BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Hundreds of thousands of Louisiana homeowners, many of them still digging out of Hurricane Ida’s destruction, will soon see rising flood insurance bills. But the federal government is providing few details about how much its recalculation of rates will boost premiums beyond the first year.
Insurers, homeowners and politicians getting their first glimpses at cost increases people around south Louisiana and other coastal regions might see from the National Flood Insurance Program are starting to sound alarms. They say people could end up being billed thousands more annually after the full phase-in, and they suggest the Federal Emergency Management Agency deliberately won’t share information about how expensive premiums will get.
They say such increases add insult to injury for Louisiana residents still trying to recover from last year’s Hurricanes Laura, Delta and Zeta and Ida’s new blow in August.
“These are working families who are trying to make ends meet, and suddenly they’re no longer able to protect themselves,” said Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy.
Cassidy, other members of Louisiana’s congressional delegation and lawmakers from additional coastal states urged President Joe Biden’s administration to delay the changes, to no avail.