By now, most know how much insurance money they have to work with, though plenty of people are still struggling to get more. But a new federal law that
happened to coincide with the arrival of the storm will cause flood
insurance premiums to skyrocket and require stricter, and thus more
expensive, rebuilding standards.
So in the most devastated communities, families are being forced to make
difficult financial calculations: can they afford the new flood
insurance premiums, which, at worst, can reach as high as $30,000 a
year? Do they have the money to rebuild their homes to the government’s new specifications? Does it even pay to stay?
Some families have already thrown up their hands and put their houses up
for sale, while others talk of making the best of really bad options.
“This issue is more devastating to more people than Sandy itself,
believe it or not,” said Ron Jampel, a resident of the Shore Acres
section of Brick, N.J., who started an advocacy group for affected
homeowners in New Jersey called Save Our Communities 2013.
Maria Zanetich, who lives across the street from the water in Point
Pleasant, N.J., with her husband and two grown daughters, considers her
family lucky in many respects: their first floor is still gutted, but
they can continue to live on the top floor of their three-bedroom raised
ranch. Their insurance premiums will increase sharply, however, unless
they elevate their home five feet, which she said could cost more than
$100,000 because their home sits on a concrete slab instead of a
foundation with a crawl space.
“I paid my flood insurance on time every year, but I didn’t even know
that I had a subsidy, much less one that is now being phased out,” said
Ms. Zanetich, who provides early intervention services for children with
developmental delays. “The insurance moneys that we received will not
cover both elevating my house and repairs.”
She and her husband are applying for grant money — they have already
received their flood insurance claim payment — and once they hear about
that, they can determine their best course of action. “The more that I
try to figure it out,” Ms. Zanetich said, “the more I realize that I
don’t know what I don’t know.”
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