NFIP/Community Rating System

NFIP/Community Rating System (CRS)

The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) started in 1990. It was a voluntary program that recognize and encourage participating communities’ floodplain management activities that exceeds the NFIP’s minimum standards.

DeKalb County officially joined the NFIP’s CRS program on October 1, 1992. The County currently undertakes more than twelve (12) out of the nineteen (19) creditable activities generally grouped under the following

● Public Information

● Mapping and regulation

● Flood damage reduction

● Warning and response

Additional credits are received for assessing and regulating developments outside the SFHA and future flood conditions to the same standards as development inside the SFHA.

Goals of NFIP CRS Program

The goals of the Community Rating System (CRS) can be summarized as follow;

a. reduction in flood damage to insurable property

b. Strength and support insurance aspects of the NFIP and

c. comprehensive floodplain management

Class Designation

County is currently in Class 7.

Having met the three goals of the CRS program and still improving on them, residents of unincorporated DeKalb county in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) are entitled to a 15 percent discount on their flood insurance premiums and a 5 percent discount for residents outside the SFHAs.

Benefits of the CRS Program

Apart from the discounts on flood insurance premiums and lower cost flood insurance rates, other benefits of the CRS program include:

· Residents and property owners have additional opportunities to learn about risk, understand and evaluate their individual vulnerabilities to the risk and take appropriate actions to protect themselves and their properties.

· Enhanced public safety, reduction in damage to property and public infrastructure thereby avoiding economic disruptions and loss in the community through good floodplain management.

· Evaluation of the effectiveness of the DeKalb County’s flood program against a nationally recognized benchmark.

For additional information on the National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System, click here

Flood Hazard Warning and Response

a. Always be PREPARED for a flood

· Know your flood risk here

· Sign up for DeKalb CodeRed Emergency Alert System

· Know your evacuation routes, shelter plans etc.

· Gather enough supplies in case you have to leave immediately

· Obtain flood insurance

b. When it Floods DO the following to SURVIVE

· Evacuate immediately when told to do so

· Do not walk, swim or drive through flood waters