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Committee reviews Dewey Beach emergency planning, CRS implications and CodeRed rollout
Summary
Committee members reviewed Dewey Beach’s entries in the Sussex County hazard mitigation plan, discussed the limited assurance a single study would give on Community Rating System (CRS) flood-insurance discounts, and confirmed implementation of an opt-in CodeRed emergency text-notification system.
The Resiliency & Sustainability Committee on Aug. 28 reviewed Dewey Beach’s current emergency-planning materials and discussed what further steps the town should take to improve public access to hurricane-safety and evacuation-zone information.
Gary Persinger walked the committee through a 22-page excerpt from the Sussex County hazard mitigation plan and a comparative matrix that lists which municipalities have particular emergency-planning items in place. "It's a little bit voluminous... but you will quickly get to a matrix, which shows how Dewey compares to other areas," Gary said, and recommended the committee identify missing items Dewey should pursue.
Community Rating System and insurance: A committee member asked whether the proposed planning would reduce flood-insurance premiums through the Community Rating System (CRS). An official familiar with CRS cautioned that the program assigns points across many subjects and that "you cannot expect by doing one item that we get a ton of discounts"; the official added that the CRS manual is extensive and that point allocations can change over time.
Public information and notifications: Gary noted the town’s website contains hurricane-safety resources and a "know your zone" evacuation pamphlet, but that Dewey’s annual information guide does not include hurricane-safety steps. Members recommended adding concise guidance to materials residents and visitors routinely receive.
Opt-in text alerts: The committee learned the town has approval to begin an opt-in CodeRed text-notification system that geofences alerts to people in town, including tourists. A staff member described the system as affordable and said implementation would begin within about 30 days.
Next steps: The Chair asked Gary to determine what has changed since the 2022 assessment in the hazard-mitigation matrix and to return with an update at the next meeting so the committee can decide whether to recommend new or revised emergency-plan items to the commissioners.
