REP. PASCRELL ANNOUNCES $10.2 MILLION IN FEMA GRANTS WILL BE AWARDED TO ELEVATE HOMES IN PASSAIC COUNTY FLOOD ZONES
33 Little Falls homes, 27 Pompton Lakes homes to be raised above projected flood levels
WASHINGTON, DC – September 26, 2011 – (RealEstateRama) — Continuing his efforts on behalf of Passaic County residents who have endured repeated losses due to severe weather and flooding, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-8) today announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will award a total of $10.2 million in hazard mitigation grants to Pompton Lakes and Little Falls.
“Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee have brought hardships to many residents throughout New Jersey. But these hardships, unfortunately, are nothing new for many of the people of Little Falls and Pompton Lakes. For them, flooding has become almost an annual occurrence,” said Pascrell, who has fought of federal flooding aid for Passaic County since he first began serving in Congress. “The people of these communities are as dedicated to their hometowns as they are to their homes. That is why I am heartened that FEMA has approved these dollars to take residents out of harm’s way while allowing them to remain in the communities that they love and call home.”
FEMA’s Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) grant program will award $5,643,270 to the Township of Little Falls, Passaic County for the elevation of 33 residences. The lowest floor of each home would be above flood levels expected during a 100-year storm as identified by the Base Flood Elevation of the Passaic and/or Peckman Rivers. The federal government will pay for 90 percent of the project’s total $6,270,300 cost.
FEMA will also award, through the same program, $4,592,700 to the Borough of Pompton Lakes to raise 27 homes located in the Passaic River Basin. The federal government will pay for 90 percent of the project’s total $5,103,000 cost.
The SRL grant program was authorized by the Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2004, which amended the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968 to provide funding to reduce or eliminate the long-term risk of flood damage to severe repetitive loss (SRL) structures insured under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP).
An SRL property is defined in the National Flood Insurance Act as a residential property that is covered under an NFIP flood insurance policy and:
• has at least four NFIP claim payments (including building and contents) over $5,000 each, and the cumulative amount of such claims payments exceeds $20,000; or
• for which at least two separate claims payments (building payments only) have been made with the cumulative amount of the building portion of such claims exceeding the market value of the building.
Today’s funding announcement represents the latest of Rep. Pascrell’s efforts to acquire federal aid for residents of the flood-prone areas of the Passaic River basin.
Within the past year, Rep. Pascrell helped secure:
• $19.8 million for voluntary buyouts of approximately 72 homes in Wayne Township. FEMA called it the largest buyout of flood-prone homes in the state’s history.
• Nearly $6 million to raise 34 homes in Little Falls.
• Nearly $2.8 million to the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection for the voluntary buyouts of eight homes in the Passaic River Basin (6 in Pompton Lakes, 1 in Little Falls and 1 in Wayne.)
Since he was first elected to Congress, Rep. Pascrell also secured $2.2 million for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ flood-mitigation study of the Peckman River, a tributary of the Passaic River that flows through Woodland Park, Little Falls, Cedar Grove, Verona and West Orange.
Contact:
Paul Brubaker (973) 523-5152
