NEW JERSEY – Take a drive through the coastal communities hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy and one of the most common post-Sandy construction projects you’ll see is the house lift, a process by which homes are raised onto taller foundations.
Though such projects are ostensibly designed to better protect coastal homes from rising flood waters, those who have had their homes raised are finding more to praise than just a sense of security.
Marie McQueen, a Ventnor resident, told the Press of Atlantic City that house raising in New Jersey can mean some running around for the homeowner, but in the long term the effort and expense is worthwhile.
“It’s really stressful trying to get everything back together,” she said. “But we’re back in our house finally, which is the most important thing. It just takes time.”
Victims of Sandy from outside the state share that sentiment, too. For instance, Patricia and Peter Ekvall, of Connecticut, told Business Week that investing in a house raising project was the right move for their family and for their community. “You have an investment here,” says Patricia. “You have to make it work.”
A side effect of one’s home being better protected from tidal flood waters is that the property owner’s flood insurance will be more affordable, too.
“The higher you build, the less your insurance premiums will be going down the road,” noted Chris McKniff, a FEMA spokesman.
The savings for being at or above the FEMA-recommended flood elevation levels can be staggering. The annual flood insurance premium for a house built three feet below the recommended elevation level is just under $8,000 per year – a significant cost, especially when added to the property taxes usually paid in shore communities. By contrast, the premium is under $400 a year for the same home if it is built just one foot above FEMA’s recommended elevation level.
“Over the next four to five years, residents that do not elevate their homes will be priced out of” their communities, Brian Zitani, Flood Plain Administrator in Babylon, NY, told Newsday last year.
Other benefits are less practical, but for those who live on or near the water they can be just as significant as better protection from flood waters and lower flood insurance premiums. The improved views, for instance, have been an unexpected surprise for a lot of homeowners.
“Life in the air is fine,” Lee Popick, of Brigantine, told the Philadelphia Enquirer. “It’s kind of nice up here. You get a nice view. More wind.”
But perhaps the biggest benefit people are getting from house lifting projects is peace of mind.
“I don’t know if a storm like this is ever going to happen again, but I have a lot of friends and family here,” Paul Scriffignano, a Jersey Shore summer home owner, told the New York Times. “It’s almost like we wanted to band together and say, ‘We don’t want to give up on this area.’”
The one thing that is consistent among those who have pursued a NJ house raising project is hope for the future.
“I would tell anybody who has the money available to go ahead and do it,” Eileen Benner, an Atlantic City resident, told the Associated Press. “By the time I’m done, my base floor is going to be about 12 feet” higher than it used to be, she said. “I feel comfortable.”