Plan to rebuild New Orleans takes shape

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N20344729.htm

NEW ORLEANS, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Long-awaited plans to rebuild New Orleans and compensate hundreds of thousands of hurricane victims took shape on Monday as Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco announced details of a program that would give homeowners up to $150,000.

It is the clearest recovery plan to emerge since Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast nearly six months ago and follows a White House request to Congress last week for an additional $4.2 billion in federal funds for Louisiana.

"This is one of the most important programs our state will ever run," Blanco said in a statement.

Under the new plan, which is in line with a proposal by New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, owners of homes that suffered $5,200 or more in uninsured damage could receive up to $150,000 toward the pre-storm value of their homes, less insurance and other federal payments.

Uninsured homeowners living in the official flood zone would be covered, but their assistance would be cut by 30 percent. That reflects sympathy with the thousands of uninsured owners who trusted the federally built levees that failed in August, while sending a signal that everyone should get insurance in the future, Blanco said.

they lack the money--get LESS compensation?

:shrug:

So they would not be making payments on the homes. Those who were making payments and were required to have flood insurance would feel like they were doubly punished if those who had not paid for insurance got the same benefits they did. They would have had to pay the thousands in insurance (and for many people that is a big liability), and they would receive the same benefits as if they had not paid the thousands.

I would hope there is some graded scale based on income and personal expenses. Those who truly could not afford flood insurance should not be treated the same as those who could afford it but chose not to buy it. Some of the areas flooded were quite middle class, and I'd hate to think people in those areas would get the same amount of money as some third generation home owner who inherited a home and was unable to make insurance payments, or as some other poor family struggling to meet outrageous flood insurance costs while giving up luxury items.

I'd rather see the unworthy get away with something than see the poor get shafted again, though, so they should err on the side of compassion, not stinginess. I mean, at the root of the problems was an inadequately maintained levee system and a poor canal design. The government, state and federal, should consider themselves liable for a lot of the damage.

don't have it because the companies dropped the coverage? A couple of years ago several big companies started dropping homeowners policies in areas prone to natural disasters. I would guess that the move drove the costs way up for the policies offered by companies that had not dropped that type of coverage.

People who actually run things DO believe in global warming and climate change, Bushco is just following their orders to help start the depopulation process. That the first victims happen to be poor and black, well, that was a bonus (convert a blue area to red, keeping the whole state red... plus the poor are not going to demand to rebuild, especially since most were renters and the landlords will be happy to take the money and buy another slum somewhere else). In any event, other than lining the pockets of Halliburton with a few billion more from the taxpayers, having FEMA help depopulate the delta region and parts of the gulf coast was the intended goal of the response to the hurricane(s).

Expect to see more of the same from the next American disaster (terrorist "plot" or natural).

The old inner-city nickname for the "urban renewal" projects of the 1960's and 1970's was (minority) removal. I don't doubt for a minute that the Louisiana Republican Party as well as the RNC are in cahoots in trying to "whiten up" New Orleans.

The irnoy I've seen elsewhere (I have dial-up and I still read print newspapers) is that the whitening up process is going to remove the urban poor necessary to staff the waiters, cooks, housekeepers, porters, bellmen, etc. positions necessary to keep the New Orleans tourist industry operating.

what a deal...and what do you suppose the percentage of those homeowners who actually recieve the full $150,000 will be?...probably less than 1%...the only thing not lacking in Nola these days are excuses and lots of hoops.

+ those fortunate enough to recieve full compensation, can only rebuild to equal or lesser home in bumfuck Louisiana as long as its far from the ninth...mission acomplished

Woe to any of these homeowners who decide to refuse...they will see nothing but endless hoops and regulations.