Iowa City Today

The City of Iowa City is pleased to announce the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has classified the City a Class 6 in the agency's Community Rating System (CRS) for floodplain management.

The CRS is a voluntary federal incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed the minimum requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). Communities that participate in the program are scored using a point system and classified between 10 (lowest) and 1 (highest). Communities are evaluated every five years and this marks the second time the City has achieved a Class 6 rating.

The goals of the program are to:

• Reduce and avoid flood damage to insurable property
• Strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the National Flood Insurance Program
• Foster comprehensive floodplain management

Flood insurance rates for the entire community are discounted based on the community's CRS class. The number of points awarded to a city are based on 19 creditable activities, organized in four categories:

• Public Information
• Mapping and Regulations
• Flood Damage Reduction
• Warning and Response

As a Class 6 community, Iowa City property owners in Special Flood Hazard Areas (those with a 1 percent annual chance of flooding) see a 20 percent discount in flood insurance premiums. Property owners in non-Special Flood Hazard Areas see a 10 percent discount. Flood insurance for a building, its contents, or both is available to anyone in Iowa City regardless of whether the property is located in a regulated floodplain.

As of July 2021, 688 Iowa communities participate in the National Flood Insurance Program. Iowa City is one of only 13 (2 percent) of these communities that participate in the CRS. Iowa City has the fifth highest number of insurance policies issued in its jurisdiction and the second highest CRS program score in Iowa.

Original source can be found here.