Thurston County Development Services

It’s a voluntary program that rewards communities for what they are doing to prevent flood damage, as well as to provide an incentive for new flood protection activities.

Thurston County is a participant of the NFIP, therefore property owners benefit by having the opportunity to purchase flood insurance through the NFIP.

Another benefit is due to Thurston County ’s flood plain management and land-use policies NFIP is able to offer a 25% discount on flood insurance. Below are a few facts:

Damage to homes from floods is not covered by homeowner’s insurance policies.

NFIP insurance covers both structural and contents coverage even if it is not declared a federal disaster.

NFIP is offered through private insurance companies.

If the home is in a Special Flood Hazard Area (100 year floodplain) NFIP will be required to secure mortgage loans from federally insured banks and credit unions.

Federal disaster assistance does not pay for damages caused by flooding. Federal disaster assistance offers loans to help cover flood damage not compensation for losses. The loans are only offered when the President formally declares a disaster, which occurs in less than 10% of all weather emergencies in the U.S.

NFIP is available to renters as well.

Contact your homeowner’s insurance carrier to find out if they carry NFIP flood insurance. If they don’t go to www.floodsmart.gov type your address and get a list of local insurance carriers that offer NFIP flood insurance.

Beware there is a 30-day waiting period after the first premium is paid before the policy is in effect.

Call NFIP for information 1-800-638-6620 or go to www.floodsmart.gov.

For additional flood insurance information, go to http://info.insure.com .

Thurston County Flood Hazard Management Plan

In reaction to the floods of 1996-1997, which cost the county residents in excess of $22 million in uninsured property losses, the Board of County Commissioners adopted the Thurston County Flood Hazard Management Plan on June 1999. The Plan included 27 action items meant to reduce future uninsured damage caused by flooding. Eighteen of the action items have been implemented to date with the rest to be implemented as resources become available.

View aerial photos of the 1996 flood here.

Annual Report on Progress Toward Implementing Recommendations of the Thurston County Flood Hazard Management Plan

Community Rating System

In 1999 the Thurston County Commissioners adopted the Thurston County Flood Hazard Management Plan. One of the 27 recommendations included in the Plan was for the County to apply for the Community Rating System. The Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program within the National Flood Insurance Program.

The county applied and has been a participant in the CRS program since 2000. The county was given a rating of 5 (out of 10). A rating of 5 means citizens who live in a 100 year floodplain can receive a 25% discount on their flood insurance; outside the 100-year floodplain they receive a 10% discount. This equates to a savings ranging from $92 to $180 per policy for a total county-wide premium savings of a little over $50,953. This is a high rating among other communities. Currently out of 1,228 communities in the U.S. that participate in the CRS program only 40 are rated a 5 and only 3 rate higher. An additional 5% discount is given for each level, therefore if Thurston County qualifies for a level 4 the discount would increase to 30%.

The county received this rating because of our flood plain management program and our Critical Areas Ordinance. Together these regulatory programs reduce damage caused by flooding, which results in a reduction in insurance premiums. To maintain this rating the county goes through an annual recertification and a reverification every 3 years. This assures FEMA that we are still implementing our program and policies.

Elevation Certificates

The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) requires the County to maintain a record of the elevation (elevation certificates) for any new building or substantial building built in the Special Flood Hazard Area (100 year flood plain). The NFIP also requires that the communities make their elevation certificates available for public inspection. Buildings built in the Thurston County’s 100 year flood plains are required to have the lowest floor and all materials susceptible to flood damage two feet above the base flood elevation. View the elevation certificates issued since June 2003. Elevation certificates issued prior to June 2003 can be found at Thurston County’s Permit Assistance Center. Parcel numbers will be needed to help locate specific elevation certificates. Please go the Thurston County GeoData center website to obtain parcel numbers - http://www.geodata.org/ .

Additional elevation certificate information

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Flood Map Modernization Project

If citizens of Thurston County are interested to know whether their property is located in a floodplain Thurston County Permit Assistance Center (Courthouse Building #1) maintains copies of the Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRM). FIRMs of Thurston County are maps of floodplains and are used to determine whether properties located in the floodplains will be required to carry flood insurance. FIRMs are also used to apply the County’s land-use regulations that apply to floodplains. The FIRMs were mapped about 20 years ago using the data that was available at the time. The FEMA Flood Map Modernization Project will convert the paper FIRMs to digital format using current topographical information. The result of the conversion will be changes to the floodplain delineations. For more information go to http://www.fema.gov/plan/prevent/fhm/index.shtm .

Other Flood Information

Thurston County Emergency Management - http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/em/index.htm - will provide the following information:

River gage heights for the Chehalis, Deschutes, Nisqually, and Skookumchuck rivers.
The current edition of the Flood Bulletin.
A link to the Groundwater Advisory.
Frequently Asked Questions About Disaster Assistance.

Thurston County Groundwater Monitoring Data - http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/monitoring - will provide monitoring data for groundwater levels, precipitation at various locations in Thurston County, streamflow and lake elevation monitoring data.

Federal Emergency Management Agency - http://www.fema.gov - The Federal Emergency Management Agency web site provides useful information for emergency preparedness and other topics including flooding.

Getting Disaster Help from SBA

How to File an ICC Claim

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Thurston County Development Services
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502-6045 USA.
(360) 786-5490 TDD line: (360) 754-2933

Email: permit@co.thurston.wa.us

Property Information

General Information

Permit & Application Info

Statistical Info & Reports

Long-Range Planning

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