Virginia

Insurance payments to repeatedly flooding Va. properties continue to rise • Virginia Mercury

Published

1 year ago

October 22, 2024

Insurance payments to repeatedly flooding Va. properties continue to rise • Virginia Mercury

When it comes to protecting against flooding, the National Flood Insurance Program is increasingly underwater in Virginia, especially in Hampton Roads.

A new analysis and online tool created by the Natural Resources Defense Council reveals that nearly 7,000 Virginia properties had repeated claims for flood damage over 10 years. And the program, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, will keep paying out. Only 554 of those properties mitigated their flood risk through methods like basement filling, house raising, or replacing it with a structure that can better withstand flooding, according to the NRDC research.

(Courtesy Natural Resources Defense Council)

“One of the most frustrating things about the flood rebuild model that we’re following in the United States is that there is currently no requirement for property owners to mitigate their property to reduce the likelihood of repeat flood damage,” said Mary-Carson Stiff, executive director of Wetlands Watch, a nonprofit based in Norfolk that helps create resilience and adaptation solutions.

In the past, FEMA has declined to provide details about flooded properties and while individual addresses are not included in the data, the new analysis includes key information about payouts, flood mitigation, and zip codes.

NRDC’s data shows that the number of repetitive loss properties continues to rise as storms grow more intense and more frequent in a warming world. They also illustrate the inadequacy of FEMA flood maps, which are updated infrequently and have relied on outdated data that looks back rather than forward at a hotter, wetter Virginia. But those maps continue to guide developers, engineers, banks, local land use officials, and homeowners when deciding where to build and finance a project.

“The cost of flooding is increasing every single year with every big storm event and small event,” Stiff said.

In Virginia, three-quarters of the repetitive loss properties are in Hampton Roads. Of those, 841 are severe repetitive loss properties, which have reported four or more claims of more than $5,000. The vast majority — 689 — have not been mitigated against future flooding. They accounted for 1% of the Virginia claims but 21% of the payments. According to NRDC, 10% of them are outside FEMA-designated flood zones. Nearly 3,000 of the properties whose owners have been paid claims in Virginia no longer have flood insurance.

Virginia Beach had 128 severe repetitive loss properties paid more than $20 million. That’s an average of more than $150,000 each. Of that, 114 were not mitigated. Norfolk had 125 severe loss properties paid $18 million with 93 not mitigated. Hampton had 110 properties paid $18.2 million with 91 not mitigated. Poquoson, a city of about 12,500 on a peninsula on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay, had 50 severe risk loss properties paid nearly $6.6 million.

The NRDC data illustrates the co-dependent flood and payout cycle it calls “losing ground.”

In some cases, the damage payouts exceeded the property’s value. In Norfolk, one single family home received $173,736 over seven claims, but had a value of $104,400, according to the database. It was not protected against future flooding. A Virginia Beach home worth $149,400 received $243,502 in payments and while it’s still insured, it is not mitigated against flooding. A single-family home in Portsmouth, insured and mitigated against flooding, received $250,558 in two claims, but is worth $239,380. One Richmond property in the database, labeled non-residential, received nearly $1.4 million in payouts but has a value of $211,750. It is no longer insured or protected. An insured single-family home in Poquoson worth $155,300, according to the database, received five claims totaling $480,010.

The relatively new FEMA insurance rates, called Risk Rating 2.0, attempt to take a more realistic and equitable look at flood insurance. Most policyholders saw their premiums either drop or increase by no more than $10 per month in its first year. Under the law, no premium can increase by more than 18% annually.

But in a column last year, Chad Berginnis, executive director of the Association of State Floodplain Managers, agreed with Stiff that flood hazard mitigation measures needed to be credited and that FEMA needed to be clearer about which mix of mitigation would translate into reduced premiums.

“When we talk of the NFIP, we often talk about it as a four-legged stool: floodplain management, flood mitigation, floodplain mapping, and flood insurance,” he wrote. “However, it’s become clear to the floodplain management community that the new rating system has severed those first two legs and as a nation we still haven’t prioritized flood mapping the entire U.S. to better reflect flood risk.”

Stiff noted the present system leads to “the active bankrupting of the National Flood Insurance Program. We’re all on the hook to bail them out.”

Communities, she added, can track cumulative damage to a property and, when it reaches the FEMA threshold of more than 50% rebuilding, require the owners to bring it up to the latest flood protection standards. But that’s not an option Virginia cities have embraced.

“It is a higher standard that local governments can elect to use in their communities, and if they do, then they receive credit through the community rating system, which will lower flood insurance policies annually for every policyholder in the local government,” she added. “There are ways in which our communities can be proactive against this issue, but our communities are choosing not to take these additional measures because it’s politically unappetizing.”

The NRDC’s recommended solutions for the repeated payouts echo her comments and include:

Update building codes and land use standards for development in floodplains.
Ensure flood-risk maps are updated and account for future risk.
Make flood insurance more affordable for low and moderate-income households.
Give home buyers and renters the information to understand their risk.

Anna Weber, senior policy analyst for environmental health at the NRDC, noted that Virginia is one of many states that do not require sellers to disclose a property’s flood history. Only seven states require tenants to be notified, according to a new paper in the Journal of Land Use.

“Virginia is effectively a buyer-beware state,” she said. “There’s very little that you are guaranteed a right to in terms of that information. So, when we talk about flood disclosure, we think it’s important that people have a right to know not just what it says about your home on a FEMA flood insurance map, but what specifically has happened in the past at that property. Has it flooded before? Have there been flood insurance claims? How much did those claims cost? How many times has the home flooded?”

While Weber and others call the FEMA maps inadequate, they also note they are often out of date. They’re required to be updated every five years, but often are not. Norfolk’s map, for instance, has not been updated since 2017.

Flooding, Weber noted, has multiple causes that call for multifaceted solutions.

“Some of that looks like thinking hard about our land use choices. Some of that looks like improving and strengthening our building codes so that we’re building in a smarter way,” she said. “Some of that has to do with long-term community planning. What do we want our coastal communities to look like in 50 years?” she said. “In 100 years, we may not be able to live in the same places in the same ways as we have in the past.”

Michael Gerrard, the founder of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University, recently published a paper examining the legal tools to combat what he called a growing crisis of urban flooding. He endorsed many of the same solutions proposed by the NRDC.

“It makes no sense to continue to rebuild the same house at government expense,” he said, adding that there needs to be a reckoning with the costs of the climate crisis”The overall problem is that people and governments are unwilling to pay for the cost that climate change is imposing,” he said. “And that will just get worse over time as the climate worsens.”

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Virginia

Senate approves lawmaker pay raise as teacher pay hike stalls in Virginia budget talks

Published

11 hours ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

Senate approves lawmaker pay raise as teacher pay hike stalls in Virginia budget talks

RICHMOND, Va. (WSET) — As the legislative session in Richmond comes closer to an end, lawmakers are still hard at work hammering out the budget for the year ahead. This year, the Senate has approved a pay raise for lawmakers after tabling bills that would have provided larger pay increases for teachers.

With the cost of living rising, teachers across Virginia have been watching the proposed budget closely and hoping for higher pay.

In February, a bill that would have raised teacher salaries by 4.5% each year until reaching the national average of $77,000 was tabled until next year. The decision left some educators disappointed.

“It’s definitely disappointing. We’re at a time where we are struggling to keep highly qualified staff in the buildings and in the profession, to be quite honest, because we have to compete with other industries,” Karl Loos, president of the Lynchburg Education Association, said.

SEE ALSO: ‘Strangest election cycle:’ Registrars prepare for referendum vote despite legal limbo

There is still a 3% increase for teachers included in the proposed Senate budget, and a 2% increase in the House of Delegates’ proposed budget. But Loos said a 3% raise only matches the rate of inflation, and will likely not be appealing enough to fill vacant positions.

“I think certainly teacher pay is a deterrent for a lot of people, especially as they see the amount of work that goes into it and the compensation for that work,” Loos said.

The Virginia Education Association also advocated for the 4.5% pay increase. Chad Stewart, the interim director of Government Relations and Research, said they believe budget uncertainty may have made lawmakers hesitant to commit to long-term increases they might not be able to sustain.

According to the State Fiscal Impact Statement, seen below, it would have required an additional $159.0 million in 2027, and increasing amounts for the next couple of years to meet the goal of reaching the national average.

“We’ve seen commitments going back decades from previous governors who have all stated they want to get the national teacher pay average, but no governor has ever delivered on it,” Stewart said.

Stewart said the average national pay for teachers they are hoping to meet is $77,000, and that the current average salary for teachers in the Commonwealth is around $70,000. He said ultimately it comes down to the budget, and he hopes in the following years teachers will receive that larger pay increase. Stewart said the organization hopes Gov. Spanberger will be the first to follow through on that promise.

Meanwhile, legislation that would increase pay for state lawmakers was passed in the Senate on Thursday. Republican Del. Tim Griffin of the 53rd District said he voted against the measure.

“I was outraged last week when they raised their own pay. I voted against it,” Griffin said. “When you run on affordability, I think people expected it to be more affordable for the people that live and work in Virginia, not for ourselves. It kind of defeats the purpose.”

When asked about the proposed pay increases in the House and the Senate, Campbell County Superintendent Clay Stanley said in a statement, “I am praying for 3%. Our teachers, at minimum, deserve a raise that matches the cost of living increase.”

ABC13 reached out to local Democratic lawmakers for comment on the teacher pay raise legislation, but did not receive a response.

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Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia – WTOP News

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23 hours ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia – WTOP News

First grader Ruston Revell is pressing Virginia lawmakers to pass a bill that he argues will make schools safer for kids with diabetes.

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Why a 6-year-old with diabetes is pushing for change in Virginia

Speaking in front of Virginia lawmakers, 6-year-old Ruston Revell needs a wooden stool to reach the microphone for his testimony about diabetes.

Dressed in his blue suit and red tie, he’s there on a mission.

“Living with diabetes isn’t easy, there are lots of ups and downs — just like my blood sugar,” Ruston told legislators in the Virginia General Assembly.

The legislation that brought Ruston from Prince William County to Richmond would update an existing law to specify how Virginia schools handle accommodations for students with diabetes.

“When I’m at school, my nurse and all my teachers help me when I need it, but not all kids like me are that lucky,” Ruston told WTOP. “These bills change that, so kids with diabetes can be safer in schools.”

He’s testified before committees in both chambers as corresponding bills move through the Virginia General Assembly. HB1301 and SB122 have both earned support in their respective chamber.

“Although, I’m small, my voice is big and it can change the world,” Ruston said.

In his testimony, the first grader clearly explained the care he requires to manage his Type 1 diabetes during the school day.

“He just pops up on his little stool and takes control of the room,” said Kelly Revell, Ruston’s mom. “It’s usually a little quiet, and after he finishes, he gets a whole room full of applause.”

Today, Ruston enjoys playing baseball, swimming and spending time at the playground.

But things were different before his diagnosis five years ago.

A life-changing diagnosis at 15 months old

During the summer of 2020, Kelly said her son started showing signs of diabetes, such as extreme thirst — symptoms she recognized because her father had been diagnosed in his 20s.

“He would just lounge around the house and have no interest in playing with his sister,” Kelly said. “He stopped eating, so he was eventually airlifted to Children’s National in D.C., where he was admitted to the pediatric ICU for nearly a week.”

At just 15 months old, Ruston was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Kelly said that news was life-changing.

“Now, in order to keep him alive, we have to hurt him multiple times a day, by giving him four to five shots and even a dozen finger pricks just to make sure his blood sugar is in range,” she recalled.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks cells that make insulin. A lack of insulin can lead to high blood sugar, which could cause serious health issues or be deadly.

“We had to wake up at 2 a.m. every night for six weeks, before we started utilizing technology, just to make sure that he was safe and healthy with his blood sugar,” Kelly said. “A lot of times, it resulted in phone calls to the hospital because he was at a dangerous level, and then we would be up for hours making sure he was back in range.”

For the Revell family, managing Ruston’s diabetes looks different nowadays.

Ruston Revell, 6, has traveled from Prince William County to Richmond to testify in favor of a bill surrounding Virginia schools and students with diabetes.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)

Courtesy Kelly Revell

Ruston stands alongside Virginia Sen. Jeremy McPike, who sponsored the bill in the upper chamber.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)

Ruston testifying in front of Virginia lawmakers — Ruston and other advocates say the bill would make schools safer for kids with diabetes.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)

Ruston and his mom Kelly (middle) have joined other advocates in Richmond to press legislators to pass the bill.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)

Ruston poses in Richmond — The statewide regulations on diabetes care in school haven’t been updated since 1999, Kelly said.
(Courtesy Kelly Revell)

How a 6-year-old handles his diabetes

Ruston knows how to prick his finger to check whether his blood sugar is in range.

“My mom and dad help me change my insulin pump every three days, and my CGM every 10 days,” Ruston said, referencing his continuous glucose monitor, known as a CGM.

“It hurts, but at least I don’t have to do shots. They’re the worst.”

Living with diabetes, Ruston needs to calculate the number of carbs he’s getting to determine his insulin dose, which is administered automatically through a pump.

“He is a pro at using a food scale,” Kelly said. “If he wants to eat anything, apple slices, we cut them up, and he puts them on the food scale and determines how many carbs are in that.”

Halfway through his interview with WTOP, Ruston’s phone beeped, flagging his low blood sugar and triggering a quick juice-box break.

That’s the kind of intervention he could require at school.

“When I’m low, Nurse Barnes tells Ms. Grant for me to have a juice box or gummies,” Ruston said, describing a snack to correct his blood sugar.

At his current school, Kelly said Ruston has had all his medical accommodations met since his first day of kindergarten.

“He gets so many hugs. Everyone knows him. He walks into the front office every day to visit the clinic, and they just they really take care of him,” she said.

Things were more complicated before Ruston began kindergarten. Kelly said the family was initially told that the accommodations requested by his doctor would not be allowed.

“What was most difficult at the time was the thought that a kindergartener would be responsible for alerting adults if his phone signaled a low or high blood sugar, rather than having trained staff receive those alerts directly through available technology,” she told WTOP.

The situation was resolved, but it drew Kelly’s attention toward legal protections for kids with diabetes.

What Kelly and Ruston are asking Virginia lawmakers to do

ruston stands at podium talking — Ruston told lawmakers about his experience managing diabetes during the school day. (Courtesy Kelly Revell)

For the past several years, Kelly has been involved with an advocacy group, FOLLOWT1Ds, which argues that unclear or inconsistent school policies can create stress for families and put kids in danger.

“Prince William County has updated their diabetes policies recently, so more students with diabetes across our county are better protected,” Kelly said. “But that’s not happening everywhere in Virginia.”

The bills moving through the Virginia legislature would require school systems to create a divisionwide plan for supporting students with diabetes.

That would include making sure school staff are trained to follow through with a child’s medical orders.

“You really have to put in all of your trust in your school,” Kelly said. “This is a life-threatening disease, and if they forget to give him a juice box when he’s low, that can result in him going to the hospital, or it could be fatal.”

The legislation would also require schools have procedures for administering insulin and glucagon.

Families who have students with diabetes would send schools medical orders from their doctors that outline the child’s needs.

“A lot of times, the schools will either deny or modify these accommodations, even though they’re medically necessary,” Kelly said.

The statewide regulations haven’t been updated since 1999, Kelly said.

“While we’ve had all of these technology advances, like the insulin pump and the CGM, Virginia still hasn’t advanced their laws to align with standard methods of care that we’re using today,” Kelly said.

Ruston doesn’t receive insulin shots anymore. But Virginia law is behind on that front, according to Kelly and other advocates.

“Right now, the policy in Virginia, if his pump were to fall off while at school, they would, instead of reinsert the pump, they would give him a shot,” Kelly said.

In that scenario, Kelly said the school employee would have to calculate how much insulin to dose.

“I wouldn’t even know what to dose him, because with the pump, it’s automated nowadays,” she said. “It would require an immediate call to his doctor for guidance.”

She worries that it could lead to a miscalculation and health complications.

Kelly said the lack of consistency can impact older students, too. She said some high schoolers have gotten in trouble for having their cellphones at schools that ban the devices.

But those phones let students monitor their blood sugar, communicate medical treatments and administer insulin.

It’s the second year in a row that advocates like Kelly have asked legislators in Richmond to approve revisions to state law.

This time, Ruston is joining the push for change by sharing his story with lawmakers.

“I want to make sure other kids in different schools can have more help with diabetes,” Ruston told WTOP.

Anyone interested in following the legislation or submitting a comment to lawmakers can find more information on FOLLOW T1Ds’ website.

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Virginia

Del. Dan Helmer on Virginia redistricting and congressional run

Published

1 day ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Del. Dan Helmer on Virginia redistricting and congressional run

Virginia Delegate Dan Helmer led fellow Democrats to major gains in November’s election. Now he’s turning his attention to the redistricting of the Commonwealth, and a run in the newly proposed 7th district. He joins Sydney Persing on The Final 5 to discuss.

Posted March 2, 2026 11:55pm EST

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