Flood Insurance and the Community Rating System

The City of Bellaire participates in the Community Rating System (CRS), a voluntary federal program that rewards communities for implementing higher flood mitigation standards by providing discounts on flood insurance policies to residents. 

In October of 2021, the City of Bellaire was downgraded from a CRS classification of a 7 to a 10, thus resulting in the loss of the 15% discount on flood insurance afforded to affected residents inside the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) and 5% outside the SFHA.  This is an unfortunate situation the Bellaire leadership team takes very seriously, and we fully understand the gravity of the problem.  We have been working diligently to regain our status with the CRS program and have established a clear plan moving forward.  Because of these actions, FEMA allowed the City to re-enter the CRS program on April 1, 2022 with an approved CRS classification of 9 (5% discount). 

On January 27, 2023, the City received preliminary results and a draft verification report from ISO showing that, subject to acceptance by DHS/FEMA, the City will improve from a Class 9 to a Class 7 CRS rating and residents will begin to see their 15% discount on October 1, 2023. 

We want to share background information about this downgrade of the City's CRS rating and provide context and steps taken to address the issue. A timeline is provided below, with links to correspondence and additional information.

Recent events leading up to the classification downgrade:

• August 2017 Hurricane Harvey 
• December 2019 The city received a request for an onsite verification visit from an ISO contractor.  This verification visit was then delayed to August 2020 due to COVID.
• August 2020 A virtual visit was conducted and there was a request for corrections to specific elevation certificates and other CRS documentation required to earn CRS points. These items were due OCT-06-2020.  Bellaire TX 480289 30-Day Letter.pdf 
• September 2020 through December 2020 There was correspondence with the ISO Contractor. However, this request was not satisfied. 
• January 2021 The ISO contractor issued a recommendation to retrograde the community to a class 10 to be effective OCT-01-2021.  TX Bellaire 480289 Draft VR.pdf
• July 2021  Staff re-organization of Development Services Department.
• July 2021  Presentation at Bellaire City Council Meeting explaining CRS status.

 The plan moving forward:

• August 2021 COMPLETED  Reapply to CRS. Upon learning of the infraction, the City immediately went to FEMA. FEMA has permitted the City a "fast-track" to a class 9 rating (5% discount) effective April 1, 2022. Beyond, FEMA has allowed the City an opportunity to further improve our classification by October 2022. 
• August 2021 COMPLETED   Notified residents of information concerning flood protection issued to all homes within the 100-year floodplain. This action is a requirement that enables the City to earn CRS points associated with Activity 510 – Floodplain Management Planning  COB Rl Letter 20210801
• August 2021 COMPLETED Established an email for residents to submit questions to staff BellaireCRS@bellairetx.gov
• September 2021 COMPLETED CRS Open House and Community Discussion with Q&A – (FEMA, Tetra Tech and City of Bellaire)
• December 2021 COMPLETED Update and provide a sub-damaged plan to FEMA.
• April 2022 COMPLETED Secured a CRS rating of 9 (5% discount on flood insurance).
• July 2022 COMPLETED Reconcile the 2021 International Codes' Flood Resistant Construction provisions and the Flood Damage Prevention and incorporate sub-damaged plan requirements and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing elevation criteria to Chapter 9 of the Code of Ordinances.
• January 2023 COMPLETED Received preliminary results and a draft verification report from ISO showing that, subject to acceptance by DHS/FEMA, the City will improve from a Class 9 to a Class 7 CRS rating in October 2023. Preliminary Results and Draft Verification Report
• October 2023 Targeting to secure a CRS rating of a 7.

What does this mean to you?

You can visit the National Flood Insurance Program website for more information about flood insurance or call your insurance agent directly.

*Risk Rating 2.0 Equity in Action. (2021, April). https://www.fema.gov/sites/default/files/documents/fema_rr-2.0-equity-action_0.pdf

August 18, 2021: Mayor's Blog: City on Fast Track to Restoring CRS Classification

More Information on Flood Management in Bellaire

Questions? csomers@bellairetx.gov

Christian Somers, Floodplain Administrator