Quincy Making Waves Coalition

Polegate is an exercise to demonstrate to neighbors just how high FEMA's new base flood elevations lie.  FEMA's maps were re-written in Quincy in 2012, and at that time base flood elevations in most of Beechwood Knoll were AE10.

 

Apparently FEMA wasn't collecting enough revenue to offset the debt created by their mismanagement of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) so they came back to Quincy and re-wrote the maps again raising our elevations by three feet to AE13.

 

Simply by changing our base flood elevation 1400 additional Quincy homeowners fell into the flood zone. This is a great revenue source for FEMA as homeowners that will never need to file a claim will now offset those within the country that will. The 3200 homeowners that were already in the zone are now paying substantially higher premiums, because each foot of elevation equals an increase in your insurance premium.

 

These premiums will now compound every year upon themselves at 18%, along with a $25 surcharge on each property (2nd home $250).  This is per the Affordability Act, and we ask when was your last 18% pay increase, and do you expect to receive that every year?  The most unsettling thing about this is that FEMA sites absolutely no parameters.  These increases occur until you meet an actuarial rate, but FEMA has set no guideline as to what that means?  Will your premium cap off at $4000, $10,000 or $30,000 to $50,000 like homeowners as close as Marshfield began receiving before that fervor halted with their appeal?

 

This is NO longer the flood insurance you’ve been accustomed to. The Biggert Waters Act of 2012 changed all of that, and these changes are very troubling, just ask the Pardi family in Wareham.  They fell into the flood maps in 2012, and their devastation didn't come via flood but by fire, and thanks to FEMA they have been left homeless for well over a year now! FEMA owns them!  This is crazy and we need to fight hard to make it right. The federal government cannot have this kind of control over our property.

 

As long as you have a federally backed mortgage you are subject to the haphazard ways of FEMA. Pay attention to what has transpired in New Jersey during the last two years since Sandy hit them. They are living a bureaucratic nightmare, and those that have rebuilt to FEMA's specifications find that FEMA doesn't abide by their own rules, much like what happened to Haddad's Cafe in Marshfield.  This is an unfair, mismanaged system that needs to be challenged by everyone it affects.

 

In the Beechwood Knoll area we have marked all of the telephone poles with white reflective tape. The tape indicates our base flood elevations, which signify where the water from the great storm will lie stagnant before it recedes back into the bay.  Polegate's visual is best seen at dawn and dusk, this is when you will get a true picture of how outlandish these predictions on flood elevation really are.

 

It will have to be one hell of a weather event to make it past our Boston Harbor barrier islands, into our shallow bay at Wollaston Beach, and dump this kind of water into our neighborhoods? FEMA drew our flood maps with the broad brush of a West Coast model, absolutely ignoring our natural barriers.  The blizzard of 78, which is considered a 100-year storm, held the highest recorded water tables to date in Boston Harbor, yet the majority of Quincy was bone dry.  Beechwood Knoll we know was unaffected.

 

Polegate is a powerful visual that will never happen in our lifetime!

Yet we will pay for it just the same.

And beyond the insurance costs are the real costs,

which are to our property values.

The flood zone has become

an unknown variable that homebuyers

have begun to steer clear of. 

Where is the end?   What are the rules? 

 

There are several poles that have been left unmarked because some of our neighbors expressed discomfort. Our intention was never to offend, but to highlight the real need for all of us to join together and address this unfairness that both Congress and FEMA has laid upon us by passing unfair bills, and drawing flood maps that are not based on east coast models. 

 

If this is global warming, we haven't single handedly caused it, and flood is not the only natural disaster befalling homeowners across the county that's being attributed to 'global warming'. Wildfires, droughts, mudslides, tornados - weather related disasters are occurring on many fronts and we question, why aren't the repercussions of all of these being spread out to all homeowners nationwide? 

 

If this is global warming, everyone in the country has had a hand in it, so why shouldn't everyone participate in a National Disaster Tax?  This should not be put on the backs of homeowners along the coast. FEMA sites at least 20% of flood disaster occur outside of a designated flood zone?

 

The current flood bills (Biggert Waters and the Affordability Act) end in 2017 and Congress will be back to write a new flood bill.  It behooves every homeowner to become involved in this to be sure that they DO NOT pull another Biggert Waters out of their hats! They are walking all over our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

 

We need comprehensive flood insurance change that keeps rates low, so that property retains its value and people are NOT taxed out of their homes!

 

If anyone would like assistance to do this same exercise in your neighborhood, please contact us at quincymakingwaves@gmail.com and we will be glad to help you!  Alert your neighbors with this visual so that they can see for themselves how ludicrous this is!  

 

Many other groups from all over that are caught up in this and have become vocal in demanding change, and Quincy joins with them. Get on board and make some waves!

 

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.
– Alice Walker.