STATEN ISLAND, New York City (WABC) -- Officials are criticizing a new proposal to increase premiums for flood insurance that they say could devastate Staten Island homeowners.
Congressman Max Rose spoke out on Staten Island's boardwalk Thursday, saying that under FEMA's new flood insurance proposal, premiums would increase 18 percent per year.
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"Our infrastructure on Staten Island has been ignored for generations," he said. "As a consequence, when it rains just a couple of inches, it looks like a tsunami hit our communities."
Instead, Rose is backing a bipartisan proposal that would protect homeowners from steep hikes by capping annual increases at 9 percent.
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That's half of the current cap on premium hikes.
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