Their insurance premiums will increase sharply

By now, most know how much insurance money they have to work with, though plenty of people are still struggling to get more. But a new federal law that happened to coincide with the arrival of the storm will cause flood insurance premiums to skyrocket and require stricter, and thus more expensive, rebuilding standards.

So in the most devastated communities, families are being forced to make difficult financial calculations: can they afford the new flood insurance premiums, which, at worst, can reach as high as $30,000 a year? Do they have the money to rebuild their homes to the government’s new specifications? Does it even pay to stay?

Some families have already thrown up their hands and put their houses up for sale, while others talk of making the best of really bad options. “This issue is more devastating to more people than Sandy itself, believe it or not,” said Ron Jampel, a resident of the Shore Acres section of Brick, N.J., who started an advocacy group for affected homeowners in New Jersey called Save Our Communities 2013.

Maria Zanetich, who lives across the street from the water in Point Pleasant, N.J., with her husband and two grown daughters, considers her family lucky in many respects: their first floor is still gutted, but they can continue to live on the top floor of their three-bedroom raised ranch. Their insurance premiums will increase sharply, however, unless they elevate their home five feet, which she said could cost more than $100,000 because their home sits on a concrete slab instead of a foundation with a crawl space.

“I paid my flood insurance on time every year, but I didn’t even know that I had a subsidy, much less one that is now being phased out,” said Ms. Zanetich, who provides early intervention services for children with developmental delays. “The insurance moneys that we received will not cover both elevating my house and repairs.”

She and her husband are applying for grant money — they have already received their flood insurance claim payment — and once they hear about that, they can determine their best course of action. “The more that I try to figure it out,” Ms. Zanetich said, “the more I realize that I don’t know what I don’t know.”