Hey Cape Codders, That Flood Insurance You Can’t Afford? It’s About To Go Way Up

CapeandIslands.org – Staggering increases in flood insurance rates are about to hit homeowners, especially on the Cape Islands and South Coast. The Federal Emergency Management Agency – or FEMA – has re-drawn its flood maps. So thousands of homeowners on Cape Cod, the Islands and South Coast will pay thousands of dollars more each year for flood insurance.

Challenging the new maps is expensive and time-consuming, and most often, unsuccessful. But there are a few ways homeowners can try to reduce their rates – but they come with a cost.

Rate-shopping won’t help, because flood insurance rates are set by the Federal government. They rely on FEMA flood maps, which were recently re-drawn, with many homes included in flood zones for the first time.

Anyone else think it’s a bad idea to let our federal government set our flood insurance rates? No? Well what about when you take into account the fact that they are basing our rates on maps drawn by an agency that gets its funding based on how much federal money is needed to rebuild after natural disasters? See it now?

Think about it, if flood insurance is more expensive and people can’t afford it then they can’t afford to rebuild on their own. In other words FEMA gets more money because they have to help private citizens that can’t afford insurance, and the private citizens can’t afford the insurance because FEMA maps directly affected their premiums. Hmmm, do you think that might be a slight conflict of interest? It’s enough to make you dizzy just thinking about it.

This is just another example of our government forcing us to rely on the teet of Big Brother to survive. I write a lot about how the Cape Cod Fun Police need to learn to mind their own business. Well this is a case of the Federal government needing to mind their own business and stop meddling in the relationships between Cape Cod residents and their insurance providers. I don’t know about you but I’m pretty sure they are just making the situation worse for us and better for them.

P.S. I guess it’s bitch about the government day here today. Somebody send us a photo of a giant snow dick soon before my head explodes!