States aim to fend off flood insurance hikes

1. Collier, Kiah. (2013, September 12). City & State: States aim to fend off flood insurance hikes. Houston Chronicle, B1 / B4.
2. Category of problem: Family
3. Level of problem: Regional level
4. The article concerns: New federal rating guidelines affirm mounting concerns that hundreds of thousands of coastal homeowners could face drastic premium increases under a federal flood insurance reform law that is gradually taking effect.
5. Why is this important to families / individuals OR how does it affect individuals / families?
1. Homeowner flood insurance premiums, in a worst-case scenario, could increase by as much as 3000% in some areas.  The Biggest-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 aims to stabilize the insolvent National Flood Insurance Program by phasing out subsidized flood insurance rates, increasing them by 20 percent to 25 percent a year until cover true flood risk. 
6. What are your views on the issue / policy?
1. The Biggest-Waters legislation will be a devastating blow to people who live in coastal states like Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida and the east coast states.  The act intends to re-map the 100-year flood plain elevations that will increase the base flood elevation, how high water would expect to rise in the case of 100-year flood.  For Texans from Port Isabel to Orange, the expected re-mapping elevation will affect hundreds of thousands of residences and businesses impacting the economies of these people already overwhelmed by the failing national economy.  What is confusing to me is, although they probably did not write this bill all by themselves, how a representative from Illinois and a representative from California could lead legislation that does not affect their states?  Additionally, there is no "grandfathering" of existing homes to be exempt or be afforded dispensation under this new law.  So, people who have lived by the coast for year, or those who have recently purchased homes there like my father just did, are subject to a debilitating requirement that many will simply not be able to afford.  Some premiums, depending on the final flood plain elevation mapping, could go as high as $14,000 / year.  My father's new house was built in an area that was not flooded during Hurricane Ike, and, as a matter of fact, flood insurance was not even a requirement when he bought the house. Now, he faces a lot of uncertainty about what the new flood base level will look like, and whether or not he can afford to keep the house when the premiums kick into his depleted budget.  People bought houses along the coast knowing full well the dangers of a potential flood, but very few assumed that the federal government would force them to pay an excessive "fine" just to live there.