Flood zones unveiled on Lower Cape [Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.]

Aug. 16--NORTH EASTHAM -- Homeowners in the Cape's easternmost towns got a first look Thursday at new federal flood zone maps.

About 80 people attended the afternoon open house hosted by Federal Emergency Management Agency and town officials at Nauset Regional High School.

Most people had the same basic questions: Do I need flood insurance, and how much will it cost?

The general answer: It depends.

"Everybody's home is a bit different," Tom Young, a manager in New England for the National Flood Insurance Program, part of FEMA, said during a question-and-answer period. "You want to make sure you have the proper insurance and pay the proper premium."

The new maps for Barnstable County were released in July and there is currently a review period through Oct. 17 for property owners, town officials and others to make appeals, corrections and comments. Thursday's was the third and final meeting for Cape residents.

The old maps hadn't been updated for 20 to 30 years, and they were paper only. The new maps are digitized, which will make them easier to update, FEMA officials said. They also reflect the current risk, based on more sophisticated scientific analysis.

But more properties are now in hazardous zones, according to some Cape officials.

At the high school Thursday, homeowners stood over large, house-by-house printouts of their neighborhoods or the computerized versions.

Location matters because depending on the flood zone, banks can require mortgage-holders to purchase flood insurance. Once the maps are officially adopted, possibly as early as next summer, mortgage-holders can expect to get a letter from their banks, FEMA officials said Thursday.

Standard homeowner's insurance policies don't cover flooding.

Dan and Carole Foley of Eastham and Worcester stood in line for a computer view of their street and voiced concern about whether their house near Fort Hill is in a zone that requires flood insurance.

"We probably are," Dan Foley said. "We're near the water."

At a nearby table, Eastham residents Dwayne and Patricia DeWitt were trying to find their house on Schoolhouse Road but their address was just off the map's edge. They had heard that the cost of flood insurance could be has high as $10,000 a year. Later in the meeting, DeWitt said he'd found out they weren't in a high-risk flood zone.

In 1968, Congress created the National Flood Insurance Program to help property owners protect themselves. But severe weather, such as Hurricane Sandy, has put the federally subsidized program at least $20 billion in the hole. Last year Congress passed the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 to stabilize the fund. But provisions from the act will cause flood insurance rates to rise over the next few years.

Provincetown homeowners Elaine Anderson and Lorraine Kujawa have been paying for flood insurance since they moved to town in the early 2000s. They currently pay about $364 annually for their house on Hancock Street. But the flood-risk designation has gone up for that section of the neighborhood, and the couple is wondering if their rate will be grandfathered.

FEMA officials had nothing reassuring to say Thursday. By next year, "everything is changing with regard to grandfathering," Young said.

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