Press Release
Public Works

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEMA Grants Kittitas County Reduction in Flood Insurance

Kittitas County, WA - 04/28/2020 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Community Rating System (CRS) enables communities to lower flood insurance rates. This month FEMA notified Kittitas County that, due to their effective floodplain management, Kittitas County would retain its Class 6 rating.

This CRS rating benefits County residents by providing a 20 percent discount on flood insurance premiums for property located within special flood hazard areas and a 10 percent discount to other areas.

“I commend you on your community actions and your determination to lead your community to be more disaster resistant,” said William Lesser, CRS Coordinator with the Federal Insurance & Mitigation Administration. “This commitment enhances public safety, property protection, and protects the natural functions of floodplains, and reduces flood insurance premiums.”

There are more than 22,000 communities participating in the National Flood Insurance Program. Of those, only 1,486 communities have committed to the voluntary Community Rating System program. Most communities enter the program at a CRS Class 9 or Class 8 (on a scale of 1 to 10, with Class 1 being the highest rating). When Kittitas County first entered the program in 2014, it achieved a Class 6 rating.

Kittitas County achieved a Class 6 CRS rating for its ongoing efforts to mitigate damage caused by flooding, including reviewing new construction projects for compliance with elevation and structural safety requirements, making flood hazard information available to the public, performing public outreach activities, preserving open space for flood storage, and updating the Kittitas County multi-hazard mitigation plan (https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/public-works/hazard-mitigation-plan/).

All jurisdictions within Kittitas County are eligible to participate in CRS and can leverage Flood Control Zone District activities in their CRS program.

The Kittitas County Flood Control Zone District was formed in 2012. Between 2013 and 2019, the District has leveraged more than two dollars in grant funding for every dollar spent of local levee funding. Additional information about the Kittitas County Flood Control Zone District, including information about how to determine if your property is within a floodplain, is available online at https://www.co.kittitas.wa.us/public-works/flood.

For more information, please contact the Kittitas County Works at 509-962-7690.

Kittitas County, from the Cascades to the Columbia, and online at http://www.co.kittitas.wa.us

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Contact: Kittitas County Public Works 509-962-7690.

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