Louisville Metro participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so that community members can purchase flood insurance to protect themselves from flood losses and so that the community is eligible to receive federal disaster assistance. In order to participate in the NFIP, the community is required to adopt and enforce a floodplain ordinance. Learn more about Louisville Metro’s Floodplain Ordinance.
Louisville Metro also participates in the Community Rating System (CRS). Currently, Louisville Metro is a Class 3 in the CRS program, which automatically gives community members up to a 35% discount on flood insurance premiums. The CRS program saves the community approximately $2 million each year! For more information about the CRS program, click the CRS tab above.
Why buy flood insurance?
- Federal disaster assistance is usually a loan that must be paid back with interest. For a $50,000 loan at 4% interest, your monthly payment would be around $240 a month ($2,880 a year) for 30 years. Compare that to the average flood insurance policy, which is about $650 per year, or about $54 per month.
- In most cases, it takes 30 days after purchase for a policy to take effect, so it's important to buy insurance before the storm approaches and the floodwaters start to rise.
- In a high-risk area, your home is more likely to be damaged by flood than by fire.
- Even though flood insurance isn't federally required, anyone can be financially vulnerable to floods. In fact, people outside of mapped high-risk flood areas file nearly 25% of all National Flood Insurance Program flood insurance claims and receive one-third of Federal Disaster Assistance for flooding.
Cost of Flooding
Only a few inches of water to cause major damage to your home and its contents. Find out how much flooding could cost you by clicking here.
Elevation Certificates
Do you need a elevation certificate for your home or business? As part of the CRS program, MSD has been collecting elevation certificates since 1990. If you need an elevation certificate, see if MSD has one on file for your address. If your address is not on this list, you will need to hire a surveyor to complete an elevation certificate for your home. If your address is on the list, contact the Floodplain Management Department to request the elevation certificate.
For more information about flood insurance, go to the following links:
Answers to Questions About the National Flood Insurance Program, F-084 (2011)
www.floodsmart.gov
www.fema.gov/business/nfip
