Cape Cod in Massachusetts has some of the finest ocean views on the Eastern Seaboard. Some of the Cape's shoreline homes are situated high on the Eastern-facing bluffs, where flood is not a concern. But other parts of the shore are low enough to fall into storm-surge flood plains, and as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) re-maps the shoreline region, those flood plains have been expanding.
Falmouth, Mass., on the elbow of the Cape, is one of those lower-lying towns—and that means a new requirement for homes to be elevated. Owners of existing homes who can't elevate their buildings, or choose not to, are facing higher premiums for flood insurance. Builders of new homes have no choice: State and local building code going forward will require homes to sit 2 feet above the base flood elevation (BFE).
The Falmouth Enterprise has coverage of the story here (see: "Higher Home Elevations Becoming More Frequent In Flood Zones," by Ryan Bray). James E. Fox, chairman of the Falmouth planning board, told the paper: "It's a concern to me, but there's nothing I can do about it. “This is being handed down by the federal government and the state.”
