If you have a cell phone that is capable of receiving text messages, contact the Planning Department and give us
the e-mail address that your cell phone provider gave you for your cell phone's text
messaging feature. We'll add it to the Montpelier Alerts list. This way,
if we send a message saying EVACUATE, you will get that text message (in text
form) on your cell phone.
National Flood Insurance Program
The City of Montpelier participates in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP makes federally backed flood insurance available for all buildings, whether they are in a floodplain or not. Flood insurance covers direct loss caused by surface flooding, including a river flowing over its banks, a lake storm, and local drainage problems.
The NFIP insures buildings, including mobile homes, with two types of coverage: structural and contents. Structural coverage is for the walls, floors, insulation, furnace, and other items permanently attached to the structure. Contents coverage may be purchased separately provided the contents are in an insurable building.
Mandatory Purchase Requirement
As a result of the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994, a mandatory purchase requirement applies to all forms of federal or federally related financial assistance for buildings located in a Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA). This requirement affects loans and grants for the purchase, construction, repair, or improvement of any publicly or privately owned building in the SFHA, including machinery, equipment, fixtures, and furnishings contained in such buildings.
Financial assistance programs affected include loans and grants from agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Farmers Home Administration, Federal Housing Administration, Small Business Administration, and Federal Emergency Management Agency. The requirement also applies to secured mortgage loans from financial institutions, such as commercial lenders, savings and loan associations, savings banks, and credit unions that are regulated, supervised, or insured by federal agencies such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Office of Thrift Supervision. It also applies to all mortgage loans purchased by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac in the secondary mortgage market.
How It Works
Before a person can receive a loan or other financial assistance from one of the affected agencies or lenders, there must be a check to see if the building is in a SFHA. The SFHA is the base (100 year) floodplain mapped on a Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM). It is shown as one or more zones that begin with the letter “A” or “V.”
Copies of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps are available for review in the Department of Planning and Development, 39 Main Street. Many lenders and insurance agents have copies also. It is the agency’s or the lender’s responsibility to check the FIRM to determine if the building is in a SFHA, although many communities provide assistance.
If the building is in a SFHA, the agency or lender is required by law to require the recipient to purchase a flood insurance policy on the building. The requirement is for structural coverage equal to the amount of the loan (or other financial assistance) or the maximum amount available, whichever is less. The maximum amount available for a single-family house is $250,000.
The mandatory purchase requirement does not affect loans or financial assistance for items that are not covered by a flood insurance policy, such as vehicles, business expenses, landscaping, and vacant lots. It does not affect loans for buildings that are not in the SFHA, even though a portion of the lot may be floodprone. While not mandated by law, a lender may require a flood insurance policy for a property in any zone on a Flood Insurance Rate Map.
Community Rating System
The Community Rating System (CRS) is intended to reward communities that
undertake floodplain management activities beyond the requirements of the
National Flood Insurance Program. Because of its on-going efforts to manage
floodplain development, prevent flood losses, and inform the public of the
flood hazards (such as through this Web site), Montpelier has achieved a
flood insurance rating of 9, which translates to a 5 percent savings
on flood insurance premiums for the City of Montpelier and all property
owners in the city.
