Properties that have flooded multiple times are a particular concern to the National Flood Insurance Program because those properties represent the highest risk to the inhabitants of those properties as well as the largest claims payment expenditures. More properties in the City of Charleston have been impacted by repeated flooding than anywhere else in South Carolina. The City, in fact, accounts for most of these repeatedly flooded properties across the entire state. Because properties that have flooded multiple times in the past are at greater risk of flooding again, the City has made it a goal to prioritize these properties in its efforts to reduce flooding impacts and to mitigate damage properties.
FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) records each flood insurance claim and tracks when a property has made multiple claims. When a single property has made more than one substantial insurance claim in a short period of time, that property is listed by the NFIP as a Repetitive Loss Property or a Severe Repetitive Loss Property. Through 2018, there are 824 Repetitive Loss and Severe Repetitive Loss Properties in the City, which is more than half of all Repetitive Loss and Severe Repetitive Loss Properties in South Carolina.
The City has focused on reducing the number of properties on the Repetitive Loss and Severe Repetitive Loss lists in order to prevent future flood damage and reduce the overall flood risk. The Floodplain Management staff work directly with citizens to take measures to protect buildings from flood damage, as well as manage the City’s Bluebelt Program, which encourages property owners to mitigate repeatedly flooded properties through acquisition, elevation, or relocation. Since 2015, more than 50 Repetitive Loss or Severe Repetitive Loss properties have been mitigated and removed from the NFIP’s lists.