Those who have flood insurance in Gloucester County should begin seeing a 20 percent discount in their premiums, as the county was recognized Oct. 1 with a Class 6 Community Rating System designation. 

Gloucester joins only three other localities in the state with this designation—the Northern Virginia communities of Fairfax, Falls Church and Alexandria. The good news was announced to the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors during its meeting Tuesday night in the colonial courthouse.

The CRS is a National Flood Insurance Program run by FEMA through which localities’ floodplain management efforts are measured and rated using a prescribed series of available creditable activities. Prior to this latest improvement, Gloucester held a Class 7 rating; which provided a 15 percent discount in residents’ flood insurance premiums.

“There are only four localities in the Commonwealth of Virginia that are credited with a Class 6 CRS rating, and none with a better ...