The next storm at the Jersey Shore started to hitcoastal homeowners Wednesday. It wasnt an onslaughtof wind and rain, but new surcharges and rate increaseson flood insurance bills.

The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Actof 2014, which took effect April 1, includes premium in-creases of up to 18 percent for primary homeownersand 25 percent for those who own vacation homes orrental properties. A new surcharge will also be as-sessed.

Its not going to be as cheap as it was, said ChristineOBrien, president of the Insurance Council of NewJersey. I cant emphasize enough that homeownersshould talk to their agents about policies and educatethemselves about what their options are.

OBrien noted that the surcharges and premium in-creases have been put in place because the NationalFlood Insurance Program is $24 billion in debt, in largepart due to losses incurred during Hurricane Katrinaand superstorm Sandy. Rates charged to many policyholders do not reflect the actual risk of coastal living,

Why floodinsurancewas hikedup to 25%JEAN MIKLE AND RUSS ZIMMER@JEANMIKLE AND @RUSSZIMMER

ASBURY PARK PRESS FILE PHOTO

Flooding and damage along Edgemont Drive and Deal Lake inLoch Arbour after superstorm Sandy.

Hurricane straps (made of galvanized metal) help keep the roof fastened to the walls in high winds.

Wood stringer

Roong paper

Hurricane strap

Truss

Metal drip edge

Roof sheathing

ShinglesShingles

Sheathing tape 4-inch wide waterproof tape for seams.

Gable bracesGable braces

Windows and doorsImpact-rated windows and doors that can withstand high wind pressure and protect a home from ying debris.Source: Federal

Emergency Management Agency

Graphic by JEFF COLSONStaff Artist

Protecting your home from the next stormThe storm surge and its oodwaters caused the vast majority of the damage associated with superstorm Sandy. But with the government and insurance companies rewarding more built-in resiliency in new homes, some homeowners and contractors are going a step beyond elevating and adopting the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safetys FORTIFIED home standard, which protects against hurricane-force winds.

KEANSBURG From the outside, Ingrid Bairdshouse doesnt look much different than any other new,elevated home you might find in Keansburg or anynumber of Shore towns being rebuilt after superstormSandy.

Inside its walls, however, the home is unlike any oth-er in New Jersey.

Galvanized steel and screws, instead of timber andnails, make the frame. Baird wont have to worry aboutthe effects of moisture on wood, bugs, mold or mildewcorrupting the skeleton of her property.

The home also was made to be so robust that thebuilder, Blue Diamond Contracting of Jackson, is seek-ing a certification that would mark it as the first post-Sandy built home designed to be resistant to hurri-cane-force winds.

I know I have nothing to worry about, said Baird, asergeant with the Hudson County Sheriffs Office, wholives with her two teenage daughters.

Strengthening the ties between the roof and theframe is the principle construction tenet of Fortified.It aims to spread the force of wind throughout the

structure by enhancing the connections at variousjoints throughout the frame, which doesnt have to bemetal to qualify as Fortified.

It becomes one piece all the walls are tied to-gether with the floor and the ceiling. You literallywould have to knock the whole house over, said PatMiller, who runs Blue Diamond with her husband, Ray.

The Fortified home model was one of the key rec-ommendations put forth in the Hurricane Sandy Re-building Strategy crafted by the U.S. Department of

HOW TO

HURRICANE-PROOFYOUR HOUSE

RUSS ZIMMER @RUSSZIMMER

New post-superstormprocess ties walls,floors, ceilings together

It becomes one piece all the walls

are tied together with the floor and the

ceiling. You literally would have to

knock the whole house over.

PAT MILLERBLUE DIAMOND CONTRACTING

See HURRICANE, Page 7A

ASBURY PARK PRESS APP.COM $1.00

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