MARSHFIELD COMMENTARY:
An epic tidal wave is coming
Marshfield Ma. —
A tidal wave of epic proportions is coming to devastate Marshfield. That seemed to be the consensus at the FEMA meeting last week. As I walked around and spoke to a number of attendants and even some town officials/employees, I noticed the room was mostly full of very outraged people.
Quite a few people just found out that their homes would now be in the new flood plain. I noticed one elderly woman in tears when she was told the terrible news that her home in Southport is in the newly added flood zone. What’s more troubling was realizing that there were so many more people not at this FEMA event.
Maybe they think that they aren’t going to feel the financial blast from the devastating wave that will flood Marshfield once our town officials approve these maps in March 2014. If you live in the Hills or in Blackmont or anywhere not indicated in the new FEMA Flood Maps and think you won’t be affected, wrong! Think again.
Property values are already crashing because of these proposed maps. Several thousand homes have already lost equity value. At the FEMA meeting last Wednesday, one homeowner told me he was offered $100,000 less for his home when the potential buyer found out the house will be in the new flood plain. I figured there would be a loss of over $3,000,000 in tax revenue when the fuzzy math maps are implemented.
The new FEMA flood maps raise the current flood levels from the actual level of a maximum 11 feet to a fantasy level of 17 feet.
Here’s where I got the $3,000,000’s of lost tax revenue. Because of these maps and the new flood zone areas my home’s value will drop by 25 percent. So, I expect my property taxes to drop by 25 percent as well. Meaning, I should have to pay $1,000 less. I’m one of the 3,000 homes now affected by the additional flood levels. If all these homes’ tax bills reflect the loss of value and reduce by $1,000 each that’s $3,000,000. Add on to this tax hit the additional burden of the town now having to pay flood insurance for all the public buildings like Daniel Webster School, the South River School, and the Library. I tell you this town will go bankrupt quickly, turning Marshfield into the next Detroit.
The new FEMA maps will cause the single most devastating financial disaster ever to hit Marshfield, including the No Name Storm.
I built my house 30 years ago. I planned for potential higher tidal floods and set my basement floor at 15 feet. I’m not in the current flood plan. Now, only because of fuzzy math and the government’s scare of global warming, I’m loosing equity and will be burdened with the cost of flood insurance.
Scaring homeowners further, insurance companies may even drop their policies for people who don’t want to get flood insurance because they don’t have mortgages and aren’t required to have flood insurance.
Remember, if you live in Marshfield and you think this won’t affect you, you’re wrong. Property values will collapse and their assessed values will fall. Marshfield loses revenue and is also hit with numerous very costly flood insurance premiums. Who do you think will pay for them and the new high school?
Add to this the fact that the government – FEMA – is forcing Marshfield to accept these maps. I’ve been told we have no choice. Marshfield will accept them because we have to. We can’t fight it because we don’t have the time or the money.
Can Marshfield afford to knowingly lose this revenue? The financial damage is real and is growing. The full hit is not completely known but the pain is beginning to be felt. Shouldn’t they consider the harm to this town weighted against the cost to fight the ridiculous fuzzy math behind the FEMA maps?
If FEMA says that we must accept the logic behind anticipating the 1 percent chance of an epic, once-in-a-thousand years storm, then why not go all out and count on the Canary Island sliding off and causing a 100-foot tidal wave that will reach so far inland that it will wipe out millions. Ridiculous!
The fuzzy math used to draw up the FEMA maps is not based on statistical facts. We’ve never had a storm surge higher than 11 feet in Marshfield. In fact, the full force of Hurricane Sandy hit NYC at 14 feet
Ask anybody who has lived in this town or who has had family in Marshfield through the past 100 years. They’ll tell you they can’t understand the thinking behind the new flood maps. People I’ve talked to wonder why FEMA never consulted with anyone from here or took reality into account when these maps were drawn up. So where did the new flood levels come from? Everyone I’ve spoken to truly believe this is the way the government can collect more revenue through more premiums.
My comments are based on the information I’ve researched so far. Find the answers yourself. Go to Marshfield’s Citizens Coastal Coalition meeting this Thursday, at 6 p.m., at St. Ann’s.
I’ve never written to the Mariner to express my opinion on any political topic. However, since this one issue will affect everyone in Marshfield, I could not remain silent. Although these are my impressions and thoughts,
I feel that by speaking out I am joined with all the angry voices of the people I heard from. Soon everyone will realize the size of the storm coming just off our shores.
Gene Clark is a resident of 75 Field Street.
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