Flood Insurance Rates Rising Fast

Houses built over the years vary in base-level elevation along the Broadkill Beach shoreline. New maps will affect new construction and major renovation projects in floodplain areas in the Cape Region.

For the majority of people who participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, the first set of federally mandated reforms will have little or no impact. But those who will see a change are in for some major sticker shock.

The Biggert-Waters Reform Act of 2012 seeks to end subsidies. But even as the reforms are implemented, what lies ahead for the act remains to be seen. The U.S. Senate has passed a measure requiring a four-year delay on implementation that would in essence kill the law, which is due to expire in 2017. The U.S. House has yet to take up the Senate's bill, but even one of the law's sponsors, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is pushing for a three-year delay.

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