In a move to help homeowners who face the risk of drowning in huge insurance bills, the city is appealing new FEMA maps that nearly double the number of city properties in flood zones.
Officials say up to 35% of the area the feds designated as flood-prone is labeled inaccurately.
The FEMA maps, which came out in January, placed about 400,000 city residents in flood zones, up from 218,000 under the old ones. The feds’ huge flood zone included 71,500 buildings, nearly twice the 36,000 that the old FEMA maps had.
Many of the homes affected are in Canarsie, Brooklyn, and Howard Beach and the Rockaways in Queens.
8 comments:
In a move to help homeowners who face the risk of drowning in huge insurance bills,
I always like how they use a community as a front for helping developers. The real problem is the developers now fact this issue too, and the city would love nothing better than to hide this or get it changed to help their campaign donors, even if it means putting people in harm's way.
Let's make this simple. Did the areas flood during Sandy. If so, they are flood zones, and no appeal is needed.
Sea levels are getting higher, and contrary to what a lot of people say, the Sandy flooding was not unexpected. For many years, a number of disaster specialists called New York the city with the second-greatest storm vulnerability in the country, trailing only New Orleans. But folks never really publicized that, likely for precisely the reason the first person cited--developers don't want you to know.
Or to realize that it can easily happen again.
a FAIR way to do this is to grandfather the people in, but any new developments will be in the flood zone. Also when you sell your house in order to prevent a mass decline in property value, the new owners should be allowed say a 5 year period of increasing rates.
Not agreeing with FEMA will not stop the waters flow. Most of the properties that flooded during Sandy never should have been allowed to have year-round housing in the first place. Much of this land is only suited for recreational or summer bungalows at best. You can't fool Mother Nature!
Here's a tip...If the word beach is in the title of your neighborhood, you need flood insurance.
Fair Richard? No free money for existing residents. That's what you're calling for. And it's bullshit. Fair is to let scientists who don't have to answer to whiny constituents and deep pocketed developers tell us where it's likely to flood, not to interfere with the process for the benefit of a few. You're in effect calling for billions of dollars of future tax dollars to go to bail out those existing residents. And that's bullshit.
The storms laugh at your "grandfathering". Nature doesn't want your house to exist where it is.
FEMA is 18 billion in the hole,broke,most people who pay flood insurance never get flooded,I sold my home,18 years of paying flood insurance never made a claim and it cost $3000 a year,FEMA raised it 25% so I sold,someone has to pay to rebuild poor housing in Louisiana while people in the Rockaways who paid were denied,FEMA is a Scam.
Post a Comment