Five years later, they are leaders, not victims
Posted: Thursday, November 2, 2017 10:30 am
The National Flood Insurance Program has always been a controversial topic in coastal communities, such as Howard Beach and Rockaway, and Washington, DC.
But when Puerto Rico and several states were devastated by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria earlier this year, the discussion became much more complex as homeowners in affected areas collectively suffered billions of dollars in damages.
As federal lawmakers continue to debate the future of the NFIP, which must be renewed before Dec. 8, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway Park) and civic leaders are making sure their concerns are addressed during the debate.
“If we don’t get this right, people will be priced out of their homes, we will be unable to sell our homes and our communities ... will shrivel up and disappear,” Pheffer Amato said at a press conference in Broad Channel Sunday.
The press conference was held on the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy — which itself had implications for the NFIP. Months before the historic storm, Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Act, which raised flood insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars in an effort to pump money into the program, which was and still is billions of dollars in debt.
Those rate hikes were reversed in 2014 to ease financial difficulty on homeowners still recovering from Sandy.
Some fear, though, that insurance companies may lobby for higher premiums to be included in this year’s reauthorization act.
“The bad guys in this movie are pretty easy to identify,” said Dan Mundy Jr., president of the Broad Channel Civic Association. “It’s the insurance companies.”
Roger Gendron, president of the New Hamilton Beach Civic Association, said, “If these premiums are astronomically high, it’s basically going to cause these working class communities to become the foreclosure capital of the world.”
Pheffer Amato and the civic leaders have sent the following suggestions to members of the U.S. House and Senate:
• grandfather existing rates;
• reform the insurance claims process and enforce civil penalties to companies that underpay policyholders;
• implement a provision that would require engineering reports for any claim for losses covered by the NFIP to be provided to the policyholder;
• allocate additional funding to improve flood map accuracy;
• implement measures to correct inconsistent rate quotes;
•allocate funding for flood mitigation efforts;
• cap mandatory required premiums and give vouchers to low-income homeowners; and
• conduct and release a report on outstanding claims from Sandy victims.
The suggestions have the support of Borough President Melinda Katz, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau) and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York).
“What we have to do is make sure our voices are heard,” Pheffer Amato said. “We need to get it right for everyone else.”
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