A new amendment will help Sandy victims avoid drowning in flood insurance premium increases—at least for several years to come.
Senator Charles Schumer announced his support for an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that delays increases for those with National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coverage in communities affected by updated FEMA flood maps for five years.
“I will strongly support this amendment that staves off massive, looming flood insurance hikes for homeowners, many of whom are dedicating every available penny to rebuilding,” he said.
Following Sandy, FEMA decided to update the city’s flood maps. The changes, which are still under revision, will classify more neighborhoods as flood zones and bring about increases to insurance premiums there.
In January, shortly after FEMA published the first of two phases of updated Advisory Base Flood Elevation maps, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an emergency executive order suspending height and other restrictions. The idea was to let buildings meet the new elevation standards and to mitigate costs of future flood insurance premium increases.
As of press time, the amendment was awaiting a vote.
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