The Flood Hazard
Protecting Your Family
Flood Warning
Flood Safety
Protecting Your Property
Flood Insurance
Property Protection
Protect Your Vehicles
How Ocean City Protects You and Your Property
Development Permits
Drainage System Maintenance
Natural & Beneficial Functions of Floodplains
Websites for more flooding information
Ocean City has participated in the CRS program since 1991, with a rating in 2005 of Classification 7. The following is from the Community Rating System Resources information website maintained by FEMA.
Background
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides Federally backed flood insurance that encourages communities to enact and enforce floodplain regulations. Since its inception in 1968, the program has been very successful in helping flood victims get back on their feet. There are over 4.5 million policies in force. From 1978 through 2001, over 840,000 losses totaling more than $11 billion have been paid.
To be covered by a flood insurance policy, a property must be in a community that participates in the NFIP. To qualify for the program, a community adopts and enforces a floodplain management ordinance to regulate development in flood hazard areas. The basic objective of the ordinance is to ensure that such development will not aggravate existing flooding conditions and that new buildings will be protected from flood damage. Today, over 19,000 communities participate in the NFIP.
The NFIP has been successful in requiring new buildings to be protected from damage by a 100-year flood. However, flood damage still results from floods greater than the 100-year flood and from flooding in unmapped areas. Under the Community Rating System (CRS), there is an incentive for communities to do more than just regulate construction of new buildings to minimum national standards. Under the CRS, flood insurance premiums are adjusted to reflect community activities that reduce flood damage to existing buildings, manage development in areas not mapped by the NFIP, protect new buildings beyond the minimum NFIP protection level, help insurance agents obtain flood data, and help people obtain flood insurance.
Objective
The objective of the CRS is to reward communities that are doing more than meeting the minimum NFIP requirements to help their citizens prevent or reduce flood losses. The CRS also provides an incentive for communities to initiate new flood protection activities. The goal of the CRS is to encourage, by the use of flood insurance premium adjustments, community and State activities beyond those required by the National Flood Insurance Program to:
- Reduce flood losses, e.g.:
- Protect public health and safety,
- Reduce damage to buildings and contents,
- Prevent increases in flood damage from new construction,
- Reduce the risk of erosion damage, and
- Protect natural and beneficial floodplain functions.
- Facilitate accurate insurance rating, and
- Promote the awareness of flood insurance.
Operation
To be recognized in the insurance rating system, community floodplain management activities must be described, measured, and evaluated. The basic tool for this is the CRS Schedule, which sets forth the application procedures, creditable activities, and the credit points assigned to each activity. A community receives a CRS classification based upon the total score for its activities. The CRS Commentary explains the Schedule and gives examples of activities and how their credit is calculated. The Schedule and Commentary are included within the CRS Coordinator's Manual, the primary document detailing the program.
There are 10 CRS classes: Class 1 requires the most credit points and gives the greatest premium reduction; Class 10 receives no premium reduction. A community that does not apply for the CRS, or does not obtain the minimum number of credit points, is a Class 10 community.
Community participation in the CRS is voluntary. Any community in full compliance with the rules and regulations of the NFIP may apply for a CRS classification better than Class 10. The applicant community submits the CRS Application along with documentation which shows that it is implementing the activities for which credit is requested. All CRS credit is verified according to the detailed discussion of the activities in the Coordinator's Manual. The application process is discussed in more detail in the CRS Application.
The Schedule identifies 18 creditable activities, organized under four categories labeled Activities 300 through 600: Public Information, Mapping and Regulations, Flood Damage Reduction, and Flood Preparedness. The Schedule assigns credit points based upon the extent to which an activity advances the three goals of the CRS. Communities are invited to propose alternative approaches to these activities in their applications.
Some CRS activities may be implemented by the State or a regional agency rather than at the community level. For example, some States have disclosure laws that are creditable under Activity 340 (Flood Hazard Disclosure). Any community in those States will receive those credit points when it applies for CRS credit and demonstrates that the law is effectively implemented within its jurisdiction.
An application for a CRS classification may be submitted at any time. A community applies by sending a completed CRS Application with appropriate documentation to its ISO/CRS Specialist. Copies of all or parts of the application may be sent to the Regional Office of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and to the State NFIP Coordinator.
The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO) is subscribed to by more than 1,300 insurance companies. Among other services, ISO develops and provides advisory fire insurance classifications for community fire protection programs. ISO reviews CRS applications, verifies the communities' credit points, and performs program improvement tasks.
The community's activities and performance are reviewed during a verification visit. FEMA sets the credit to be granted and notifies the community, the State, insurance companies, and other appropriate parties. The classification is effective on either May 1 or October 1, whichever comes first after the community's program is verified.
Each year the community must recertify or reverify that it is continuing to perform the activities that are being credited by the CRS. Recertification is an annual activity that includes progress reports for certain activities. The cycle verification takes place every few years and is conducted in the form of another verification visit to the community.
If a community is not properly or fully implementing the credited activities, its credit points, and possibly its CRS classification, will be revised. A community may add credited activities each year in order to improve its CRS classification.
Credit criteria will change over time as experience is gained in implementing, observing, and measuring the activities and as new concepts in floodplain management come into common practice. As innovations arise, they will be considered for recognition under the CRS.
Communities are encouraged to call on their ISO/CRS Specialist for assistance at any time. A week-long CRS course for local officials is offered free at FEMA's Emergency Management Institute. The ISO/CRS Specialist, State NFIP Coordinator, and FEMA Regional Office have more information on this course, state workshops, and other CRS training opportunities.
For copies of Flood Elevation Certificates since 1991 and more information about flooding in Ocean City, please contact the CRS coordinator's office located in Room 214, City Hall, 861 Asbury Avenue, Ocean City, NJ 08226.