Okaloosa County, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Adopted as Ord. No. 16, the Floodplain Management Ordinance applies to all development that is wholly or partially within a flood hazard area in unincorporated Okaloosa County: not just new buildings, but the subdivision of land, filling and grading, utility installation, alteration or demolition of structures exempt from the Florida Building Code, manufactured home and recreational vehicle placement, tank installation, and swimming pool construction. Flood hazard areas are established using the Flood Insurance Study for Okaloosa County dated March 9, 2021 and the accompanying Flood Insurance Rate Maps, both adopted by reference and on file at the Growth Management Department; ground surveyed by a Florida-licensed surveyor below the closest base flood elevation is treated as flood hazard area even if a FIRM does not show it as such.

The County Engineer is designated Floodplain Administrator and must approve a development permit before any covered activity proceeds, coordinating with the Building Official where the Florida Building Code also applies. The ordinance supersedes any earlier flood-management ordinance but does not repeal zoning, stormwater, or Building Code requirements, and the more restrictive rule controls if they conflict. Because larger floods than the mapped base flood can and do occur, the ordinance expressly disclaims that compliance guarantees a property will stay dry, and it shields the Board of County Commissioners and its officers from liability for flood damage that follows compliant development.