FLOOD INSURANCE
Most homeowner’s insurance does not cover flood damage, so it is important to protect your most important financial assets — your home, your business, your possessions. Flood insurance is a separate policy that can cover buildings, the contents in a building, or both.
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is managed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). NFIP provides insurance to help reduce the socio-economic impact of flooding and is available to anyone living in an area known as the Special Flood Hazard Area (SFHA) as defined by the FEMA’s FIRMs (maps). Petaluma is one of 23,000 participating communities around the nation. The City works hard to maintain a Class 6 rating in the CRS (Community Rating System) so that property owners participating in SFHA receive a 20% discount on their insurance policy costs.
CLICK HERE to learn more about FEMA's flood insurance. CLICK HERE to view the FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map for Petaluma.
HOW DO FIRM MAPS INFORM & RESTRICT DEVELOPMENT
The City has established rules around how we will develop with flooding in mind. For instance, we do not approve ANY development in the identified floodway on our FIRM map. We do allow some development in the identified floodplain, however, strict guidelines apply to assure that the proposed development will not increase or change flood patterns.
Even for development outside of the SFHA, the City has used the review and approval process for new development to ensure that additional stormwater runoff does not adversely impact areas downstream of the proposed development.
