Gov. Dannel Malloy recently called on the Connecticut General Assembly to adopt legislation authorizing up to $25 million in flood relief funds. The Shoreline Resiliency fund, a low-interest loan program Malloy created last year, aims to help residents who are subject to coastal flooding elevate their homes and flood-proof their businesses.
The push to provide funding came days before President Barack Obama signed into law new legislation that will provide homeowners living in flood-prone areas relief from massive insurance rate hikes.
Startup costs to administer the program were approved in January, but the funding can’t be distributed until the program receives financing.
If funding is granted, the program will provide loans of up to $300,000 for 10 years with no principal or interest for one year. The funds can be used to elevate or flood-proof primary and secondary single homes, one-to-four unit owner-occupied rentals and businesses. Income level will not affect one’s eligibility for the fund.
To be eligible, homeowners and business owners’ properties must be prone to coastal flooding and exist in Zone VE or Coastal Zone AE as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the National Flood Insurance Program.
“The program is a smart, forward-thinking approach that will help fill the funding gaps left by the many federal disaster recovery programs already available to help homeowners,” said Evonne Klein, commissioner of the Department of Housing, in a press release. Her department distributes the Shoreline Resiliency fund.
Flood-proofing includes checking that the walls are watertight, protecting utilities from flood damage and ensuring structural components can resist hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loads and the effects of buoyancy.
