Cape Charles Receives new Rating in National Flood Insurance Program Community Rating System

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The NFIP’s Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that help citizens prevent or reduce flood losses.

Participating municipalities are ranked in classes one through nine, based on points received for a number of activities and as a result, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS:

1. Reduce flood damage to insurable property;
2. Strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP, and
3. Encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management.

Previously, the town of Cape Charles was rated as a CRS Class 9 and residents of the town were eligible to receive a 5% discount on their flood insurance policies. Thanks to the hard work of town staff, especially Code Official Jeb Brady, effective May 1, 2019, the Town will be classified as a CRS Class 8 which increases the flood insurance discount to 10%.