Flood review ordered to help lower rates

Long Beach has hired a Delaware firm to review the city’s floodplain management system with the goal of lowering flood insurance premiums for residents.

The review is expected to include a scoring evaluation with the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System, city officials said.

Communities “that go beyond the minimums required by FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program can be recognized, encouraged and rewarded by flood insurance premium reductions and adjustments,” city officials said in a statement.

Long Beach voted on Jan. 22 to pay Tetra Tech Inc. of Newark, Del., $34,518 for the work, city documents said. The firm was the lowest of three bidders, documents show.

“On the local level, we are doing everything that we can to advocate for lower rates,” said Scott Mandel, the City Council president.

The city expects the review to be completed by this summer, documents show.