Brookhaven, GA Hurricane Preparedness: Flood Elevation (2026)

Sec. 14-816 covers buildings authorized adjacent to the future-conditions floodplain. For a new or substantially improved principal residential building or manufactured home, the lowest floor, including basement and access to the building, must be at least three feet above the base flood elevation or one foot above the future-conditions flood elevation, whichever is higher. For a principal nonresidential building the lowest floor, including basement and access, must be at least one foot above the base flood elevation or at least as high as the future-conditions flood elevation, whichever is higher. Solid foundation perimeter walls need openings that equalize hydrologic flood forces, built to the standards of Sec. 14-814(5).

The equipment rule in Sec. 14-814(6) matters as much as the floor. All heating and air conditioning equipment and components, including ductwork, and all electrical, ventilation, plumbing and other service facilities must be designed or located three feet above the base flood elevation or one foot above the future-conditions flood elevation, whichever is higher, so water cannot enter or accumulate in them during flooding. Sec. 14-814 also requires new water supply and sanitary sewage systems to minimize infiltration of floodwaters, and on-site waste disposal systems to be located and built to avoid impairment or contamination during flooding.

Where no base flood data exist, Sec. 14-817 lets the floodplain coordinator use available scientific or historic elevation data. If none exists for a residential single lot, no structures or fill can sit within twice the stream width or 50 feet from the top of the bank, whichever is greater, and the lowest enclosed floor must be no less than three feet above the highest adjacent grade. In AO shallow-flooding zones, Sec. 14-818 requires the lowest floor one foot above the FIRM flood depth number above the highest adjacent grade, or at least three feet above the highest adjacent grade if no depth is specified.

Sec. 14-732 states the limit of all this: larger floods can and will occur, and the article does not imply that land outside the areas of special flood hazard will be free from flooding.