Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle talks about the new Fema Flood maps

New flood maps show risk areas in Monmouth County

By TODD B. BATES
ENVIRONMENTAL WRITER

Do you live in a flood zone in Monmouth County?

New, preliminary flood maps may show that you're now in a higher-risk area and may be required by your mortgage holder to buy flood insurance.

But you could save hundred of dollars a year — by taking advantage of grandfathered rates — if you buy flood insurance before the maps take effect, according to Barbara Lynch, a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokeswoman.

Neptune resident Dorothy Argyros, whose home won't be affected by the new maps, thinks they will "hurt a lot of people."

"This is sneaking up on people who are already paying double the average tax in the country," she said.

But Christina Banasiak, an assistant office manager at Weichert Realtors in Marlboro and treasurer of the New Jersey Association of Realtors, called the new, much more accurate maps "a big plus." They will show whether people are paying for flood insurance they don't need and whether others should buy it, she said.

The new preliminary flood maps for Monmouth County come halfway through FEMA's five-year, $1 billion nationwide flood map modernization project, Lynch said.

And an estimated 4,280 structures in Middletown, Keansburg, Hazlet and Union Beach alone would now be in a coastal high-risk flood zone under the preliminary maps, although residents still would be able to get lower-cost flood insurance before the maps are finalized, according to Lynch.

State Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin, R-Monmouth, will host an emergency meeting on Tuesday in Middletown with local officials from the four towns, FEMA officials and possibly a state official to discuss the issue, according to Handlin and an e-mailed statement.

Ocean County flood maps, which are virtually the same as the previous maps and are not nearly as accurate as the Monmouth County maps, took effect in 2006, Lynch said. The maps for Brick and Point Pleasant Beach need to be revised because data are missing.

This month, officials will discuss doing more accurate mapping in Ocean County in the future, Lynch said.

The preliminary digital Monmouth maps, which feature aerial photography and accurately pinpoint buildings and properties in relation to flood zones, are available on the Web, according to FEMA officials. The final versions will replace older, paper maps that are generally more than 25 years old.

People with Mac computers have had problems opening up the preliminary maps, and "we've gone back to the contractor and we're trying to figure it out," Lynch said.

Monmouth flooding risks

Flooding in Monmouth County is caused largely by tropical storms, extratropical cyclones (nor'easters) and, to a lesser extent, severe thunderstorms, according to a FEMA study.

Floods have caused six of the eight disasters declared by the president over the past decade in New Jersey, according to a recent FEMA statement on the Web.

But fewer than 225,000 flood insurance policies are in effect in New Jersey, although that's a 4.5 percent increase over last year, the statement says.

In Monmouth County, the number of flood insurance policies increased from 14,687 in January 2004 to 17,979 in January 2008, according to Lynch.

In Ocean County, the number of policies rose from 47,642 in January 2004 to 52,307 in January 2008, she said.

Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a Sandy Hook-based coastal conservation group, thinks it's important whether the maps show more areas at risk, given sea-level rise, more intense storms and more coastal development.

"FEMA, I think, develops these maps probably to inform people about the need for flood insurance . . . but the bigger questions are how much of the coast is at risk . . . both people and property," Dillingham said.

The society hopes that maps guide the state and towns to reduce the risk and steer people away from building in high-risk areas, he said.

Viewing the new maps

Residents are urged to review the preliminary maps at their community's municipal building or at this Web site — http://rmc.mapmodteam.com/RMC2/CountiesMonmouth.htm, according to an e-mailed FEMA statement.

Residents should buy flood insurance policies now if their property has been rezoned into a higher risk flood hazard area, the statement says.

FEMA will publish notices about the new, preliminary flood maps in local newspapers, and the second notice will signal the start of a 90-day appeal period when communities can challenge new flood data. The flood maps will become final six months after the last appeal is resolved, the statement says.

The maps will help owners of homes and businesses understand their flood risks and make more informed financial decisions on protecting their properties, according to a FEMA publication on the Web.

They also will allow community planners, local officials, engineers, builders and others to decide where and how new structures and developments should be built to maximize safety, the publication says.

If a building is now in a high-risk zone under the new maps instead of a low- or moderate-risk zone under the old ones, federal law requires flood insurance for most mortgage-holders when the maps take effect, the publication says.

Flood insurance is not required in low- to moderate-risk areas, but 30 percent of all claims paid last year were for policies in such areas, according to FEMA information on the Web.

People who find they're now in a higher risk zone can take advantage of a "grandfathering" provision that allows them to pay the lower flood insurance rates for the lower-risk zone they're now in — if they act before the new maps take effect, according to Lynch.

The grandfathered premium lasts for the life of the policy with the current homeowner, as long as the policy is maintained, she said.

"We're telling people about the grandfather clause in the National Flood Insurance Program because we want people to save money, but also it's clearly prudent for everyone to protect their property with flood insurance" because it is not included under a regular homeowners insurance policy, she said.

In general, people can save hundreds of dollars a year through grandfathering, Lynch said.

People with properties now in a low- to moderate-risk flood zone may be eligible for a preferred rate, she said.

Preferred-risk policy rates begin at $112 a year for $20,000 in coverage for a building and $8,000 in coverage for contents for a single-family building with one floor, no basement and a standard $500 deductible, according to the Floodsmart.gov Web site.

Opinions of the new maps

Argyros, of Neptune, said she attended a recent public meeting on the new maps, and "my first thought was . . . "hey, the insurance companies are going to get rich on this,' and a lot of the decision-making" is left to banks.

"It smells terrible to me, this thing," she said. "I think it will hurt real estate sales horribly."

Lynch said: "I really feel that this is an important public service that FEMA is performing . . . in terms of alerting people . . . to the real risk of living in a flood plain. You can't depend on the president of the United States to declare a presidential disaster every time it rains."

People who choose to live on the coast may continue to do so, she said, "but they should be informed their property, their investment is at risk . . . and they can't depend on the public purse to bail them out. They have to take responsibility for their own lives."

Banasiak, of the New Jersey Association of Realtors, said the new digital maps will be "a large help" and far more accurate than the old, paper maps.

People "don't have the benefit of insurance coverage if they don't know they're in a flood plain," said Banasiak, who lives in Jackson and neither lives in a flood zone nor has flood insurance.

Property owners will be able to evaluate their risk of flooding with the updated maps, she said.

"I don't think there are any downsides to it at all," she said, calling the updating of the maps "very essential."

In Oceanport, officials have noticed some changes in flood zone areas, but nothing dramatic, said police Capt. Mauro Baldanza, emergency management coordinator. Officials are still reviewing the maps, he added.

The digital photography "helps out tremendously so people can see" exactly where their property is compared with flood zones, Baldanza said.

"Unfortunately, most of the borough facilities are within the flood zone area," he said.

Long Branch officials also are reviewing the new flood maps, and "while there are some differences, there are not huge difference as they are in other towns," said Howard H. Woolley Jr., city administrator.

"We're gonna get notices out to homeowners who now are in a flood zone who weren't in the past," Woolley said.

Belmar Mayor Kenneth E. Pringle said it's his understanding that the flood plain area increased around Silver Lake and to a lesser extent by Como Lake under the new maps.

Most of the expanded area corresponds with flood conditions during an extended period of heavy rains in October 2005, according to Pringle.

But "some of it is actually beyond that area and actually . . . doesn't make a lot of sense, based on our experience with that flood," and the borough may appeal on that and other issues, he said.

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