Tulsa has moved up in 2021 from a Class 2 ranking to a Class 1, the highest possible ranking in the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System.

With Tulsa’s Class 1 rating, National Flood Insurance Program policies issued or renewed in the city limits are eligible for a 45% discount in premium costs starting in April 2022.

The Community Rating System is a voluntary program for flood loss reduction in which communities that go beyond the minimum floodplain management requirements earn flood insurance discounts for residents. The Federal Emergency Management Agency in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security administers the program.

Tulsa’s Class 1 rating for the National Flood Insurance Program corresponds to the No. 1 ranking for fire protection by the Insurance Services Office, also administered by FEMA. Tulsa achieved the No. 1 ISO rating citywide in 2019.

“In 2019 with a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with Broken Arrow, east Tulsa was brought into coverage with a No. 1 ISO rating,” Fire Chief Michael Baker said. “Now with Fire Station 33 under construction in east Tulsa, we can provide not only improved fire and life safety protection, but also ensure stable insurance rates for homeowners.”

For the National Flood Insurance Program, Tulsa is one of only two communities nationwide to achieve a Class 1 rating, out of more than 1,500 cities and counties that participate in the voluntary Community Rating System. Only one other city, Roseville, Calif., has achieved a Class 1 rating. The scale ranges from Class 10, with no flood insurance discount, to Class 1, with a 45-percent discount.

City Engineer Paul Zachary said, “To maintain this Class 1 rating will require an ongoing public and private commitment to develop, operate and maintain the stormwater system, both structural and open space. This No. 1 rating is in stark contrast to a time when the City, in the 1970s and 1980s, was number one nationally in the number of federally declared disasters – nine times in 15 years.”