Gibsonites flood village meeting

Gibson residents are not happy about the new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood maps, which have left many homeowners with costly insurance bills, and they let the village board hear it on Monday night.

Residents have been meeting for the past two months at the Gibson train station, with the group growing larger each time. On Monday night, several dozen showed up at Valley Stream Village Hall to express their frustration. Although the changes were implemented by the federal government, local homeowners say the village did not do enough to notify them of the lower rates they could have secured by buying insurance before the new maps went into effect last September. Those who bought the insurance before then are paying a $388 premium this year, while those who did not are being hit with a bill upward of $2,000.

Brian Kost came armed with a letter that was sent to the village by FEMA a month before the new maps went into effect. He said the village did nothing to alert residents to the change.

Village Clerk Vinny Ang said that the government that made the change — the federal government — was at fault for failing to notify residents. He said that village officials did contact media outlets, including the Herald, which covered the story. “The village made sure it was in the papers, multiple times,” Ang said. “I believe the village made every effort to get the word out.”

Some residents, however, said that letters should have gone out to every resident affected by the new maps. Carol Crupi pointed out that the changes mostly affect homeowners south of Sunrise Highway, so letters would not have to be sent to everyone in Valley Stream.

Crupi also said that the village should have challenged the validity of the maps before the changes went into effect. “These maps are inaccurate and full of errors,” she told the village board. “You’re our first line of defense and, quite honestly, you let us down.”

Ang said the village did look into that possibility, but a challenge would have cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars, with no guarantee that homes would be removed from the updated flood zone.

Vincent Speziale, of South Drive, said the drawing of the maps doesn’t make any sense to him. Only part of his property is in the flood zone, and only the kitchen of one of his neighbors’ houses is in it. “I haven’t had a flood in 50 years,” Speziale said. “No one has.”

Flood insurance is mandatory only for residents who have mortgages. However, Crupi noted that senior citizens, who have likely been in their homes long enough to have paid off their mortgages, will be in for a “rude awakening” when they want to sell.

Joe Margolin noted that the flood maps could lower the value of a house as much as $60,000 — about as much as it will cost to purchase flood insurance over the course of a 30-year mortgage, he said. Potential buyers, knowing they will have to buy the insurance, may seek to negotiate a significantly lower price for houses.

Margolin said that Gibson residents were forced to pay to repair storm damage in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. “We are the relief fund,” he said. “Many of us are not prepared to be the relief fund.”

Several residents cast blame at U.S. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand for allowing this to happen, and said they would look to vote them out of office if something isn’t done. Many on Monday night were unaware of a bill passed just four days earlier by the House of Representatives to provide relief for residents. The Flood Insurance Reform Priorities Act would delay implementation of the new maps for five years, allowing homeowners to learn more about it and set money aside for coverage.

Those who have already purchased flood insurance, however, will have to keep it, and pay for it, for this year. “The federal government picked our pockets, basically,” Crupi said.

Jessica Montgomery, a spokeswoman for McCarthy, said that she has been fielding complaints about the new flood maps since last September. She said McCarthy is sensitive to residents’ concerns, and supported the new bill, which was sponsored by California Rep. Maxine Waters, to help homeowners.

The bill also directs FEMA to create an installment payment method for those who need flood insurance. Most residents had to pay for their coverage in one lump sum up front, which McCarthy said was a hardship for many. Montgomery said that McCarthy successfully lobbied for a provision that would provide grant money for local organizations to get the word out about the flood map changes.

The bill has yet to pass the Senate.

Ang said that village officials are just as concerned about this issue as homeowners, and he does not think FEMA or the federal government handled the implementation of the new maps properly. He added that he does not question the validity of the maps, as FEMA has warned for years that a major hurricane could send storm waters as far north as Sunrise Highway. Ang said that what is unfair is the excessive cost — more than homeowner’s insurance — and that FEMA is going back on its word to grandfather in lower rates for those who bought insurance before the deadline.

Crupi said she and others who bought flood insurance in advance of the deadline have only just learned that the rates are not grandfathered in — only the old flood zone designation. But because of their high risk, the rates still go up after the first year.

Crupi and her neighbors have been signing a petition opposing the flood map changes, and Ang said the village would put pressure on federal elected officials to make the situation fair for Valley Stream residents. “The premiums have to be reasonable,” he said, “and $1,800 is just not reasonable.”