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| Broad Channel to participate in Nation Wide Rally Protesting "Town Killer" Flood Insurance Hikes Saturday 9/28/2013 12 noon - American Legion Hall |
Generally speaking, all these inquiries have have posed the same questions, to wit:
"Will our protest actually amount to anything?.....What can actually be done to avert these catastrophic flood insurance rate hikes?....What do we say if we are asked why taxpayer money should be used to provide relief to those of us living in Broad Channel who want to remain here after Sandy and causing continuing deficit operation of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)?"
Let's take this one question at a time....
Question: "Will our protest actually amount to anything?"
Response:
There is a ripple of growing anger spreading across the coastal and river communities of our nation. Unfortunately this anger is oftentimes accompanied by a feeling of impotence. We are angry but we feel there is nothing we can do about it. There is a mood that our elected representatives who passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act back in July of 2012, without first speaking to the communities it affects, will do little more than offer us "lip service" and allow the chips to fall where they may. This mood is wrong! It doesn't have to be this way - if enough of us choose to do something about it.
What I can tell you is that this protest, if well attended by the residents of our community and our brothers and sisters in other coastal and river communities throughout the country, will grab the attention of the media and our elected representatives but, with few exceptions, only for a short while. Having said that, we will need to continue a laser like focus on this issue with all involved parties.
First, we will require a passionate representation of the population that is willing to sacrifice their time and attend this rally and peacefully express our anger regarding this issue.
Secondly, after the protest is over, we will require sustained action. The death knell of this movement would be to have us attend the rally and then go home thinking our job was done. If that happens then right after the rally, those in power will simply smother the flame of protest and nothing will be accomplished. We need you to attend the rally and then go home and continue to show your dissatisfaction with Biggert-Waters, FEMA and the NFIP. We all need to make it very clear that we will not allow our community of Broad Channel to become an enclave of foreclosed houses! We have to make it explicitly clear to our elected representatives that change is required.
Attend every community meeting you can, community board, civic association, etc., and make it a point to raise this issue with those officials hosting the meeting.
Call, email and write (snail mail) each and everyone of our elected representatives from local party district leaders through city councilmen, Mayor, state representatives and senators and member of the United States Congress.
Write and email the major media dailies and each of our local newspapers asking them to maintain coverage of this issue with each of their publications.
I know it is asking a lot but then again, a lot is at stake with this issue.
Question: "What can actually be done to avert these catastrophic flood insurance rate hikes?"
Response:
1. Congress can amend the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to reinstate "grandfathering". This must be for properties and not the policy holders and only for properties built to required elevations at the time of construction with maintained insurance and without repetitive loss. Implementation of Biggert-Waters can be delayed to allow time for these corrections and affordability analysis although, unfortunately, real estate market values will be adversely impacted in the interim until this legislation is fixed.
2. All FEMA flood risk maps must include relative sea level rise and all flood mitigation elements with independent verification of all actuarial rates with an affordability study conducted after verification of accuracy of FEMA data.
Question: "What do we say if we are asked why taxpayer money should be used to provide relief to those of us living in Broad Channel who want to remain here on the bay after Sandy and causing continuing deficit operation of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)?
Response:
Attend every community meeting you can, community board, civic association, etc., and make it a point to raise this issue with those officials hosting the meeting.
Call, email and write (snail mail) each and everyone of our elected representatives from local party district leaders through city councilmen, Mayor, state representatives and senators and member of the United States Congress.
Write and email the major media dailies and each of our local newspapers asking them to maintain coverage of this issue with each of their publications.
I know it is asking a lot but then again, a lot is at stake with this issue.
Question: "What can actually be done to avert these catastrophic flood insurance rate hikes?"
Response:
1. Congress can amend the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to reinstate "grandfathering". This must be for properties and not the policy holders and only for properties built to required elevations at the time of construction with maintained insurance and without repetitive loss. Implementation of Biggert-Waters can be delayed to allow time for these corrections and affordability analysis although, unfortunately, real estate market values will be adversely impacted in the interim until this legislation is fixed.
2. All FEMA flood risk maps must include relative sea level rise and all flood mitigation elements with independent verification of all actuarial rates with an affordability study conducted after verification of accuracy of FEMA data.
Question: "What do we say if we are asked why taxpayer money should be used to provide relief to those of us living in Broad Channel who want to remain here on the bay after Sandy and causing continuing deficit operation of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)?
Response:
Firstly, this is not solely a Broad Channel or Rockaway centered issue. Nearly all 50 states have experienced flood disasters resulting in emergency declarations and FEMA involvement. Flooding is not confined to coastal areas contray to popular belief. Inland flooding from rivers and streams and rain events account for the majority of NFIP claims historically so this issue is not confined as some may think to just those coastal areas which have been impacted by Sandy and previously Katrina.
As far as the NFIP is concerned, we all want that program to be long term sustainable yet actuarially responsible going forward while still protecting home and business owners who have built to required elevations at the time of construction as part of a larger resiliency strategy.
Nevertheless, if Biggert-Waters is left unchecked, the potential impact of this legislation will be devastating:
Nevertheless, if Biggert-Waters is left unchecked, the potential impact of this legislation will be devastating:
Properties will become uninsurable....
Properties will go unsold.....
Property values will go to zero....
Owners lose everything....
Banks lose mortgage portfolios as properties are foreclosed....
Governments lose tax bases....
Economies are destroyed....
Whole communities are lost....
and finally, the NFIP goes broke as thousands are forced to leave the program.
Broad Channel is our home and to many of us, it has been for generations. The reason we will be attending this rally on September 28th is to show those in government that if we did not allow Sandy to destroy our town we will be damned if we will allow a piece of legislation passed without full public notice and accompanied by incredulous premium hikes and flawed data and elevation maps on the part of FEMA to place a stake through the heart of Broad Channel.
Remember the date:
Remember the date:
Saturday
September 28th - 12 Noon
American Legion Hall
STOP FEMA NOW
Peter J. Mahon
Peter J. Mahon
Insurance premiums are already increasing for many people and we run the risk of those rates going up to more than $30K a year. Who can afford that?? It's not clear if these increases are being initiated by the insurance companies or NFIP/FEMA, but make no mistake, it's already happening. Don't think for one moment that if you and I have trouble selling our property once we have outrageous flood insurance premiums that any branch of government will lend any of us a hand, because Bloomberg has said he will have our properties redeveloped and sold to people 'who can afford to live near the water;' people who will likely have political connections getting them assistance in ways that the rest of can't fathom. Apathy cannot be the answer, we have to choose to fight, and yes, it is a choice.
ReplyDeleteRemember one more thing: EVERY location on earth has risks. Are we heading down the road to clearing out all areas that have risk? Then we will need to completely retool our economy, and clear out "hurricane alley."
ReplyDelete