On Thursday in St Charles Parish, government officials and FEMA reps met for a town hall to answer residents’ questions about FEMA’s new Risk Rating 2.0 program, which has seen bi-partisan opposition from local, state, and federal leaders from Louisiana.
St. Charles Parish residents, like many living across South Louisiana, are facing rising flood insurance premiums due to FEMA’s new Risk Rating 2.0 program, which overhauled the National Flood Insurance Program (or NFIP).
Under Risk Rating 2.0 (or RR 2.0), FEMA changed its rating methodology to look at flood risk for individual properties, rather than a flood map.
The first phase of RR 2.0 kicked in last October, impacting new policies. The second phase, beginning April 1, will affect existing policies.
FEMA claims about 23% of current policyholders will see their premiums decrease, while 73 percent will see their premiums increase up to 20 dollars per month. Four percent will see their premiums increase by more than 20 dollars a month.
Governor Edwards has been critical of the program and FEMA, saying the rate increases appear to be significant and will further complicate recovery efforts from the disasters the state suffered in 2020 and 2021.
