Flood Insurance in Long Island Can Keep the Property Safe
Natural calamities like a flood can potentially damage the property to a great extent, and without any coverage, it is hard to get life back on track.
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Category: Sandy
Petition seeks more time to file Hurricane Matthew-related flood insurance claims
Flood Insurance Claim Deadlines should extend..Similar to Sandy and other storms it should be expected that deadlines to file flood claims post Matthew will be extended. Given the devastation and that people may just be returning to their homes now it is reasonable to expect this. Even if you aren’t sure you have claim, you should make a claim now. Water damage from flooding often goes undetected and shows up later in time.
Petition seeks more time to file Hurricane Matthew-related flood insurance claimsA plaintiffs attorney has launched a petition drive urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency to extend the deadline for homeowners to …
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Rebuilding after Sandy.
Rebuilding after Sandy.
Consider the existing flood maps when rebuilding after Sandy.
After Hurricane Katrina may homes were rebuilt on the southern US coast and inner Gulf Coast areas. From Louisiana, to Georgia and Mississippi homes were raised to 15 feet above the base flood elevation where the ground level was 8 feet. Most governments and citizens thought a 7 foot height above the ground was enough and safe from future flooding. Homes were completed in 2008 and people in a flood zone of B had flood insurance rates reduced which was the expected result of raising or building to 15 feet at that time. Then in 2009 suddenly FEMA updates the flood maps in many areas!
Now the Base Flood Elevation (BFE) jumped to 16 feet putting everyone who just finished construction in 2008 under the required height to build. Who would have thought? Communities in these areas today are disputing these maps, however the maps are the maps and while the rates are grandfathered they still exceed a reasonable price averaging over $1,000 for at least $100,000 in building coverage with $50,000 in contents.
Fast forward to October 2016,
4 years after Sandy people are either finished or just getting finished with raising their homes. Rebuilding after Sandy communities from Nassau to Suffolk are using outdated flood maps showing lower flood levels. Many people in the coastal communities on Long Island have an average Base Flood Elevation of 8 feet. What most people don’t realize is the flooding from Sandy ranged on average from 8 to 10 feet. Homes are being raised and rebuilt only to the 8 feet plus 2 feet for a total of 10 feet requirement by local governments.
So is the 10 foot (BFE) correct? The answer is No. Local governments and politicians have closed door agreements with FEMA not to release the new maps. Why? Because imagine the cost and time of rebuilding if they did. Here is how the trickle down economics of this work..
- State and Federal programs have to pay out more in disaster recovery costs
- Cost of construction will be too high, forcing people who cannot afford this construction out of the area
- Homes will go vacant and have to be knocked down
- Houses not built to code compliance will loose considerable value because of
- Home Owners and Flood insurance cost
- High probability that flooding will happen again within the next 10 years.
- Tax revenue will be lost from these homes that loose value and go vacant, having a major impact on school funding and government funding for a long time to come.
- Homes already raised to the basic standard will be undesirable and subject to higher insurance rates.
Overall many mistakes are being made with the post Sandy rebuilding.
If we fail to rebuild correctly we will suffer the same fate as many who are now experiencing increased flood insurance rates in the southern coastal states. If FEMA releases new maps most of Long Island’s south shore will be subject to this.
Thousands of Staten Islanders to save on future flood insurance costs
Thousands of Staten Islanders to save on future flood insurance costs
Homeowners in those areas must buy flood insurance to get a federally-backed mortgage. Those wishing to develop or build in the zones have to …
The New FEMA maps will provide proper building heights for new homes and those in flood prone zones that have to be raised.
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Free Flood Insurance Quote!
Get your Free Flood Insurance Quote!
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Buyers move into neighboring Westwood home, despite flood zone
Buyers move into neighboring Westwood home, despite flood zone
The source of their terror is as much financial — the cost of flood insurance — as it is physical — the damage that flooding might inflict. But Lisa and …
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Get a Free Flood Insurance Quote
Get a Free Flood Insurance Quote…
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Flood insurance relief
Residents to see some flood insurance relief
‘Guidance’ Regarding Sandy Benefits Rules
City Calls on HUD for ‘Guidance’ Regarding Sandy Benefits Rules
Sandy Flood Vics of Looming Deadline; Policy holders must file
Attorneys Remind Howard Beach Sandy Flood Vics of Looming Deadline; Policy holders must file …