Flood Insurance Info Session In The Ocean City Library

OCEAN CITY, NJ — Concerned about flood insurance? It's hard not to be if you own Ocean City property. An info session on flood insurance will take place from 4-5 p.m. Saturday inside the Ocean City Free Public Library.

George Kasimos, the founder of advocacy group Stop FEMA Now, is running the event. Stop FEMA Now is a concerned-citizens organization with objectives that include preventing the Federal Emergency Management Agency from raising flood insurance rates.

The program will address potential premium increases if Congress's National Flood Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2019 becomes law. Advocates have warned that the House will would allow flood-insurance premiums to increase 18 percent annually and as much as 25 percent on vacation homes.

The info session in Ocean City will address potential premium increases. Kasimos will also answer questions concerning ICC (Increased Cost of Compliance coverage); house elevation; the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) program; and other Superstorm Sandy-related issues.

The House bill reauthorizes the NFIP for five years and includes several "reforms to increase affordability, enhance mitigation, and modernize the NFIP," according to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services.

The bill advanced out of the committee on a 59-0 bipartisan vote June 12. The NFIP is set to expire Sept. 30.

Senator Bob Menendez introduced another NIFP authorization bill July 18 designed to cap premium increases to 5-10 percent per year. The Senate referred Menendez's bill to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs.

The average New Jersey property owner pays about $1,000 a year for flood insurance. But premiums can be higher for owners in high-risk, coastal areas.

Stop FEMA Now has made efforts to get municipal governments to pass resolutions opposing the House bill's potential premium increases. Eleven mayors, cities and counties in New Jersey and Florida have passed such resolutions, according to Stop FEMA Now.

Ocean City Council has not taken a stance yet on NIFP authorization bills.

"The sustainability of the National Flood Insurance Program is important to the majority of property owners in Ocean City," said Ocean City Public Information Officer Doug Bergen. "City Council has no immediate plans to take any stance."

You can livestream the event on the Stop FEMA Now Facebook page. Kasimos is speaking at the request of the Ocean City Flooding Committee, a civilian group.

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