Credit: (Matthew Schuerman/WNYC)

A bill that would delay flood-insurance rate hikes – which many Jersey Shore residents say could force them to give up their homes – has been approved by the U.S. Senate.

But the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which passed 67-32, faces strong opposition in the House and from the White House.

The rate increases were passed by Congress in 2012 because of concerns about the viability of the FEMA-operated National Flood Insurance Program.

The program covers more than 5 million homeowners, but FEMA says about 20 percent of those policyholders pay rates that don’t reflect their real risk of flooding damage to their properties. Many of those people have seen their rates go up, or will soon, is the rate increases aren’t rolled back.

Read the full story and hear a report on WNYC by Tracey Samuelson of WHYY/NewsWorks, a partner of NJ Spotlight.