Downriver from Scott Avenue, where improvements are currently ongoing to improve flood resistance.
(Des Moines, IA) -- The City of Des Moines has received a higher FEMA flood rating, and it could make a big difference for some homeowners in the metro, from a Class 6 to a 5 rating.
"We have been working on upgrading that for years," said Patrick Beane, with the City of Des Moines Public Works, "We've recently received a class five rating, it's the highest rating anyone in the state currently has."
Des Moines now joins Clive and Cedar Falls as the only Class 5 communities in the state. That's good news for some homeowners in the metro.
"That will have a significant reduction," Beane said, because those homeowners who have to buy flood insurance could see their rates cut, or may no longer even have to purchase the coverage at all. "If no longer in the flood plain, the flood insurance requirement goes away. There's still a recommendation to have it in those areas, just so if there is the off chance you get some flooding."
Beane says even with the increased rating, the work is continuing on the third of eight phases of levee improvements between Scott Avenue and all the way down the Des Moines River to Pleasant Hill.
"The third phase of that right now, you kind of see going on a little bit, from the confluence of Scott Avenue down to Southeast 14th, where we've been raising the levee, armoring it more, so they're going to handle floods when they come through, more effectively."
Other improvements include revisions to the storm sewer system around Highland Park on the north side of Des Moines, and buying out homes in the Four Mile Creek watershed.