While the rest of the state is still concentrating more on the possible snow and ice storms it faces in February, many Worcester County residents have their minds on a different issue.
Oh, it has everything to do with storms, but instead of digging out of snow, we’re looking at how to dig out of sudden and sometimes shocking increases in flood insurance.
It’s no wonder that almost 250 area residents flooded a January 16 FEMA-sponsored opportunity to study preliminary flood insurance maps at the Stephen Decatur Middle School.
While FEMA wasn’t expecting the heavy turnout, many who made up that turnout worried about their flood insurance premiums.
Decatur wasn’t the only place where this conversation has happened. Worried homeowners are talking to town councils, elected officials and even FEMA.
What is clear is that the federal government is looking into whether or not it can soften the blow of a real expectation of flood insurance rates. According to Bayside Gazette Associate Editor Sheila Cherry’s page one story, many home owners were either not aware or they forgot that their insurance was being kept at lower rates, because of a government subsidy. FEMA, however, is mandated by federal law to phase out various subsidies and discounts to reduce the federal flood insurance program’s debts.
That isn’t comforting news to many area homeowners with properties in areas with histories of flooding.
We support those lawmakers who are trying to attempt to scale back the very real possibility of rate increases for homeowners with subsidized policies. And we hope that if insurance rates must rise, that they are done so gradually and only after those impacted are given a full explanation for the rise in policy rates.
FEMA and the insurance companies need to do a better job of reaching the policyholders. They shouldn’t have been so surprised when they walked into the middle school. Now, many are waiting for the other shoe to drop and their rates to increase.
They should have known well in advance. The news was almost as shocking as a flash flood.
That just isn’t fair.
Oh, it has everything to do with storms, but instead of digging out of snow, we’re looking at how to dig out of sudden and sometimes shocking increases in flood insurance.
It’s no wonder that almost 250 area residents flooded a January 16 FEMA-sponsored opportunity to study preliminary flood insurance maps at the Stephen Decatur Middle School.
While FEMA wasn’t expecting the heavy turnout, many who made up that turnout worried about their flood insurance premiums.
Decatur wasn’t the only place where this conversation has happened. Worried homeowners are talking to town councils, elected officials and even FEMA.
What is clear is that the federal government is looking into whether or not it can soften the blow of a real expectation of flood insurance rates. According to Bayside Gazette Associate Editor Sheila Cherry’s page one story, many home owners were either not aware or they forgot that their insurance was being kept at lower rates, because of a government subsidy. FEMA, however, is mandated by federal law to phase out various subsidies and discounts to reduce the federal flood insurance program’s debts.
That isn’t comforting news to many area homeowners with properties in areas with histories of flooding.
We support those lawmakers who are trying to attempt to scale back the very real possibility of rate increases for homeowners with subsidized policies. And we hope that if insurance rates must rise, that they are done so gradually and only after those impacted are given a full explanation for the rise in policy rates.
FEMA and the insurance companies need to do a better job of reaching the policyholders. They shouldn’t have been so surprised when they walked into the middle school. Now, many are waiting for the other shoe to drop and their rates to increase.
They should have known well in advance. The news was almost as shocking as a flash flood.
That just isn’t fair.