Pinellas County has figured out a way to reduce flood insurance costs for some residents.
It buckled down on resilience planning to help reduce premiums for some residents.
And it worked.
Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, announced that about 20,000 residents in unincorporated Pinellas County will see a 40% decrease in the cost of the flood insurance from the National Flood Insurance Program.
"That totals about $10 million in savings for policy holders countywide" Criswell said.
County Commission chairperson Kathleen Peters said Pinellas worked hard to improve its resiliency plans.
"First, we did out own vulnerability assessment and adopted our own coastal maps. Second, we developed a detailed substantial damage plan," Peters said.
That got unincorporated Pinellas a 2 in FEMA's Community Rating System.
"Pinellas County is now is now in the top 1% of all of our CRS participants," said Criswell, "and has achieved the highest rating in all of Florida."
Criswell said this is what it looks like when a community invests in resilience.
"Those investments pay off," Criswell said. "Not only are the lives of your residents improved upon, but you are saving them money and creating a more resilient community for them to call home."
The savings apply only to residents of unincorporated Pinellas.
