By Mark E. Ruquet
Many victims of Superstorm Sandy are facing a dilemma—whether
they will raise their home to three feet above flood level or pay exorbitant
premium rates for flood insurance. That dilemma may become just a bad memory
for homeowners if a community flood-mitigation project meets federal flood
prevention standards, said community and government representatives.
At the Wednesday, March 12, meeting of the Midland Beach
Civic Association, Tom McDonough from the Siller Foundation addressed the need
to elevate homes in flood zones, but many homeowners are not eligible for
federal or state funding. He said the foundation is looking for ways to deliver
the construction at cost, along with funding assistance for homeowners.
However, association members said during the meeting that elevating
homes would not be necessary if a seawall is constructed and certified to meet the
flood mitigation standard of the Federal Emergency Management Administration.
Alex Zablocki, the regional lead for the New York Rising
Community Reconstruction Program, who was on-hand to discuss the state’s
efforts to help Sandy ravaged communities get back on their feet, said the
state has $40 million committed to a pilot program to construct a seawall and
other flood mitigation measures along the Staten Island’s South Shore. This project
has been in the works since 1993. With the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the
lead, the project is almost at the point where construction could begin by
2016, if not sooner.
Civic Association member Debi Vadola said it is important
for residents to have this information as they go about making decisions about
what to do with their homes. She said it is equally important that residents
push government officials to build the wall to FEMA specifications to ameliorate
the eventual high costs homeowners in the flood zones will face in the future.
Zablocki said that an outline of
the
plan is available at the Army Corps website.
According to the Army Corps web page titled “
FACT
SHEET — South Shore of Staten Island, NY,” the project covers 13 miles of
coast line from Fort Wadsworth to Tottenville extending along lower New York
Bay and Raritan Bay. The project, which is still in the study stage, “is to
identify possible risk management solutions for hurricane and storm damages in
the area, and to determine whether Federal participation is warranted in
constructing shore protection measures.” The fact sheet indicates that Congress
authorized funding for construction in 2013.
The study is evaluating plans for “a system of levees,
seawalls, stone revetments and acquisition and preservation of natural open
space storage” from Fort Wadsworth to Oakwood Beach. A second phase of
mitigation from Great Kills to Tottenville “is still under assessment.”
In an e-mail, U.S. Army Corps Project Manager Frank Verga said the
Army Corps is preparing a feasibility study in cooperation with state and city
officials. He added that more information would become public over the next
couple of months.
For those residents who want to make their voices heard and let
the press and city officials know we are not happy with the pace of aid coming
to those of us devastated by Superstorm Sandy, the Yellow Boots Foundation is
sponsoring “Walk a Mile in Our Shoes,” on Saturday, March 29, at 10 a.m. Those
who want to show their dissatisfaction are urged to meet at Midland Beach at
the Turtle Circle for a peaceful demonstration to remind city and state decision makers
that we’re still here and not happy with the slow rate of progress.