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City staff present updates to flood public information program and flood-management planning
Summary
Water and Sewer Department staff reviewed three related resolutions updating the city’s Community Rating System materials, repetitive-loss analysis and flood recognition and response plan; staff said updates preserve a 45% NFIP discount and outline outreach and mitigation priorities.
Joan Gossvik of the City of Tulsa Water and Sewer Department presented three related items tied to the National Flood Insurance Program’s Community Rating System (CRS): an update to the Program for Public Information (PPI) and annual evaluation, the Flood Management Plan and Repetitive Loss Area Analysis annual progress report, and the 2025 Flood Recognition and Response Plan.
Gossvik said Tulsa participates in the CRS and that the city’s class 1 rating yields a 45% discount on flood insurance premiums for citizens in the program. She described the PPI as a set of communications activities — brochures, website content, targeted mailings to residents in levee-protected or special flood hazard areas, and public events — and said the updated PPI reflects actions since the city’s last five-year update in 2020.
On repetitive loss, Gossvik said the city monitors structures insured under the NFIP (about 1,000 policies in Tulsa) and tracks 57 repetitive-loss areas, defined in the program as structures with two losses exceeding $1,000 within a 10-year period. She said the city has updated master drainage plans and produced better mapping and drainage-sensitive area data; the city’s design group maintains a backlog of stormwater projects generated from master drainage plans, which Gossvik said totals roughly $2.5 billion. Gossvik said staff will present a report on increased 3-1-1 drainage complaints to the Stormwater Drainage Advisory Board in October.
The Flood Recognition and Response Plan is a communication and operations document that describes warning levels, public messaging, coordination with Tulsa County and timelines for dissemination through news media and social platforms. Gossvik said the city is planning a flood expo targeted for March 2026 and continues to refine outreach and preparedness materials.
Gossvik said the three items are annual or five-year updates required by the CRS; she told the committee the items will go to City Council for consideration next week. Committee members asked clarifying questions about Perryman Ditch and local repetitive flooding; staff reiterated that homeowners in affected areas can purchase flood insurance and may receive CRS discounts, and that master drainage updates and future projects address repetitive flooding but that funding and a multi-year project backlog constrain immediate implementation.
