FEMA to set new rules to rebuild

EAST HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) -- If Sandy damaged your home, there are new rules on how you're going to have to rebuild.

This summer, FEMA will come out with new elevation standards, which means, in many cases, homes damaged by Sandy will have to be jacked up to a higher level.

"Even though you have maps that are effective now that say you could build a foot lower you know the risk is actually higher than that, so you want to take that into account," said Chris Markesich, Senior Program Specialist, FEMA.

When the new flood insurance maps come out in either June or July, it will be the first time an engineering analysis was done of the state's coastline since 1980. What that means for you is that the newest data on those maps is what you need to look at before you elevate your house now to know how high you should lift it.

"They are asking folks to rebuild to the new maps, even though they're not in effect yet, to those elevations," said Markesich.

While the new elevations are federal guidelines, it's the local municipalities that implement the standards. And that's where it can get tricky.

"If I went to my local city hall and I asked: 'I want to elevate my house to 13 feet because that's what the new federal standards are going to be and they say well right now it's only 12...that could happen," said Markesich, "and there's also local zoning code that we aren't involved in, there may be height restrictions along the coast and sight lines and those are local issues that we have no say in or control over."

If you are required by your town or city to bring your lowest floor up to or above the base floor elevation and you don't, your insurance premium could go up by thousands of dollars, and that's not all.

"If you have a flood insurance policy and you receive insurance money from a claim that you submit from Irene or Sandy and you don't make the necessary improvements if you're required to elevate your home, if you put in a future claim you could be denied," said Markesich.

You can check out what the new guidelines will be for your area by stopping by your city or town hall.  FEMA officials stress how important it is to make sure you're taking into account the new standards before you do this.

There is also a mitigation specialist at each FEMA office who can talk you through the process.