Toms River will participate in FEMA's "Hazard Mitigation Program," township officials say.
The township will be submitting a "letter of intent" to Ocean County, as required by FEMA, advising the the state Office of Emergency Management of the township’s intention to participate in the program.
If homeowners wish to participate in the program, they are advised to complete the form on the township web page and include all the required information by Feb. 5.
Once complete and accepted, the form will be automatically sent to the appropriate program managers and homeowners will receive a confirmation email with contact information in it. Prior to completing the form, homeowners need to be aware of the following, officials say:
- This is a “competitive” program and funds for the entire program will be limited to a statewide maximum amount, which has not yet been determined.
- No criteria has been established thus far to determine funding priorities either.
- There is no individual maximum amount you can apply for; however, the reality is that funding will be limited for the program ,and it is likely that a large percentage of residents will not be able to receive funding once the money runs out statewide.
For homeowners considering raising their homes, FEMA has advised that, in order to qualify, you would have to raise your home to the base flood elevation (BFE) shown in the FEMA “Advisory” Base Flood Elevation maps issued in December.
Under the current FEMA guidelines, funds are not available for demolition/rebuilding of homes.
For more information, please see www.tomsrivertownship.com in the Hurricane Sandy Information Section on the upper left hand side of the page. Click on Hazard Mitigation Program.
