FEMA's New Flood Risk Maps

FEMA's flood risk maps have been updated. Many new areas will be expensive to insure unless homeowners lift homes substantially above ground level. Either way it's an expensive proposition. Hundreds of thousand to lift the home or tens of thousands to insure it annually. It's a tough choice but better to do before a disaster hits and your property value crashes. At least it takes the pressure somewhat off FEMA and the US taxpayer.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/03/20249654-20000-a-year-for-flood-insurance-sandy-survivors-face-tough-rebuilding-choices?lite

This hole thing, paying for natural disasters is a relatively new phenomenon.  

A quick review has it in 1974 the Disaster Relief Act was passed and provided a process of which federal tax revenue could be payed out for declarations.  The next step was in 1979 when FEMA was created by executive order

Now comes the fallout.  There's no money to pay for all this stuff.

FEMA is primarily in place for continuity of government and government contingencies, but its disguised as humanitarian effort.  Least this is the PR we get.

Just like any other government program they haven't paid for what they've been sending out.

Katrina cause FEMA to borrow $24 billion from the Treasury, of which we didn't have assets we simply created more debt out of thin air.  Thus we still haven't paid for Katrina. Heck we just paid off WWII debt under Clinton if memory serves me right. Just one example of how long it takes to pay off all this spending.

Same with Sandy, totaling $61 billion, this amounts to 5% of all US tax revenue last year.  All again borrowed money.  Now go find out where this money goes.  Can we validate and account it's a $61 billion dollar enhancement that's been delivered, no it's a big black hole.  

Now here the government comes looking to collect from those that might be able to pay.  If they hadn't been already taking enormous amounts of money from us in taxes, we might have some money to fund our own reconstruction or allow the free market to dictate flood insurance costs or those that want to go that route.

Anything the government does it woefully inefficient, as the enormous bureaucracy eats away at dollars before they can possibly be paid out.  Government administration will eat up 50 to 60 cents of every dollar before any payout occurs.  It just doesn't work.  Instead of the government letting individuals keep our money, and make our own preparations, and our own decisions.  We're forced to participate in their woefully inefficient programs which are not financially self supportable.

Same thing with health care.  Are costs going up or down since the Affordable Care Act was passed?  Up way up.

We used to be able to make our own decisions, now the government makes them for us and controls us what we can and can't do.  The bill will come due eventually and it isn't pretty when the government places demands for you to pay.

Before Hurricane Sandy I was paying $620 a year for flood insurance. We had a surveyor do our neighborhood and found out we were not in the flood zone but FEMA said too bad. When the new flood maps came out, we were listed at 7' above sea level an "A7" zone. FEMA said insurance for this should be $550 per year. Our insurance company doesn't care, is charging us $820 a year.

I've been dealing with FEMA at work since the hurricane. Project managers have moved on, no one knows who handles my case. Now the State Police took over and I have to jump through all the hoops again and prove my 200K in claims. I have all the paperwork but they are just playing games to get you to get so fed up that you just give up. No way, I'm a pitbull when it comes to this and call the state police every day to let them know I'm still waiting for money.

Your goobermint at work .....

"The tornado turned Jonathan Stewart's house into a pile of rubble on April 27, nothing but bricks and debris scattered ovei a concrete slab.

Days later, an inspector from the Federal Emergency Management Agency came to Stewart's address in Pleasant Grove, and took some notes and pictures. Three days later, Stewart received a letter stating he didn't qualify for a FEMA grant. One of the reasons: Insufficient damage.

'Based on your FEMA inspection, we have determined that the disaster has not caused your home to be unsafe to live in,' the letter read.

"Although the disaster may have caused some minor damage," both letters stated, "it is reasonable to expect you or your landlord to make these repairs. At this time you are not eligible for FEMA housing assistance."
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread715835/pg1



Is FEMA incompetent or what?

FEMA does not work!

During Sandy.

Tell the American people one thing, behind closed doors the directives and activities are much different.  Continuity of government, not aiding people in time of disaster. Familiar faces here yet again.

I laughed when our present governor got elected on his promise of making insurance companies lower their rates. He got in and many just left. Now He is having the state insurance company sell some of their clients to other companies without the client's knowledge to save money.

Seems the CGI Federal subsidiary that received hundreds of millions in a no bid contract for Healthcare.gov is also involved in issuing aid to Sandy victims.  It's now understood a CGI

Toni Townes-Whitley, Princeton class of ’85, is senior vice president at CGI Federal, which earned the no-bid contract to build the $678 million Obamacare enrollment website at Healthcare.gov. CGI Federal is the U.S. arm of a Canadian company.

Townes-Whitley, senior VP at CGI Federal was Mrs. Obama's Princeton classmate.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/25/michelle-obamas-princeton-classmate-is-executive-at-company-that-built-obamacare-website/

It seems CGI has had this responsibility since April and or May of this year and all indications are that the money still isn't being distributed.

Quote :

The Associated Press revealed Tuesday that a mere $700 million of the $60 billion federal aid package – 1.2 percent of the total funds – has been given to victims of super storm Sandy.

Nearly a year after the devastating storm, a majority of the 24,000 families that have requested monetary assistance have yet to receive a penny from the federal aid package.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/10/26/company-behind-obamacare-website-in-charge-of-nearly-2-billion-in-sandy-relief/

l

This seems like a large cash giveaway for CGI much like Solendra and the other energy give aways and bankruptcy with tax payers left with the bill.

Like he said after his reelection; He will reward his friends and punish his enemies.

I was wrong. He said that before the election. And here are 86 more beauties.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2942427/posts

The no bid contract that went to CGI. Coincidentally, a high ranking executive of CGI was a college classmate of Moochelles.

I have a meeting with FEMA this week and I am already afraid of what I will say to them in front of my boss. We had a CAT "A" claim, which is for debris, downed trees over our easements. FEMA comes out takes some pictures and Pays us 90% of what we paid out. Now they call and want to see pictures and documents of all of the damage. Fair enough, but this is the 3rd time and 3rd case manager I have done this for. They don't have a clue what their doing.

And people demand more and more of this big govt bs. We are truely doomed.

Obama did a wonderful job of assisting Hurricane Sandy victims, just ask Gov Christie. Why are you doubting the messiah?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/storm-that-left-destruction-in-michigan-maryland-heads-for-northeast/

Americans get ready to get your multi-billion dollar check book out once again.  Christie and other buddies are licking their chops.  No fear there's a remedy.  Free money makes everything better. Little skimming off the top two or three times over, call it a done deal.

We got slammed pretty good last night, 6" in a pretty short time. Down the street from me the Fire Department had to rescue some people who got flooded out. These same people got flooded during Sandy. We had the bay creep up 1 mile but it stopped short of crossing the street and onto my block. The lagoon was about 2' from spilling over.
Up until about 8 years ago I wasn't required to have flood insurance, then FEMA maps my area as a flood zone. Our neighborhood chipped in and we had the whole area surveyed, (IIRC about $500 each). Survey showed we were not in the flood zone, FEMA came back with a reduced rate but just last week I was told the flood insurance had doubled and my taxes went up $1K.
I guess someone has to pay for an inept government.

It doesn't seem to matter who goes into office anymore once the regular joe turns into just another run of the mill politicians.

TheQuig wrote:

but just last week I was told the flood insurance had doubled and my taxes went up $1K.

Is Georgia sounding better yet??  

erude wrote:

It doesn't seem to matter who goes into office anymore once the regular joe turns into just another run of the mill politicians.

It's called illusion of choice. Ideologically they may state different things they support in public. However when it comes to action it's all the same no matter who's in office. The amount of corruption and monetary gain by the corporate and elite are the ones that are really pulling the strings in our country. And if you don't like it, there's a three letter agency many times over to deal with you. There has been a coup in our country the people are unaware.

Elections are rigged, voting machine tapes thrown out, voting machines that cast votes for a not chosen candidate, voting machines that have negative counts. Then you have the parties. Parties that change their own rules at their convention so that "the chosen" candidate gets nominated and the people's candidate gets shut out.

The people can not prevail when absolutely everything is rigged.

Everything is a lie. Unemployment % lie, CPI lie, GDP lie, cuts in deficit spending lie, premise for using military lie.

joemac wrote:

erude wrote:

It doesn't seem to matter who goes into office anymore once the regular joe turns into just another run of the mill politicians.

It's called illusion of choice.  Ideologically they may state different things they support in public.  However when it comes to action it's all the same no matter who's in office.  The amount of corruption and monetary gain by the corporate and elite are the ones that are really pulling the strings in our country.  And if you don't like it, there's a three letter agency many times over to deal with you.  There has been a coup in our country the people are unaware.

Elections are rigged, voting machine tapes thrown out, voting machines that cast votes for a not chosen candidate, voting machines that have negative counts.  Then you have the parties.  Parties that change their own rules at their convention so that "the chosen" candidate gets nominated and the people's candidate gets shut out.  

The people can not prevail when absolutely everything is rigged.

Everything is a lie.  Unemployment % lie, CPI lie, GDP lie, cuts in deficit spending lie, premise for using military lie.

Better every day, but my son still has 2 years to go at college, and I can't bring myself to leave him alone up here.

Sell the house & rent for 2 years?

I'll keep the house until we decide which state we will move to. I took my son up to college today, about 80 miles away, and told him we were thinking about getting out. He didn't take that too well.

TheQuig wrote:

He didn't take that too well.

We ended up moving our kids more than I cared too while they were in school.
They adjusted well and in the long run I think it helped them realize moving isn't the end of the world.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/10/29/gov-christie-tells-sandy-heckler-to-sit-down-and-shut-up/

With little if any accounting for where the $61 billion in federal tax money went Mr. Christi. This gentlemen isn't alone. This is the expected reaction from a crook in an elected position.

What I find interesting dealing with FEMA for Hurricane Sandy is that at the top level, and filling out the paperwork, the NJ State Police are in charge of the money. Unless they say OK, you don't get paid.
Before I left my last job, I did the FEMA accounts. For Hurricane Sandy damage I was able to get around $188,000. They still have left over money and have asked for your wish list of Hazard Mitigation that will help support your infrastructure in the next disaster. We were up to $250,000 in equipment we could use until the state looked it over and reduced the amount by $50,000. If they have extra money, shouldn't it go back to the FEMA fund for the next disaster instead of again raising my flood insurance?

Remembering that FEMA was out of borrowed federal money, a net new appropriation of $61 billion in federal dollars was handed out in a one time cash disbursement to NJ And NY. Again all borrowed. Seems all private entities swooped in a gobbled up the cash with no bid contracts leaving citizens with lack luster assistance. Big government is woefully inefficient in delivering a dollar of tax dollar to equate a dollar of service.

How a local natural disaster becomes the responsibility of the nation in such dollar proportion is a recent phenomenon in history.

Then to find out that great sums of this money never makes it and aligns to the premise the public was sold on. They always put a picture up of some crying home owner's slab. But never show the big government/private connect persons who soak and bathe in this cash.

Ran across a story last night, two years after homeowner still has no home. This story isn't isolated. Being the corruption of the state, private connected entities, and dishonest businesses (contractors taking money and running) our country is in a very poor state of affairs. Zero ethics abound.

But the elected official Christie can stand up and tell people to shut up and sit down. The true side of government is shown. Carlin said it best, "They don't' give a $@c% about you."

My best FEMA story:
About 1 year after Seaside Park NJ boardwalk burned down after being rebuilt, FEMA money was used to rebuild it a second time because the fire had started in an electric panel that had been under ocean water during the hurricane.
At one point (25 years ago), I worked for a company that was connected big time and owned the boardwalk and amusement park that was lost in the fire.
Bids were needed quickly to get the boardwalk rebuilt for the next summers tourist season.
3 bids were given, FEMA said the low bid was too low awarded it to the highest bidder who was the owner of the boardwalk. So the owner of the boardwalk not only received money, but was awarded the job to tear down the debris and rebuild the boardwalk.

joemac wrote:

  The true side of government is shown.  Carlin said it best, "They don't' give a $@c% about you."

Reminds me of another quote ...

“He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” - George Bernard Shaw