Centralia homeowners and business owners who buy flood insurance will see their premiums drop an average $144 per year now that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has issued the city an exceptional rating for reducing property losses to floods, promoting flood insurance and accurate insurance ratings.
The savings per year will add up to about $151,000 for the 1,049 flood insurance policies in Centralia.
Centralia now joins 56 nationwide communities out of over 20,500 who have been designated with a Class 5 ranking or better by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program’s community rating system.
“That’s a pretty remarkable achievement for the city of Centralia,” FEMA’s chief of Region 10’s flood plain management and insurance branch, Mark Riebau, said.
On Tuesday night, Riebau presented the Centralia City Council with a plaque for the accomplishment, saying the city is now in “rarefied air.”
Chehalis received a Class 5 ranking in May 2009, according to FEMA.
Centralia made the jump to a Class 5 ranking from a Class 7 by elevating houses and buildings, providing flood assistance, maps and information to the public, managing storm water and planning for floodplain management.
“A lot of them are implemented through ordinances or public outreach,” Riebau, who oversees Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska from his Bothell office, said of the flood mitigation measures.
According to Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson, the city is in the ongoing process of elevating 144 homes and businesses out of the reach of potential floodwaters.
Pierson said Centralia started working two years ago to improve its community rating with FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program, which is a voluntary incentive program that rewards communities for exceeding minimum flood insurance requirements.
“It’s a lot of hard work dealing with our ordinances and codes and getting information out to the public,” Pierson said.
The community rating system begins at 10 and its highest level is 1, much like a fire rating system, Riebau said. Starting at 9, each lower ranking can give a community’s flood insurance purchasers up to 5 percent in savings.
FEMA evaluates communities’ rating system every five years, Riebau said.
FEMA makes grants available to communities in need to raise homes and businesses out of the reach of damaging floods, Riebau said.
Riebau noted that flood insurance savings are based per policy, but with more premiums purchased in Centralia “that savings will increase.”
