The state today adopted federal advisory flood elevation guidelines to help New Jersey residents with Hurricane Sandy-damaged homes determine how high they will have to elevate them to avoid future destruction and hefty flood insurance premiums.

By issuing these regulations three months after the storm, the state avoids having residents wait up to two years to learn how high they should elevate their homes to be in compliance with flood regulations and help keep their insurance costs down.

Christie called the federal advisory flood elevation maps on which the rules are based “fairly aggressive” in that residents would comply or exceed what eventually will be adopted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA has said final maps most likely won’t be approved until next year. In the meantime, residents are trying to determine whether to rebuild and how high to rebuild. The state’s regulations give them those guidelines now, Christie said.

“If we wait, all we’re doing is delaying New Jersey’s recovery,” Christie told a crowd gathered at the Seaside Heights Fire Department.

The move also allows Christie to release millions in federal funds in the coming months to help residents pay for raising their houses. That money – available if the federal Hurricane Sandy aid package passes the Senate and is signed by President Obama -- would not have been available to residents until next year.

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