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Oct. 28, 2011
Residents get 20 percent cut in insurance cost
GULFPORT — Many homeowners in Gulfport may now be eligible for a 20-percent discount on their flood insurance because of steps the city has taken to decrease its flood risk.
The City of Gulfport has been moved from a Class 8 to a Class 6 rating under the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System.
In the CRS, the lower the city’s rating, the better the discount for homeowners.
The Gulfport Department of Urban Development has worked diligently the past two years to minimize the city’s risk of flood.
“This is great news for our department and for property owners in our city,” said Gary Anderson, the city’s floodplain manager, who led an ambitious, 4-year effort to help correct hundreds of non-compliant properties that violated flood elevation requirements.
Gulfport corrected every non-compliant property on the list, increased protection for new development and accelerated awareness about the dangers of flood and the importance of being prepared, resulting in the new rating and as much as a 20-percent drop in the cost of insurance.
“This shows how dedicated the City of Gulfport is to keeping its people and their property safe,” Mayor George Schloegel said Friday. “While the price reduction is a big benefit of the new rating, it also shows how hard we’re working to reduce property damage and save lives.”
Flooding is the single most common cause of disaster in the U.S., according to FEMA. The Community Rating System was implemented in 1990 as a way to recognize and encourage floodplain management that exceeds the minimum NFIP standards.
- Don’t miss Tim Reynolds live and free in downtown Gulfport on Nov. 12. For more on this show and others on the CSCS schedule, click here.
Office of Public Information - rlafontaine@gulfport-ms.gov - Phone: 228-868-5782
P.O. Box 1780 Gulfport, MS 39502-1780 - FAX: 868-5800
