SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. — The Sumter County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved on Tuesday morning a motion to push through the local declaration of emergency ahead of Tropical Storm Elsa's arrival to the area.
Sumter County leaders held a special meeting on Tuesday ahead of Elsa, which is expected to slam the county with several inches of rain.
The approval will provide extra emergency power capabilities for the county. The first thing officials are going to do is open a sandbag station at Lake Panasoffkee.
It is a self serve station and there are no bag limits. It will be open until dusk on Tuesday.
Sumter County Emergency Management Director David Casto says the main threat will be flooding and that there are already many saturated areas.
The water management district has opened its structures to about 60%, to let some local lake water flow out.
Casto also says the county will not be opening shelters for this event, but officials will be ready to open them after the storm if needed.
“We’re watching we’re watching, like all of them. We live in Florida, so it’s a treat every day to get up and see what’s going on. But yeah, a lot of rain, a lot of rain so far,” said Bob Lindsay, a Wildwood resident.
Parts of Sumter County are the most flood-prone and considered to be FEMA Flood Hazard Areas.
FEMA's Flood Insurance Program is currently under evaluation. The Risk Rating 2.0 overhaul is the program's first in about 50 years and it could change how much homeowners pay for their policies.
This fall, property owners insured through FEMA will see rate changes that will do away with standard elevation maps to determine flood rates. Instead, it will look at each individual property’s flooding risk and value in setting the cost of each insurance policy.
The former deputy insurance commissioner in Florida, Lisa Miller, told the Spectrum News DC Bureau last month that the FEMA program is catching up to how private insurers determine risk.
“They are trying to make the rates right to encourage the private market,” said Miller. “The way to make them right is to do what insurance companies use. Use catastrophe models, actuarial principles, rate the risk for what it is, proper mitigation. All those kinds of things that insurance companies do every day.”
While 20% of Floridians insured through the program will actually see a rate drop, the majority will see an increase of up to $10 a month. Less than 4% will see increases of more than $20 a month.
With this new Risk Rating 2.0 rates cannot increase by more than 18%. The new rates will be released Aug. 1.
