Residents of unincorporated Lee County got a bit of good news on Thursday. The discounts that they receive under the National Flood Insurance Program will continue. FEMA determined that unincorporated Lee County homeowners whose policies were issued under the NFIP will retain the previous 25% discount.
“The news follows many, many months of work that our county staff has committed to this to getting to this position today,” said Lee County Manager Dave Harner in a press conference Thursday afternoon.
About eight months ago, county officials learned that FEMA planned to retrograde the discount that Lee County residents had been granted. But Harner said that officials submitted a corrective action plan and “FEMA found this plan exceeded expectations. They specifically stated that because of this hard work of our county, that Lee County is in a better place, and our residents, the people, are safer today. The county also showed that we use best practices during Helene and Milton,” he added.
Harner thanked staff, FEMA, media partners and the residents of Lee County “who did the right thing and pulled the permits regarding storm damage.”
Fort Myers Beach was not so fortunate.
Also on Thursday, the town of Fort Myers Beach was notified that it had been placed on probation from the National Flood Insurance Program and the town’s community rating system classification would be retrograded.
Town Manager Andrew Hyatt said, “I am disappointed that FEMA has made the decision to put the Town on probation. Town staff is committed to following our FEMA approved plan and will continue to collaborate with FEMA and FDEM to regain our NFIP discount and CRS classification.”
The CRS classification is a voluntary program that recognizes floodplain management that is above minimum requirements of the NFIP. The CRS provides discounts on NFIP premiums within communities that invest in a range of risk communication and risk reduction activities.