Flood Ways Newsletter - June 2021
National Flood Insurance Program General Information:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) manages the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). East Bay Charter Township has been a NFIP participating community since the mid-1980’s.
East Bay is designated as a Non-Special Flood Hazard Area, meaning the area is a moderate-to-low risk flood zone, and has yet to be mapped. Despite the low risk of flooding, some structures within the area could still be at risk. Township’s participation in the NFIP allows property owners to purchase flood insurance if they anticipate a risk of flooding.
Only renters, homeowners, and business owners that have property in a “participating community” are eligible to purchase flood insurance. FEMA has updated the maps in our area as part of the Map Modernization Initiative. To enable East Bay Charter Township to continue participation, Ordinance 2018-1 and Resolution 2018-05 were passed on May 14, 2018. These documents are required by FEMA and coordinate the administration and enforcement with the Township, Grand Traverse County Construction Code Division, and FEMA. Please visit fema.org or the Flood Map page to view the new maps and fema.gov/national-flood-insurance-program.
FEMA for Homeowners, Renters, & Businesses
NFIP: Top Ten Facts for Consumers
Myths & Facts about NFIP
Fire & ISO Rating
The Insurance Services Office (ISO) rates fire departments and their surrounding communities. These ratings calculate how well-equipped fire departments are to handle fires in the community. The ISO provides this score, often called the "ISO fire score," to homeowners insurance companies. The insurers then use it to help set homeowners insurance rates. The more well-equipped your fire department is to put out a fire, the less likely your house is to burn down. This makes your home less risky, and therefore less expensive, to insure.
Then ISO rating is a score from 1 to 10 that indicates how well-protected the community is by the fire department. In the ISO rating scale, a lower number is better: 1 is the best possible rating, while a 10 means the fire department did not meet the ISO's minimum requirements, 5 is the median score.
According to the ISO's Fire Suppression Rating Schedule (FSRS), there are four main criteria to a fire rating score:
- 50% comes from staffing levels, training and proximity of the firehouse.
- 40% comes from availability of water supply, including hydrants and water capacity and sources in non-hydrant areas.
- 10% comes from the quality of the area's emergency communications systems (911).
- An extra 5.5% comes from community outreach, including fire prevention and safety courses.
- Any area that is more than 5 driving miles from the nearest fire station is automatically rated a 10.