FEMA downgrade costs Fort Myers Beach 25% flood insurance discount

Property owners in unincorporated Lee County and four local cities will get to keep a 25% flood insurance discount after the Federal Emergency Management Agency agreed to allow them to maintain their current ratings classification.

Fort Myers Beach, however, was downgraded, meaning residents will lose access to the discount.

The federal agency issued the decisions after the county and the four localities — Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero and Fort Myers Beach — spent months working to maintain the rating in the federal National Flood Insurance Program's Community Rating System after learning earlier this year that they had failed to meet the requirements.