Metro

Lawmakers team up to delay an increase in flood insurance

WASHINGTON — New York lawmakers have joined a desperate scramble in Congress to delay huge rate increases for flood insurance, which have hit some city residents with premiums topping $10,000.

But the lawmakers also caused the problem when they approved rate hikes in 2012 reforms intended to save the National Flood Insurance Program from insolvency.

“It’s like another dagger in the heart,” said Tommy Cunsolo, 52, who had not yet rebuilt his Staten Island home, wrecked by Hurricane Sandy, when his flood-insurance bill nearly tripled, from $1,399 to $4,159.

“How can you hammer us when we’re not even back in our homes yet?” he asked. “It’s overwhelming.”

The 2012 reforms were intended to impose fiscal discipline on the insurance program, which was $24 billion in debt, reduce taxpayer subsidies and adjust rates to reflect actual risk.

But the result included skyrocketing rates and new flood-zone maps that force more city residents to elevate their homes with new foundations or stilts, which can cost as much as $100,000.

Congress members are calling these impacts, which are hitting waterfront communities, “unintended consequences.” A growing bipartisan coalition in Congress — including more than a dozen New York City lawmakers — is trying to block the rate hikes.