Certified Floodplain Manager (CFM) Exam
Script | Practice Review Guide | Graded
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• Types of floodplains . ANSWER: Riverine, coastal, and shallow
• Watershed . ANSWER: area that drains into a lake, stream, or body of water.
Also called basin or catchment area.
• Channel . ANSWER: Ground features that carry water through and out of a
watershed
• Riverine Flooding . ANSWER: flooding that occurs along a channel
• Flash flooding . ANSWER: flooding that occurs in hilly and mountainous areas
that may come scant minutes after a heavy rainfall. One can also occur in urban
areas where pavements and drainage improvements speed runoff to a stream.
• Overbank Flooding . ANSWER: The most common type flooding in the US. It
occurs when downstream channels receive more rain or snowmelt than normal, or
a channel is blocked by ice or debris. Excess water overloads the channels and
flows out onto the floodplain
• Velocity . ANSWER: One measure of a flood is the speed of moving water.
Measured in feet per second
• Thalweg . ANSWER: The channel bottom
,• Meander . ANSWER: a curve in the channel. The outside bank of the meander is
subject to erosion, the inside bank is subject to deposits
• Accrete . ANSWER: to build up a shoreline by depositing sand, either by nature
or human actions
• Actual Cash Value . ANSWER: The replacement cost for a building, minus a
depreciation percentage based on age and condition.
• Alluvial Fan . ANSWER: An area at the base of a valley where the slope flattens
out, allowing the floodwater to decrease in speed and spread out, dropping
sediment and rock over a fan-shaped area.
• Amendment . ANSWER: A change to a FEMA floodplain map that removes an
area that was inadvertently included in the Special Flood Hazard Area
• Approximate studies . ANSWER: Flood hazard mapping done using approximate
study methods that show the approximate outline of the base floodplain. An
approximate study does not produce a base flood elevation.
• Base Flood Depth . ANSWER: A measurement of the base flood in feet above
ground, used for shallow flooding
• Basement . ANSWER: Any area of the building having its flood subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides
• Base floodplain . ANSWER: the area of water and land inundated by the base
flood
, • Basin . ANSWER: Also known as a Watershed, an area that drains into a lake,
stream or other body of water.
• Bathymetry . ANSWER: The measurement of depths of water in the ocean or
lakes
• Bench marks . ANSWER: Monuments on the ground that show the elevation of
the spot above sea level. Also called Elevation Reference Marks.
• Building . ANSWER: A walled and roofed structure including a gas or liquid
storage tank that is principally above ground as well as a manufactured home. Also
known as structure
• Building Condition Survey . ANSWER: A windshield survey conducted to obtain
a preliminary evaluation of the extent and severity of damage to buildings after a
disaster
• CAP . ANSWER: Community Assistance Program
• Cfs . ANSWER: cubic feet per second, the unit by which discharges are
measured (A cubic foot of water is about 7.5 gallons)
• CLOMA . ANSWER: Conditional Letter of Map Amendment
• CLOMR . ANSWER: Conditional Letter Of Map Revision
• Closed Basin Lake . ANSWER: A lake that has either no outlet or relatively
small one, where rainfall or groundwater can cause the lake's level to ride faster
than it can drain
Script | Practice Review Guide | Graded
A+
• Types of floodplains . ANSWER: Riverine, coastal, and shallow
• Watershed . ANSWER: area that drains into a lake, stream, or body of water.
Also called basin or catchment area.
• Channel . ANSWER: Ground features that carry water through and out of a
watershed
• Riverine Flooding . ANSWER: flooding that occurs along a channel
• Flash flooding . ANSWER: flooding that occurs in hilly and mountainous areas
that may come scant minutes after a heavy rainfall. One can also occur in urban
areas where pavements and drainage improvements speed runoff to a stream.
• Overbank Flooding . ANSWER: The most common type flooding in the US. It
occurs when downstream channels receive more rain or snowmelt than normal, or
a channel is blocked by ice or debris. Excess water overloads the channels and
flows out onto the floodplain
• Velocity . ANSWER: One measure of a flood is the speed of moving water.
Measured in feet per second
• Thalweg . ANSWER: The channel bottom
,• Meander . ANSWER: a curve in the channel. The outside bank of the meander is
subject to erosion, the inside bank is subject to deposits
• Accrete . ANSWER: to build up a shoreline by depositing sand, either by nature
or human actions
• Actual Cash Value . ANSWER: The replacement cost for a building, minus a
depreciation percentage based on age and condition.
• Alluvial Fan . ANSWER: An area at the base of a valley where the slope flattens
out, allowing the floodwater to decrease in speed and spread out, dropping
sediment and rock over a fan-shaped area.
• Amendment . ANSWER: A change to a FEMA floodplain map that removes an
area that was inadvertently included in the Special Flood Hazard Area
• Approximate studies . ANSWER: Flood hazard mapping done using approximate
study methods that show the approximate outline of the base floodplain. An
approximate study does not produce a base flood elevation.
• Base Flood Depth . ANSWER: A measurement of the base flood in feet above
ground, used for shallow flooding
• Basement . ANSWER: Any area of the building having its flood subgrade (below
ground level) on all sides
• Base floodplain . ANSWER: the area of water and land inundated by the base
flood
, • Basin . ANSWER: Also known as a Watershed, an area that drains into a lake,
stream or other body of water.
• Bathymetry . ANSWER: The measurement of depths of water in the ocean or
lakes
• Bench marks . ANSWER: Monuments on the ground that show the elevation of
the spot above sea level. Also called Elevation Reference Marks.
• Building . ANSWER: A walled and roofed structure including a gas or liquid
storage tank that is principally above ground as well as a manufactured home. Also
known as structure
• Building Condition Survey . ANSWER: A windshield survey conducted to obtain
a preliminary evaluation of the extent and severity of damage to buildings after a
disaster
• CAP . ANSWER: Community Assistance Program
• Cfs . ANSWER: cubic feet per second, the unit by which discharges are
measured (A cubic foot of water is about 7.5 gallons)
• CLOMA . ANSWER: Conditional Letter of Map Amendment
• CLOMR . ANSWER: Conditional Letter Of Map Revision
• Closed Basin Lake . ANSWER: A lake that has either no outlet or relatively
small one, where rainfall or groundwater can cause the lake's level to ride faster
than it can drain
