As we approach the six-month anniversary of Hurricane Sandy, homeowners in coastal New York City are still trying to figure out how best to rebuild. The city was granted a substantial amount of government aid for recovery, but homeowners will only receive federal funds if they agree to elevate their homes according to the new FEMA flood maps. The Journal reports that some 70,000 NYC homes are located in the new flood zones, which means the owners either have to raise their buildings 1 to 9 feet or pay higher insurance premiums.
In the Rockaway neighborhood of Breezy Point, where a fire during the storm destroyed 126 houses, thirty-eight percent of the neighborhood's homes have received a combine $57 million in disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration for long-term rebuilding. The private co-op community is working with the city to potentially create a rebuilding plan that includes a few different prototype homes that could be replicated without having to go through the permit process every time. But this would obviously change the character of the neighborhood, and there's no one-size-fits-all solution. What makes financial sense for one family, likely doesn't make sense for the next?the house that must be rebuilt from the ground up can be much more easily elevated than the flood-damaged house with a poured foundation.
· Reshaping Shore Houses [WSJ]
· A Look at the Post-Sandy Cleanup In the Rockaways [Curbed]
· Hurricane Sandy coverage [Curbed]
· Surveying Queens' Rockaway Peninsula After the Storm [Curbed]
Photo by Nathan Kensinger
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