Flood Insurance Programs ICC Working In Vero Beach
Release Date: March 23, 2005
Release Number: 1539-411
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ORLANDO, Fla. -- Michael F. Hauser and his family are going to live in a new, elevated ranch-style home a quarter-mile from the Indian River in Vero Beach. They hope to move there in time for Christmas.
And they’re going to be in a bigger home, thanks in part to the U. S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
He will receive between $20,000 and $25,000 from the NFIP's Increased Cost of Compliance Coverage (ICC) program, which provides additional funds to homeowners with flood insurance to demolish, elevate, relocate or flood-proof their homes. The ICC program paid for fill dirt that will be used to make his 2,600-square-foot single-story home 3 ½ to 4 feet higher.
The ICC program is for homeowners in high-risk areas, also known as special flood hazard areas. The program provides insurance funds of up to $30,000 to help pay costs of bringing homes or businesses into compliance with floodplain ordinances for the community in which the homeowner lives or businessperson has his/her business.
"It turned out to be a good thing, that's for sure," Hauser said, when the bank that made his home loan required him to purchase flood insurance for his concrete block house. That was in December 2003, just eight months before Hurricane Frances slammed into the Vero Beach area on Labor Day weekend in 2004.
Hauser said the drainage canal near their house rose seven feet and the floodwater in his home was 2 ½ feet deep. The original house was high enough for the floodplain in 1959, when it was built, “but not now,” said Hauser.
“Everything will be maximum,” Hauser said. The new house will either meet or exceed local building codes and will be heavily mitigated to make it as disaster-resistant as possible. It will have a metal roof that meets the 140-mile-per-hour wind standard and high-impact hurricane glass in all the windows.
Hauser and his wife, Shannon and their son and daughter evacuated to Naples to avoid Hurricane Frances, and again evacuated, that time to Miami, when Hurricane Frances was aiming at their area.
Hauser related that friends told him his house had been flooded while they were gone. “We had a lot of damage,” he said. After he and his family returned, he went to a town meeting where he heard a FEMA representative describe the ICC program and other forms of assistance available from FEMA.
ICC funds may be available under two conditions. In the first instance, the home is substantially damaged, meaning it had damages totaling 50 percent or more of the home’s pre-disaster market value. The second is when there is a repetitive loss, meaning two or more flood insurance claims, totaling 25 percent or more of the property’s value, paid out in the past 10 years.
Anyone interested in the program can get details by calling his/her insurance company or insurance agent or the NFIP at 1-800-427-4661, or by going to FEMA’s Web site: www.fema.gov/nfip.
The State Emergency Response Team (SERT) is a collaboration of Florida’s state agencies led by the state coordinating officer. SERT’s mission is to ensure that Florida is prepared to respond to emergencies, recover from them, and mitigate their impacts. Visit www.floridadisaster.org for the latest information on the hurricane relief efforts.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
Last Modified: Thursday, 24-Mar-2005 00:10:38