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Historic flood photo viewer

The King County Interactive Mapping Tool (iMap) can show you what the landscape looked like during past flood conditions. These photos are one source of information to show areas that will likely flood again in the future.

One way we describe how likely an area is to flood is in patterns that we call a “100-year flood” or a “500-year flood”. A 100-year flood means there is one chance in one hundred that it will happen each year. 500-year floods are even less likely to occur.

Photos have been taken in King County by aircraft during flood events as far back as 1946. These photos and their geographic locations can be viewed in iMap. 

How to use iMap

  • Select the Layer List icon in the header bar

  • Enable Flooding info

    Turn on the "Flooding Info" layer by clicking or tapping the checkbox next to its name.

  • Expand the Flooding info layer

    Expand the “Flooding Info” layer options by clicking or tapping the arrow to the left of the checkbox.

  • Enable flood photos

    Click or tap to turn on the "Flood photos" layer.

  • Navigating around the map

    You can move around the map and zoom in to the area you are interested in. If you are looking for a specific address, enter the address of the property you are checking into the Search Bar in the upper left corner of the map. Then click or tap the address in the drop-down list that appears, or the magnifying glass icon and the map will zoom to the address.

  • View historic flood photos on the map

    On the map, click or tap on one of the colored square dots that indicate an available photo. A small version of flood photo will open. Click on the photo to enlarge.

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