Community Rating System (CRS)

Gloucester County participates in the National Flood Insurance Program's Community Ratings System. The CRS program provides insurance discounts to the policy holders for participating communities. 

Through the County's efforts, the CRS program provides a 20% discount to NFIP policies. The County aims to increase this to discount higher incoming years.

Outreach Programs

Advertising and outreach is an important part of CRS and provides substantial credit. The County encourages citizens to determine their risk of flooding through a variety of possible sources (such as calling our Buildings Office at 804-693-2744) and then reach out to their insurance providers to consider enrollment in a flood policy. Some important subjects within our outreach program may be found in the following table:

Determine your flood zone by calling 804-693-2744. 
Insure your livelihood! Call your insurance agent for a quick flood insurance quote. 
Turn around. Don’t drown!
Keep your insurance documents and other personal information in a watertight container.
Obtain building permits before you build. Call 804-693-2744.
Keep your ditches and stormwater features clean for free-flowing rainwater and receding storm surges.
Floodwaters do not care where FEMA draws a line. Low cost policies are available for homes outside of the 1% floodplain. 
Know your evacuation zone! Go to vaemergency.gov to determine your evacuation zone. 
Gloucester has many endangered plants and animals that depend on the floodzone. Preserve the floodplains natural features and keep our Bay clean to protect our remaining native species. 
Spread the word to your family and neighbors, we should all protect our community from physical and financial devastation by insuring our risks.


Higher Standards

The County requires a number of 'higher standards.' These are standards that are typically provide greater resiliency than FEMA's national standards. For example, the County requires that new homes are built higher than the base flood (formerly known as 100-year storm).

Floodplain Planning

The County receives additional CRS credit for maintaining a floodplain management plan and and program for public information. Both of these are updated every five years and progress is reported to the Board of Supervisors anually.