Pay Up or Raise Up!

BILOXI, Miss. (AP) - Officials say flood insurance rates on
homes damaged more than 50 percent during Hurricane Katrina could
skyrocket, or the homes will have to be elevated, once the new
flood elevations are adopted by the Biloxi City Council.
Biloxi Community Development Director Jerry Creel says the flood
zone has expanded considerably under the new FEMA maps and some
areas that were outside the flood zone before Katrina now may be
included, especially along Biloxi waterways.
Homes that didn't meet the 1984 flood map elevations before the
storm lost their grandfather status when they were damaged more
than 50 percent by Katrina. The homes repaired without being
elevated to the 1984 standards will now have to be raised.
Creel says he doesn't know how many homes that might be.
He says homes damaged less than 50 percent don't have to be
elevated. Those whose homes in the flood zone were damaged more
than 50 percent will need to elevate their house or buy flood
insurance.
The city council has not yet adopted the new maps.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)