Homeowners with no flood insurance who received direct aid payments from FEMA to fix flood damage from Sandy won’t get any help next time, the agency says — unless they buy insurance coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program.
Uninsured property owners had a $600 one-time fee deducted from their aid amounts, according to a report in Newsday (“FEMA: Flood insurance to be required in zone,” by Sarah Crichton and Joe Ryan). That buys them three years’ insurance coverage worth a maximum of $31,900; if they want more, they can buy more, up to the program limits for building and contents. But when their coverage expires at the end of three years, they have to purchase their own policies from the program — and if they don’t, they’ll lose their eligibility for FEMA aid in any future flood.
So far, Newsday reports, FEMA has awarded $208 million in direct aid to more than 30,000 Long Island households.
