Meeting to help keep flood insurance costs in check [Portsmouth Daily Times, Ohio]

Feb. 19--NEW BOSTON -- The Village of New Boston is hosting a second-chance meeting this month to provide residents from all of Scioto County with information about locking-in lower flood insurance rates offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Village Administrator Steve Hamilton said FEMA draws new flood maps every 10 years, and when the newest maps were released in April 2011 is showed that some areas of the village are now at a higher risk of flooding. He said as much as 60 percent of New Boston is in some type of flood plain. Before those maps were released, Hamilton hosted two public meetings in New Boston to inform citizens how they could purchase FEMA flood insurance then for lower rates that would not increase for two years. He said very few people showed up to those meetings.

Now the deadline has passed, and some people are already seeing their rates jump as high as 60 percent.

"I've got two people that live on one street right now, and they're both in the same flood zone. They live right beside each other, and one is paying $700 more than their neighbor for flood insurance for a year," Hamilton said.

If more had come to the meetings last year, Hamilton said, they could have been grandfathered into lower rates.

Furthermore, Hamilton warned, if FEMA de-accredits either the village of New Boston or the city of Portsmouth floodwall systems, insurance rates will go up even more. The wall is undergoing studies and repairs, and both the city and the village expect to meet the requirements for accrediting before the final deadline.

Hamilton said FEMA offers a second chance to purchase low-rate flood insurance for two years only through its Preferred Risk Policy Eligibility Extension program. Free information about the program will be available at a public meeting at the New Boston Community Center at 6 p.m.Feb. 29.

"This is to keep your rates low, so you can be prepared for when the rates do go up," he said. "This two-year extension will provide property owners additional time to save and prepare for paying for a full-risk premium in two years."

Information will be distributed to homeowners from all over Scioto County to take back to their insurance provider to enroll in this program. Local insurance agents are also strongly encouraged to attend for information.

"They (the agents) will get a 13 percent commission by selling this," Hamilton said.

He said he is worried about the residents of New Boston, and all of Scioto County, who are already on a fixed income and cannot afford higher insurance premiums. He warned that if a property owner has a mortgage, the bank can require them to purchase this insurance -- and if the property owner doesn't, the bank can purchase it for them using money from their escrow account and include that cost on the property owner's mortgage payment. Higher mortgage payments, he fears, could mean more people being unable to stay in their homes.

"I just want to be a stepping stone for people, to show them that FEMA is willing to help and give people a second chance, but they've got to be here. They've got to participate," Hamilton urged.

The meeting is 6 p.m.Feb. 29, at the New Boston Community Center on Rhodes Avenue.

Ryan Scott Ottney can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 235, or [email protected].

___

(c)2012 The Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, Ohio)

Visit The Portsmouth Daily Times (Portsmouth, Ohio) at www.portsmouth-dailytimes.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services