Services > Community Development

OverviewBuilding DivisionEngineering DivisionForms and PermitsPermit Info and Requirements
Planning and ZoningPolicies Processes and ProceduresPublic Health Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force

Flooding - Definitions

Click Here to go back to the Flooding Main Page

All Definitions from Title 22, Floodplain Regulations, Chapter 22.06, Definitions, of the Wheeling Municipal Code

Base Flood (Section 22.06.050)
"Base flood" means the flood having a one-percent probability of being equaled or exceeded in any given year. The base flood is also known as the one-hundred-year frequency flood event. Application of the base flood elevation at any location is as defined in Chapter 22.12. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Base Flood Elevation (Section 22.06.070)
"Base flood elevation" means the elevation in relation to mean sea level of the crest of the base flood. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Basement (Section 22.06.080)
"Basement" means the portion of the building having its floor subgrade (below ground level) on all sides.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Building (Section 22.06.090)
"Building" means a structure that is principally above ground and is enclosed by walls and a roof. The term includes a gas or liquid storage tank, a manufactured home, mobile home or a prefabricated building. This term also includes recreational vehicles and travel trailers to be installed on a site for more than one hundred eighty days. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Compensatory Storage (Section 22.06.120)
"Compensatory storage" means an artificially excavated, hydraulically equivalent volume of storage within the SFHA used to balance the loss of natural flood storage capacity when artificial fill or structures are placed within the floodplain. The uncompensated loss of natural floodplain storage can increase off-site floodwater elevations and flows. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Conditional Letter of Map Revision (CLOMR) (Section 22.06.140)
"Conditional letter of map revision (CLOMR)" means a letter which indicates that FEMA will revise base flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodway as shown on an effective Flood Hazard Boundary Map or Flood Insurance Rate Map, once the as-built plans are submitted and approved.  (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Dam (Section 22.06.170)
"Dam" means all obstructions, wall embankments or barriers, together with their abutments and appurtenant works, if any, constructed for the purpose of storing or diverting water or creating a pool. Dams may also include weirs, restrictive culverts or impoundment structures. Underground water storage tanks are not included.  (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Development (Section 22.06.190)
"Development" means any man-made change to real estate, including:
(a) Construction, reconstruction, repair, or placement of a building or any addition to a building;
(b) Installing a manufactured home on a site, preparing a site for a manufactured home, or installing a travel trailer or recreational vehicle on a site for more than one hundred eighty days. If the travel trailer or recreational vehicle is on site for more than one hundred eighty days, it must be fully licensed and ready for highway use;
(c) Drilling, mining, installing utilities, construction of roads, bridges, or similar projects;
(d) Demolition of a structure or redevelopment of a site;
(e) Clearing of land as an adjunct of construction;
(f) Construction or erection of levees, walls, fences, dams, or culverts; channel modification; filling, dredging, grading, excavating, paving, or other nonagricultural alterations of the ground surface; storage of materials; deposit of solid or liquid waste;
(g) Any other activity of man that might change the direction, height, or velocity of flood or surface water, including extensive vegetation removal;
(h) Substantial improvement of an existing building.
"Development" does not include maintenance of existing buildings and facilities such as re-roofing or re-surfacing of roads when there is no increase in elevation, or gardening, plowing, and similar agricultural practices that do not involve filling, grading, or construction of levees.  (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Elevation Certificates (Section 22.06.200)
"Elevation certificates" means a form published by FEMA that is used to certify the elevation to which a building has been elevated. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Flood (Section 22.06.260)
"Flood" means a general and temporary condition of partial or complete inundation of normally dry land areas from overflow of inland or tidal waves, or the unusual and rapid accumulation or runoff of surface waters from any source.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Flood Frequency (Section 22.06.270)
"Flood frequency" means a period of years, based on a statistical analysis, during which a flood of a stated magnitude may be expected to be equaled or exceeded.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Flood Insurance

Floodplain (Section 22.06.310)
"Floodplain" means that land typically adjacent to a body of water with ground surface elevations at or below the base flood or the one-hundred-year frequency flood elevation. Floodplains may also include detached special flood hazard areas, ponding areas, etc. The floodplain is also known as the special flood hazard area (SFHA). The floodplains are those lands within the jurisdiction of the village that are subject to inundation by the base flood or one-hundred-year frequency flood. The SFHA's of the village are generally identified as such on Map Number 17031C, Panels 0064J, 0068J, 0069J, 0202J, 0206J, 0207J, dated August 19, 2008, respectively, of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Cook County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Map Number 17097C, Panel 0264G dated November 6, 2000 of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Lake County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The SFHA's of those parts of unincorporated Cook County that are within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the village or that may be annexed into the village are generally identified as such on Map Number 17031C, Panels 0064J, 0068J, 0069J, 0202J, 0206J, 0207J, dated August 19, 2008, respectively, of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Cook County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management.
(Ord. 4322 § A (part), 2008: Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Freeboard (Section 22.06.360)
"Freeboard" means an increment of elevation added to the base flood elevation to provide a factor of safety for uncertainties in calculations, unknown localized conditions, wave actions and unpredictable effects such as those caused by ice or debris jams.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA)  (Section 22.06.400)
"Letter of map amendment (LOMA)" means an official determination by FEMA that a specific structure is not a one-hundred-year flood zone; amends the effective Flood Hazard Boundary Map (FHBM) or FIRM.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Letter of Map Revision (LOMR) (Section 22.06.410)
"Letter of map revision (LOMR)" means a letter that revises base flood or one-hundred-year frequency flood elevations, flood insurance rate zones, flood boundaries or floodways as shown on an effective FHBM or FIRM.
(Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Regulatory Floodway (Section 22.06.570)
"Regulatory floodway" means the channel, including on-stream lakes, and that portion of the floodplain adjacent to a stream or watercourse as designated by IDNR/OWR which is needed to store and convey the existing and anticipated future one-hundred-year frequency flood discharge with no more than a 0.1 foot increase in stage due to the loss of flood conveyance or storage, and no more than a ten percent increase in velocities. The regulatory floodway for Buffalo Creek and Wheeling Drainage Ditch were based on conveyance in accordance with an agreement with IDNR/OWR. The regulatory floodways are designated for Wheeling Drainage Ditch, Buffalo Creek, McDonald Creek and Des Plaines River on Map Number 17031C, Panels 0064J, 0068J, 0069J, 0202J, 0206J, 0207J, dated August 19, 2008, respectively, of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Cook County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Map Number 17097C, Panel 0264G dated November 6, 2000 of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Lake County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The regulatory floodways for those parts of unincorporated Cook County that are within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the village that may be annexed into the village are designated for those streams on Map Number 17031C, Panels 0064J, 0068J, 0069J, 0202J, 0206J, 0207J, dated August 19, 2008, respectively, of the countywide Flood Insurance Rate Map for Cook County prepared by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. To locate the regulatory floodway boundary on any site, the regulatory floodway boundary shall be scaled off the regulatory floodway map and located on a site plan, using reference marks common to both maps. Where interpretation is needed to determine the exact location of the regulatory floodway boundary, the DWR should be contacted for the interpretation. (Ord. 4322 § A (part), 2008: Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Runoff (Section 22.06.620)
"Runoff" means the water derived from melting snow or rain falling on the land surface, flowing over the surface of the ground or collected in channels or conduits. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

Special Flood Hazard Are (SFHA) (Section 22.06.640)
"Special flood hazard area (SFHA)" means any base flood area subject to flooding from a river, creek, intermittent stream, ditch, or any other identified channel or ponding and shown on a FHBM or FIRM as zone A, AO, A1-30, AE, A99, or AH, V0, V30, VE, M, E, D, or X. (Ord. 4183 § A (part), 2007)

National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)