New Texas Flood Maps: FEMA Sets a February 11, 2027 Appeal Deadline for Bandera County and Finalizes Flood Map Changes for 29 Communities in 14 Texas Counties

What Changed, and When

Three separate notices, all published the same day, all issued by FEMA within the Department of Homeland Security, and all under Docket ID FEMA-2026-0002.

1. The Bandera County appeal window opened, and it closes February 11, 2027. The notice is titled Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations, document 2026–23165, published at 91 FR 73267 under Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-B-2640. Its stated deadline is plain: “Comments are to be submitted on or before February 11, 2027.” The Texas entry in its table is Bandera County, Texas and Incorporated Areas, project 24-06-0045S, preliminary date June 10, 2026, listing the Unincorporated Areas of Bandera County, with the map repository given as the Bandera County Engineer Office, 1212 Hackberry Street, Bandera, TX 78003.

The notice explains what is being proposed and why the date matters. FEMA says it “proposes to make flood hazard determinations for each community listed below, in accordance with section 110 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. 4104, and 44 CFR 67.4(a).” Those determinations “may include additions or modifications of any Base Flood Elevation (BFE), base flood depth, Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) boundary or zone designation, or regulatory floodway on the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs).” And it is explicit that a request for reconsideration is an appeal: “Any request for reconsideration of the revised flood hazard information shown on the Preliminary FIRM and FIS report that satisfies the data requirements outlined in 44 CFR 67.6(b) is considered an appeal.” Comments that are not about the flood hazard determinations “also will be considered before the FIRM and FIS report become effective.”

The notice also records a route most property owners have never heard of. A Scientific Resolution Panel is available to communities in the appeal process — “independent panels of experts in hydrology, hydraulics, and other pertinent sciences established to review conflicting scientific and technical data and provide recommendations for resolution” — and it “only may be exercised after FEMA and local communities have been engaged in a collaborative consultation process for at least 60 days without a mutually acceptable resolution of an appeal.”

2. Twenty-nine Texas community entries had map changes finalized. The notice titled Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations, document 2026–23163, published at 91 FR 73254 under Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-B-2639, lists communities where FEMA revised the maps “through issuance of a Letter of Map Revision (LOMR), in accordance with Federal Regulations,” because the change “is appropriate because of new scientific or technical data.” These are made “pursuant to section 201 of the Flood Disaster Protection Act of 1973, 42 U.S.C. 4105,” and in accordance with 44 CFR 65.4. The Texas dates of modification in this notice run from October 5, 2026 through November 2, 2026.

The notice carries a second clock, and it is not measured from the publication date: “From the date of the second publication of notification of these changes in a newspaper of local circulation, any person has 90 days in which to request through the community that the Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator, Federal Insurance Directorate, Resilience reconsider the changes.” It adds that “the flood hazard determination information may be changed during the 90-day period,” and that any such request “must be submitted to the Chief Executive Officer of the community.” One more line is worth reading twice, because it affects every policy written on an affected property: “The current effective community number is shown in the table below and must be used for all new policies and renewals.”

3. A companion notice adds three more Texas entries. Document 2026–23160, also titled Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations and published at 91 FR 73268, lists the unincorporated areas of Denton County with a date of modification of July 2, 2026, the City of Hillsboro in Hill County with June 5, 2026, and the City of Fort Worth with July 6, 2026.

Where the Bandera maps came from. The preliminary maps themselves are not new as of this week. FEMA announced them in a release dated June 10, 2026, release number R6-NR-14, stating that preliminary FIRMs were “available for review by residents and business owners in portions of the unincorporated areas of Bandera County, Texas,” that the work is a Physical Map Revision, and that property owners could “participate in the appeal and comment periods for the maps.” FEMA added in that release that “flooding can and does happen outside of the most vulnerable areas,” and that “there are cost-saving options available for those newly mapped into a high-risk flood zone.” The Bandera Bulletin reported the preliminary maps on June 16, 2026. What the November 13 Federal Register notice does is put the statutory comment and appeal period, and its February 11, 2027 end date, on the record.

Who in Texas This Reaches

These notices name places, and the names are the useful part. Property owners, buyers, sellers, lenders, insurers and local floodplain administrators in the listed communities are the people the notices speak to.

The Bandera County appeal window (deadline February 11, 2027) covers the unincorporated areas of Bandera County — the same Hill Country county that sat inside the July 2026 flood disaster area and inside the state livestock quarantine zones added earlier this month.

The 29 finalized Texas entries in document 2026–23163, by county:

• Bexar County — City of San Antonio (cases 25-06-1261P and 26-06-0150P, modified October 5, 2026) and the unincorporated areas of Bexar County (26-06-0238P and 26-06-0274P, October 13, 2026; 26-06-0276P, November 2, 2026).
• Collin County — City of Lowry Crossing and unincorporated Collin County (26-06-1046P, October 14, 2026); City of Wylie and unincorporated Collin County (26-06-0366P, October 9, 2026).
• Comal and Kendall counties — City of Fair Oaks Ranch (25-06-1287P, October 5, 2026).
• Dallas County — City of Coppell (October 13, 2026); City of Garland and City of Rowlett (25-06-1497P, October 5, 2026); City of Sachse (October 9, 2026).
• Denton County — City of Denton and unincorporated Denton County (25-06-1806P, October 30, 2026); unincorporated Denton County (25-06-2350P, October 5, 2026).
• Grayson County — unincorporated areas (October 14, 2026).
• Kaufman County — unincorporated areas (October 9, 2026).
• Kendall County — unincorporated areas (25-06-1287P, October 5, 2026).
• Midland County — unincorporated areas (October 28, 2026).
• Rockwall County — City of Rockwall (October 9, 2026).
• Tarrant County — City of Fort Worth (25-06-1311P, October 13, 2026; 26-06-0824P, October 29, 2026) and City of Lake Worth (October 13, 2026).
• Webb County — City of Laredo (October 9, 2026).
• Wilbarger County — City of Vernon (October 16, 2026).
• Williamson County — City of Cedar Park (October 29, 2026) and City of Taylor (October 5, 2026).

Document 2026–23160 adds the unincorporated areas of Denton County, the City of Hillsboro in Hill County, and the City of Fort Worth.

Within those places, a map change does not land on everyone equally. The people most affected are owners of parcels near a mapped stream, creek or floodway where a boundary moved; buyers under contract in a listed community whose flood determination was produced from the older panel; owners whose elevation certificate was prepared against a Base Flood Elevation that has since changed; and anyone holding or renewing a flood policy in a listed community, because the notice directs that the current effective community number be used for new policies and renewals.

What This Changes Legally

Four things in these notices are worth separating, because the documents keep them separate.

• The Special Flood Hazard Area boundary is a legal line, not a suggestion. FEMA describes SFHAs in its Bandera release as “areas at high risk for flooding,” and the notices state that the FIRM and FIS report “are the basis of the floodplain management measures that the community is required either to adopt or to show evidence of having in effect in order to qualify or remain qualified for participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).” Where that boundary falls is what drives flood insurance requirements on federally backed lending and the permit rules a community applies to building and rebuilding.
• An appeal is a documented, technical proceeding with a deadline. The Bandera notice ties an appeal to the data requirements of 44 CFR 67.6(b) and gives the date, February 11, 2027. A reconsideration request under the LOMR notice runs 90 days from the second local newspaper publication and goes “through the community” to the Chief Executive Officer, not directly to FEMA. These are evidentiary disputes about hydrology and elevation, which is why they are usually built with an engineer and a lawyer working from the same file.
• A community can be stricter than FEMA, and often is. Both notices state that the determinations “together with the floodplain management criteria required by 44 CFR 60.3, are the minimum that are required,” and that a community “may at any time enact stricter requirements of its own or pursuant to policies established by other Federal, State, or regional entities.” So the local ordinance, not only the federal map, decides what a permit requires.
• The maps are documents, and documents can be wrong. The LOMR notice says the revisions were made “because of new scientific or technical data,” which is the same category of evidence an owner can bring the other way. FEMA maintains a published route for owners who believe a map is wrong about their property, described in its guide for community members on initiating map revisions.

What Kind of Option Might Apply

Nothing on this page can tell any reader whether a particular property is in or out of a Special Flood Hazard Area, whether a flood insurance requirement applies to a particular loan, or whether an appeal would succeed. Those turn on one parcel, one map panel, one survey and one loan file — which is exactly what a lawyer reads. There are several places where that review is useful.

• A letter from a lender or servicer about flood insurance. A real estate attorney can compare the flood determination the lender relied on against the map panel and effective date now on the record, and explain the dates on the letter.
• A preliminary map that appears to be wrong about a parcel. Where the elevation or the boundary looks mistaken, the appeal route under 44 CFR 67.6(b) exists for exactly that, and the Bandera window closes February 11, 2027. An attorney working with a surveyor or engineer can review whether the data supports a challenge.
• A sale or purchase under contract in a listed community. Disclosure, financing conditions, insurance cost and closing timelines can all move when a map changes mid-transaction. A lawyer can review the contract against the new determination.
• A floodplain permit, a denial, or a rebuild after the July 2026 floods. Several listed counties were inside this year flood disaster areas. Where a community applies new building or substantial-improvement rules to a repair, an attorney can read the ordinance alongside the federal minimum.
• A flood insurance claim or coverage dispute. Mapping, zone designation and the community number affect policy terms and rating. An attorney can review a denial or a coverage position against the policy and the map record.
• A landlord-tenant question after flooding. Habitability, repair and lease issues after a flood are their own body of law, separate from the mapping question.

Each of these turns on one property and one set of documents. An experienced Texas attorney can review them and explain the options; this page cannot, and does not try to.

Why Acting Quickly Can Matter

The dates here are generous by the standards of most legal deadlines, and that is the opportunity rather than the threat. The Bandera County comment and appeal period runs until February 11, 2027, which leaves time to pull an elevation certificate, look at the preliminary panel with a surveyor, and talk to a lawyer well before the window closes. FEMA states in the notice that the preliminary FIRM and FIS report for each community are “available for inspection” both online and at the local map repository, and that the current effective FIRM is available through the FEMA Map Service Center “for comparison.”

The clock that is easier to miss is the reconsideration period on the finalized changes, because it does not start on the day the Federal Register publishes. It runs 90 days from “the second publication of notification of these changes in a newspaper of local circulation,” which means the local notice, not the federal one, is the document that starts it. Where a map change has already been finalized for a community, checking when that local publication ran is the first useful step, and it is best done with a lawyer while the period is still open.

If a lawyer in our network offers an initial consultation, it is free.

Sources

1. Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations, notice, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security — 91 FR 73267, Federal Register, November 13, 2026; document 2026–23165; Docket ID FEMA-2026-0002; Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-B-2640; comments due February 11, 2027; names Bandera County, Texas (primary document).
2. Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations, notice, Federal Emergency Management Agency — 91 FR 73254, Federal Register, November 13, 2026; document 2026–23163; Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-B-2639; the 29 Texas community entries and their dates of modification (primary document).
3. Changes in Flood Hazard Determinations, notice, Federal Emergency Management Agency — 91 FR 73268, Federal Register, November 13, 2026; document 2026–23160; the Denton County, Hillsboro and Fort Worth entries (primary document).
4. Proposed Flood Hazard Determinations — Federal Register online edition of the same notice, including the appeal language and the community table.
5. Preliminary Flood Maps for Bandera County, Texas, Ready for Public View, FEMA Region 6, release R6-NR-14, June 10, 2026 — FEMA announcement of the preliminary maps now under appeal.
6. FEMA flood maps released, Bandera Bulletin, June 16, 2026 — independent local coverage of the Bandera County preliminary maps.
7. Community Members Guide to Initiating Map Revisions, FEMA — the published route for property owners who believe a flood map is wrong about their property.
8. FEMA Flood Map Service Center — the official repository the notices name for comparing the current effective FIRM with the preliminary one.