood hazard, you will need to provide proof of compliance with these standards. Specific requirements for proof can be found in the Canaveral Port Authority's Flood Damage Prevention Regulation, Article 4.