FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 7, 2025

 

Commissioner Temple Presents Inaugural Leadership in Resilience Award to Central City’s Mayor Evans

Commissioner of Insurance Tim Temple presented the first ever Leadership in Resilience Award to Central Mayor Wade Evans during the August 6 opening session of the Louisiana Department of Insurance Annual Conference.

Under the leadership of Mayor Evans, the city of Central has undertaken numerous infrastructure and monitoring projects to counter escalating flood risks, lowering flood insurance premiums by 25% for the community’s homes and businesses. Central is situated between the Comite and Amite rivers making these efforts vital to improving community safety and strengthening property protections.

“This new Leadership in Resilience Award is presented to someone who exemplifies what it means to build a stronger Louisiana,” said Commissioner Temple. “I’m proud to present this award to Mayor Wade Evans. Not only is he making a real difference for the people of our state, but he’s providing a playbook that others can follow.”

Mayor Evans has led Central’s efforts to implement targeted flood mitigation projects, resulting in an improvement from a Class 7 in 2020 to the current rating of Class 5 from the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS). The CRS is a voluntary program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management practices that exceed NFIP minimum requirements. These practices include local mitigation, floodplain management and educational outreach activities.

A surprised Evans accepted the award in front of an audience of almost 600 conference attendees. “I am truly honored to be the inaugural recipient of the Leadership in Resilience Award,” said Mayor Evans. “This recognition affirms that intentional leadership and empowering my team to pursue innovation can lead to meaningful impact. I want to thank Commissioner Temple for his leadership and unwavering commitment to reducing the cost of insurance across our state.”

To learn more about how Central is achieving these improvements in flood mitigation, check out their Spring 2025 Drainage Summit Report.

About the Louisiana Department of Insurance: The Louisiana Department of Insurance works to improve competition in the state’s insurance market while assisting individuals and businesses with the information and resources they need to be informed consumers of insurance. As a regulator, the LDI enforces the laws that provide a fair and stable marketplace and makes certain that insurers comply with the laws in place to protect policyholders. You can contact the LDI by downloading our LDIConnect mobile app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, calling us at 800-259-5300 or visiting www.ldi.la.gov.