As we approach the one-year anniversary of the event that ravaged our communities, we are struck by the reality that, after barely having restored much of what was lost, we now find ourselves faced with another storm on the horizon.
Although not actually a weather event, this “storm” is one which poses a much more finite, devastating threat than did Sandy. Something which looms in our immediate future, and has the potential to virtually eradicate our communities.
What we speak of is a man-made “governmental storm” that brings with it the intention to impose insurance hikes on shoreline communities that will virtually eliminate the potential for many people to keep their homes or their property. At the eye of the “storm” is FEMA.
In the past, those of us residing in territories where flooding is indicated, have lived with the protection of subsidized national flood insurance programs, however with the drafting and introduction of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, those “life-saving” subsides will be all but banished. The trickledown effect stemming from the consequences of the passage of this act will have detrimental impact resulting in irrevocable damage. The financial burden on homeowners to sustain their living arrangements will be too great to bear, leading to decreased property values and tax base values as well as driving many properties into foreclosure.
As concurrent changes to the flood maps occur, insurance rates will be subject to increases 2 to 10 times their current cost, within the next five years.
For communities like Broad Channel and Howard Beach, where many young couples have laid down their roots and invested their savings in trying to build the American dream, the ramifications are harrowing.
It is for the aforementioned reasons and so many others that we implore you to stand with your neighbors on Saturday, September 28 at a rally to be held at the Broad Channel America Legion Hall. The rally is one of more than a dozen to be held simultaneously in at least eight states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Iowa and Hawaii.
The goal of these rallies is the repeal of the Biggert-Waters Act and the institution of a solid national flood insurance program that allows each of us the choice to maintain the dreams we have invested our lives in. Without pressure on our government, these provisos will strangle any chance of restoration and preservation of the communities that were built on trust for a government that encouraged our cooperation in developing and expanding waterfront areas, despite the drawbacks to living in such zones.
While we may never see the billions of dollars needed to install gates and other physical measures to beat back flood waters we can stop this storm by the government by demanding the reversal of this act and for that which we were promised by the same entity that now seems determined to strip it away.
The rally is fueled by growing disappointment in FEMA and the atrocities committed against us by the insurance industry after the damages suffered. Remember this is a national effort and its power is reinforced by the strength of numbers.
This week, the NYC Council passed a resolution sponsored by Councilmember Eric A. Ulrich (R-Ozone Park) calling upon the United States Congress to amend the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012.
Since 1968, the government of the United State of America has provided flood insurance at affordable rates in exchange for American families to aid in the development of coastal and riverfront areas by living in them. Since then, more than five million families put their trust in the government and sunk their life savings into properties they may no longer be able to maintain if they are subjected to the new insurance proposal.
We may not be able to harness wind and water but this attempt by our own government to take us by storm is one we can certainly combat effectively. This is one storm we can stop. It’s one storm we better stop.
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