Towns in Sandy's path did little to prepare for floods

Thomas Frank and Brad Heath, USA TODAY | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption N.J. devastation becoming clearer days after Sandy Aerials of the New Jersey shoreline reveal new devastation days after Sandy blew through.

Review of federal records by USA TODAY shows lack of preparation

Cities show they're ready for flooding to win discounts for property owners

Lack of action triggers added costs for communities, homeowners

Many coastal cities and towns slammed by Hurricane Sandy have done little to protect themselves from flood damage, ignoring federal incentives even as they have been flooded repeatedly, a USA TODAY analysis of federal records shows.

More than 100 municipalities in areas that were declared a federal emergency this week have received the worst ratings from Washington under a program that rewards communities for trying to minimize flood damage.

Roughly 1,000 communities across the U.S. have won discounts of 10% or more for their property owners through the program.

But in New Jersey, for example, coastal communities such as Sea Bright, Lacey, Barnegat and Ocean Township get no discounts because they took either minimal or no flood-prevention action and received the worst insurance rating, federal records show. Those communities have more than 6,000 insured properties worth $1.4 billion, records show, and they have sustained major damage over the years.

Property owners in the four towns have filed 2,500 claims against FEMA's flood-insurance program since 1978, receiving $26 million in payments, the records show.

Atlantic City, which was hit hard by Sandy and is one of the biggest cities on the Jersey shore, has the second-lowest insurance rating, earning its 8,100 property owners only a 5% discount.

The inaction by flood-prone communities results in extra costs to taxpayers for disaster relief to communities and to individual property owners. It also can increase premiums for the 5.5 million people with federal flood insurance.

"This is not a difficult thing to do," said Larry Larson, senior policy director for the Association of State Floodplain Managers. The incentive program "is one of the best things we have."

But local officials shun flood-prevention because they fear restricting development and don't want to spend the money. "A lot of communities aren't doing it because they say, we have to do the work and the individuals are the ones getting the benefit," Larson said. "There are a lot of property owners who don't know the (incentive) program exists."

Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long said her community's insurance rating doesn't reflect the borough's recent flood-mitigation efforts, but that nothing would have protected it from Sandy. "It would be absurd to imply that any kind of readiness could have protected us from the surf. The only thing that could have protected us would be to physically move the town," Long said.

Sea Bright, a narrow strip of beach along the Atlantic, sustained "catastrophic" damage, Long said. "There are structures that may not be rebuilt because of the risk."

Flood-mitigation can reduce damage even from severe storms by leaving vulnerable land undeveloped or requiring homes to be substantially elevated, said David Conrad, a Maryland flood consultant formerly with the National Wildlife Federation.

Conrad and others have urged FEMA to increase incentives, possibly by tying disaster-relief payments to a community's flood-mitigation efforts.

Coastal Long Beach, N.J., has one of the best insurance ratings, taking significant steps that have earned its 7,300 property owners a 20% discount on their premiums. Parts of the township shielded by newly replenished sand dunes escaped major damage, but other areas were "devastated," Commissioner Joseph Lattanzi said.