Pinellas County Residents Awarded Significant Flood Insurance Discount After Upgrade in Community Rating

WASHINGTON -- Earlier today, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell presented Pinellas County, Florida officials a plaque to commemorate their new flood insurance rating.

Pinellas County will now have a Community Rating System class 2 status with the National Flood Insurance Program, which will give policy holders a 40% discount on their flood insurance. There are more than 27,200 flood insurance policies in the county.

"This is what it looks like when a community invests in resilience and those investments pay off," Administrator Criswell said. "Not only are the lives of Pinellas County residents improved upon, but the county is saving them money and creating a more resilient community for them to call home. All of these investments serve as a down payment on a better future for all of us, especially as we continue to face more severe storms and hurricanes that are creating more catastrophic flooding events."

Across the country each year, $2.4 billion is saved through the National Flood Insurance Program's floodplain management standards, which has totaled $100 billion in losses avoided in the program's history. Additionally, structures built to meet or exceed the program's minimum floodplain management standards incur at least 65% less flood damage.

The class 2 rating became effective April 1. Under the insurance rating approach, nearly all policyholders within a participating community can see premium decreases from their community's rating.

The Community Rating System provides a comprehensive set of 19 floodplain management activities, further divided into 100 individual elements, which communities can be recognized for implementing. Credit points are assigned to these elements. The credit point totals determine a community's ranking which can be anywhere from a class 9 level, providing a 5% premium reduction, up to a class 1 level, providing a 45% premium reduction.

Pinellas County is now one of only 11 communities with a class 2 or higher ranking. Only two communities nationwide have a class 1 rating, including Roswell, California and Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Nationwide there are approximately 1,500 Community Rating System communities, with more than 200 of them being in Florida.