On the recordJanuary 8, 2014
Thank you, Congressman Thompson. I would like to add a true story happening right now in my district due to these increases in rates. Nikki Burrows met her husband, bought their home in Muncy in 2006. Insurance premiums more than doubled from $862 to $1,750; but because the Burrows had suffered flood damage from Tropical Storm Lee in 2011, they are subject to an additional 20 percent on their premiums until they max out. Add an annual fee of $4,000 annually. So, in essence, they went from $862 a year to $4,000 a year because they were hit in one of the floods. These Burrows are trapped. These townships and small towns along the rivers are trapped into a situation where the average mean income is about $37,000. That's before taxes. That's before mortgage payment. That's before food for the kids. That's before other insurances. Yet these people are to come up with $4,000, $6,000, $8,000 and $10,000 up front, per year, for flood insurance because of the unintended consequences of Biggert-Waters. At this time, I yield to the gentleman from Massachusetts, Congressman Keating, my colleague across the aisle and a former prosecutor.
