The City Council had every right to be outraged at the new flood maps as proposed by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) on Monday night. These new maps have enlarged the flood plan so that many additional homeowners in Revere need to buy flood insurance that in turn raises their insurance cost between $2,000 to $4,000 a year in extra premiums.
Every negative point that the various city councillors made about these new maps was accurate.
While no one can dispute that large parts of Revere are below sea level and that sea level is rising, the economic cost of the extra insurance is just too much to be absorbed in such a short space of time.
The question that was asked by several councillors, that we also echo: “Where was our federal delegation, Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Katherine Clark?â€
FEMA is a federal agency and it seems just logical that our federal delegation should have been leading the charge against these new onerous insurance hikes.
Over the years, Revere officials along with federal officials have taken measures to prevent flooding in sections of the city like Broadsound Avenue and Winthrop Parkway.
From Cherry Street to Short Beach, a higher seawall was added and rock was added between Ocean Pier Avenue and Mermaid Avenue that helps break the waves earlier during storms.
On the Winthrop Parkway, floodgates were added that have also stopped the water that had been running down to Endicott Avenue and Louis Pasteur Park.
All these improvements were paid at a cost of many millions of dollars.
Routine flooding in this area has become much less common.
Homeowners buy insurance for that one time when a disaster might strike. However, waiting for this disaster could take another 100 years.
It would have been easy for the City Council not to vote for the new flood maps. However, this would have been a disservice to all the homeowners that need to have flood insurance. Councillors are to be congratulated on stating their points articulately, but in the end responsibly voting to approve the new flood maps
