Gov. Chris Christie will make what some believe is a "major announcement" on hurricane flood map regulations Thursday.
Christie will appear at 3 p.m. at the Seaside Heights Fire Department at the Main Fire Bay at 116 Sherman Avenue in Seaside Heights.
Christie chose a town that has seen the worst of the wind and flooding damage as a result of the October superstorm.
But the new flooding map designs have become the biggest source of contention for long-term homeowners who are fearing that they'll either have to put their houses on stilts, or move out entirely.
For instance, the Point Pleasant Boro mayor, council and Sandy-flooded residents are objecting to sections of a FEMA advisory map that puts them in a "V Zone" that calls for more stringent building requirements and higher flood insurance rates.
Mayor William Schroeder and council members recently told a room of about 100 people, most of whom have homes flooded by Sandy, that they are fighting the designation of sections of Bay Head Shores, which is on Barnegat Bay, and a few other sections of town as being in the "V Zone."
Residents who spoke had concerns about the zone designations, building requirements, a possible faulty pipe exacerbating flooding on Northstream Parkway (which flooded badly during Sandy) and other related matters.
The Advisory Base Flood Elevation Maps were in the process of being drafted long before Sandy ever struck the Jersey Shore, but were recently made public.
According to the website of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA),the "V zone" is among the "Special Flood Hazard Areas."
Property owners along the New Jersey shore will have to build their homes higher under new regulations announced today by Gov. Chris Christie. Christie said in a news conference that the emergency order will go into effect immediately, setting elevations recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as state law.
“We don’t want to go through this again,” Christie said. “We don’t want another storm again, but that we don’t get to choose. This is what we get to choose.” The governor said his order will also eliminate the uncertainty faced by homeowners who wanted to rebuild after Sandy but did not know what the new regulations would entail. Last month FEMA issued advisory base flood elevation maps to provide municipalities and homeowners with guidance for rebuilding. The maps are considered a precursor to new federal flood insurance rate maps, the drafts of which are expected to be released later this year. Current maps in many areas along the shore were last drawn in the 1980s and do not accurately reflect the insurance risk for property owners, FEMA officials have said. By building to the FEMA standards, New Jersey homeowners will see substantially reduced rates for flood insurance, according to the governor.
The prospect of new maps requiring property owners to either raise their house or face extreme increases in flood insurance rates has many shore property owners waiting in uncertainty, worried that if they don’t raise their house, they won't be able to afford flood insurance. If homeowners raise their house before the new maps are adopted, they are concerned whether they have added enough elevation, said Mark Mauriello, former DEP commissioner and Director of Environmental Affairs and Planning for Edgewood Properties, a Piscataway-based development company. Flood insurance rates already have shot up as of this month due to new federal regulations requiring property owners pay more into a deeply indebted National Flood Insurance Program. For those properties that may be below the base flood elevation in a few years, the cost increase is staggering, Mauriello said. Insurance for a typical coastal zone house built to the minimum elevation standard would be about $1,700 per year for full coverage, he said. If the structure has been raised to two feet above the minimum, the cost is $633 a year.
The issue for many residents along bay side properties and on low-lying sections of barrier islands is that the proposed FEMA maps more than double the areas flagged as velocity zones, which require buildings to be constructed with codes designed to withstand waves on top of floodwaters. The so-called “velocity zone,” was once relegated to oceanfront properties because houses right along the beach were considered to be most at risk. Among the communities with the most dramatic changes on the maps was Brigantine, where much of the low-lying north end was listed as under that zone. Brigantine municipal engineer Ed Stinson said Wednesday that the studies that would solidify whether interior island sections or even properties directly along the bay are truly at risk and, therefore, would need to be built on driven piling in order to meet flood map standards, have not been complete. Such a designation on middle class communities that have houses built almost solely on concrete blocks, Brigantine Mayor Phil Guenther said, would be financially devastating, potentially even driving a dramatic demographic change.
Only fools repeat serious mistakes - rebuilding is a serious mistake. Take a check/buyout and move to higher ground.
built homes in Point Pleasant, Herbertsville, and Bay Head many sold out in the late 50's and lost out on the $$$ market. Only one got hit big on a ground level bayside Pt Pleasant. Face facts, this approvals for building were all based upon ratables and property taxes ... the mayor realtor and property investor made sure construction was allowed in several long beach township communities ... many were wiped out ... has anyone checked into a mass law suit? Surely there are enough for a class-action suit based upon codes and structural zones ... funny how these governing bodies are mostly "reactive not proactive" So now we are hearing of major flood zone changes ... were they all blinded by their own personal investments? Power is the key ... folks best wake up ???
http://www.northjersey.com/news/recordpolitics/Christie_NJ_adopting_feds_advisory_flood_maps.html?c=y&page=3
It's a joke how many times it's been underwater. Do THEY have to raise their houses after YEARS of repeated flooding ?? WHY NOT ??!!
What we want are our Politicians to change; 1) A thorough re-evaluation of the flood zones, in a timely fashion. 2) Evaluating if we raise the dunes a few feet if it will significantly reduce all our flood levels and insurance premiums. 3) Getting quick answers as to who gets the mitigation grants, when they get the grant and for how much. 4) Creative ways to lower our flood insurance premiums 5) Grace period of a few years before the rise in flood insurance premiums 6) FEMA to notify all homeowners of the impending new flood insurance rates and elevation requirements What we want from all Flood Insurance homeowners to do; 1) Copy and paste this email and send to your local, state, federal politicians and members of Press. 2) Form Coalition to protect our interests. 3) Spread the word to your neighbors George Kasimos www.facebook.com/StopFemaNow
"FEMA comes up with these maps, but it's up to the towns to determine any changes made to those maps." Yes, lazy FEMA bureaucrats using Google aerial maps have made major mistakes in elevations and flood hazard zones!
A LOMA is a letter that officially revises an effective FEMA NFIP map. A LOMA results from an administrative procedure involving the review of scientific or technical data submitted by the owner or lessee of property who believes the property has incorrectly been included in a designed SFHA (Special Flood Hazard Area) or has been incorrectly indentified in the wrong SFHA. A LOMA amends the currently effective FEMA map and establishes that a specific property is not located in the SFHA or is located within the correct SFHA.
[Stop FEMA now | Facebook www.facebook.com/StopFemaNow facebook/StopFemaNow. Flood-elevation maps will destroy the Shore. www.app.com. Gov. Christie's adoption of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's ...]