Federal Flood Money
After hearing from constituents that Katrina flood insurance claims were being held up for lack of money, the House voted Wednesday to increase the program's borrowing authority by $5 billion. But similar action in the Senate has been stalled by some members who are looking to make changes in the program.If you live below I-10 the major interstate running horizontally across southern Louisiana, you should have flood insurance especially in New Orleans. People in New Orleans who were told that they didn’t need flood insurance were misinformed. There was an article in National Geographic Oct. 2004, which predicted the possibility of the whole of New Orleans going under water.
Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville, said that even more action is needed.
"With today's action by the House we may have headed off one crisis, but a larger one remains," Melancon said. "Thousands of homeowners who lost everything didn't have flood protection because they were never considered a risk. If we're going to rebuild, we have to give people something to rebuild with, and Congress needs to take quick action."
Melancon has pushed for legislation that would allow hurricane victims to retroactively buy into the federal flood insurance program. But the bill has run into considerable opposition from members who say it would cost too much and would send the wrong message by indirectly telling people that they could buy insurance after they suffer a serious loss.
The $5 billion in extended credit, which FEMA hopes to pay back through future insurance premiums, may provide only a short-term solution. Officials with the flood insurance program said that the $5 billion would cover only claims through the Thanksgiving holiday.
Thousands drowned in the murky brew that was soon contaminated by sewage and industrial waste. Thousands more who survived the flood later perished from dehydration and disease as they waited to be rescued. It took two months to pump the city dry, and by then the Big Easy was buried under a blanket of putrid sediment, a million people were homeless, and 50,000 were dead. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the United States.
The prophecy that New Orleans would become a giant lake has been being predicted for years so how could you live in New Orleans and not have flood insurance? Some people were told by their insurance agents that they lived in a no-flood zone, and why wouldn't they believe them? They are the ones who are suppose to know.
I will say I am happy to see that the people who did have flood insurance are getting their money.
posted by Casey at 11:52 AM
1 Comments:
I've heard several people - politicians and otherwise - argue recently that New Orleans residents shouldn't be entitled to the same kind of flood insurance that most other Americans can get. These people contend that New Orleans' location in a widely recognized disaster zone means that those who live there knowingly accept the risk of a Katrina-like disaster happening.
I take exception to this argument, because you'd be hard-pressed to find many places in the U.S. that aren't prone to some kind of natural disaster, be it tornadoes, wildfires, floods or earthquakes. I'm not suggesting that New Orleans should be rebuilt without trying to make it as hurricane-proof as possible, but to pretend that the city's residents are being obstinate or foolish by wanting to resume their lives in the home city they know and love is just mean-spirited. New Orleans is far too important economically and culturally to be ignored in such a way.
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