FEMA offers relief for flood zone homeowners

Thousands of Valley Stream residents won’t have to worry about skyrocketing flood insurance costs next year. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced last week that it would indefinitely extend lower flood insurance rates to homeowners who were added to the high-risk flood zone in 2009.

If FEMA had not extended the Preferred Risk Policy rate, homeowners would have been faced with annual flood insurance premiums of $2,000 or more when renewing their policies in 2013 and beyond. Valley Stream Mayor Ed Fare, who met with representatives from the offices of U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy earlier this year, said he specifically requested that the lower rates be extended while other issues with the flood maps are worked out.

Earlier this year, Schumer, Gillibrand and McCarthy called for FEMA to extend the lower rates. Congress also passed legislation requiring the agency to redraw Nassau County’s flood maps. Now residents won’t have to worry about their rates going up even while a new study is being done.

“Nassau County homeowners can breathe a little easier, knowing they are no longer staring down an impending deadline that could have cost them thousands of dollars,” Schumer said. “This decision will ease the burden on local homeowners while FEMA develops new maps, with local data, as they were compelled to by the legislation I authored and that was signed into law last month.”

The three representatives noted that several communities in Nassau County, including Valley Stream, have little or no recorded history of flooding, yet are paying insurance rates that are on a par with those of coastal communities. Homeowners in high-risk flood zones who have federally backed mortgages are required to buy the insurance.

A Preferred Risk Policy rate costs about $400 a year. “I’m glad that FEMA is heeding our request and extending the PRP program to provide some much-needed relief to Long Islanders,” McCarthy said.

Fare said that while last week’s announcement was a victory for homeowners all over the country, his specific concern was Valley Stream. “It allows FEMA and the federal government to get it right,” he said. “Hopefully they get it right in our favor.”

In the meantime, much of Valley Stream remains in the high-risk flood zone. The hardest-hit areas are neighborhoods south of Sunrise Highway, especially Gibson and Mill Brook.

Gibson resident Carol Crupi, president of the Valley Stream Community Association, said the ultimate goal is to get Valley Stream out of the flood zone entirely. “That’s paramount,” she said. “That has to be. We know that we don’t belong there.”

Crupi said that while the reduced premiums will ease the burden on residents, property values are still suffering. The prospect of four-figure annual insurance premiums scared potential home buyers away, she said, but the stigma of being in a high-risk flood zone will continue to affect the marketability of homes until the designation is gone.

There is no guarantee that any parts of Valley Stream will be removed from the flood zone when the new maps are released. However, municipalities will be able to challenge the maps.

Fare said that if they are not to his liking, the village will definitely take that route. He noted that Valley Stream could have challenged the current maps in 2009, but officials were led to believe that if they did, no one in the village would be eligible for flood insurance or emergency funds from FEMA.

The village won’t be fooled again, Fare said. “If the new maps come out and they’re not in our favor,” he said, “you bet I’m going to challenge them.”

Crupi said that she and her fellow flood zone residents would expect nothing less from the village officials this time around.

Although those homeowners will now benefit from reduced rates, she said, they must “be on their toes” as they wait for FEMA to complete its new Nassau County study. “Because people are not being hit with these huge premiums, they may think this is over,” she said.

Marc Tenzer, president of the Mill Brook Civic Association, which represents more than 800 homes in the flood zone, said he is glad that residents won’t be saddled with huge premiums. “I think it’s great,” he said. “I think it’s a start. We’ve made a lot of headway.”

Crupi said she believes that the efforts of Valley Stream residents and leaders in opposing the new flood maps played a significant role in the changes that have been announced in recent months.

It is unknown when the new maps from FEMA will be released. However, Fare said that doesn’t matter now, following last week’s announcement of indefinite lower rates. “If this drags on for 10 years, our residents are protected in the process,” he said. “We don’t have to march on Washington every six months to try and get this extended.”

Tenzer said he was grateful to the local and federal officials who pushed FEMA to extend the lower rates. However, like Crupi, he said that the fight isn’t over until flood insurance in Valley Stream is no longer a requirement, because residents don’t believe the designation is necessary. “Are we happy? We’re happier,” he said. “But we’ll be happy when we’re out of the flood zone.”