More disgrace from FEMA

[chm2023]

How incompetent are these people??? More incompetent than we originally thought, if that's possible. IMO, this whole Katrina/FEMA mess is behind Bush's collapse in the polls. And if we have a bad winter and fuel bills go as high as predicted, well, you ain't seen nothing yet.

FEMA halts flood insurance payments
By Kathy Chu, USA TODAY
A government agency has run out of funds to cover flood insurance claims and, in an unprecedented move, has stopped payments to policyholders.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which runs the national flood insurance program, has advised the 96 insurance companies that sell flood policies to stop payments to policyholders until Congress says the agency can borrow more money.

It's the first time since the flood insurance program began in 1968 that FEMA has taken this action. The move likely means that thousands of policyholders, who have waited weeks for funds to rebuild after Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma, are seeing further delays.

Any delay "is a huge setback for people," says Bill Newton, executive director of the Florida Consumer Action Network. "If you can't rebuild your home and put your life back together, what are you supposed to do?"
Congress is considering bills to increase the program's borrowing authority and could act in the next few days. The full House approved one bill Wednesday giving FEMA authority to borrow up to $8.5 billion from the Treasury. It now goes to the Senate, which is working on its own bill.

Spokesman Butch Kinerney says FEMA is aware that "a few days can make a difference for some folks. We just hope it's a small number" of people who are affected.

Many homeowners are still waiting to be paid for flood damage. Policyholders have already filed most of the estimated 225,000 in total flood claims expected by the agency from Katrina, Rita and Wilma, Kinerney says.

Yet, the $3.5 billion FEMA has doled out so far represents only 15% of the $23 billion in losses it expects to be on the hook for from the three hurricanes.

A minority of U.S. homeowners have flood insurance. In the areas affected by Katrina, for instance, 34% of homes and 23% of businesses had the policies, which cover most water damage. Homeowners' policies issued by private insurers cover wind-related losses but not flood damage.

FEMA's financial troubles will not affect everyone.

Each insurance company that sells and services flood policies has a credit line with the federal agency. Companies that haven't used up this authorization will continue to pay claims.

But those that have maxed out could decide to wait until FEMA borrows more money, says Julie Rochman of the American Insurance Association.

Some insurers also might choose to postpone paying policyholders because it would send the message that the private sector will step in if the government doesn't fulfill its obligations, says Robert Hartwig of the Insurance Information Institute.

[fvc2020]

I really hate to pooh pooh anyone, but do you think fema messed up or do you really think that the amount of damage from all three hurricane is what is causing fema not to have enough money?

I mean was the last time three Catagory 5 hurricans hit back to back.HMMMMnever maybe?

Get over blaming the President for everything. Mother nature has a real werid sense of humor and can do anything she wants, no matter who the President is.

As for the gas prices, as of this morning in Savage, Mn gas is at $2.01. Go figure. GAs is going down people, not up. The last time it went up for for 3 days and went right back down.

Just wanted to vent sorry

christina

[chm2023]

I really hate to pooh pooh anyone, but do you think fema messed up or do you really think that the amount of damage from all three hurricane is what is causing fema not to have enough money?

I mean was the last time three Catagory 5 hurricans hit back to back.HMMMMnever maybe?

Get over blaming the President for everything. Mother nature has a real werid sense of humor and can do anything she wants, no matter who the President is.

As for the gas prices, as of this morning in Savage, Mn gas is at $2.01. Go figure. GAs is going down people, not up. The last time it went up for for 3 days and went right back down.

Just wanted to vent sorry

christina

Wilma was a 3 and Katrina a 4 when they hit land, not sure about Rita. And a very active hurricane season was widely predicted.

And if you read the article, you will see that FEMA expects to have the money in several weeks, it's a matter of getting Congress to appropriate. Do you blame this on the vaguries of nature or do you blame it on ineptness? Before you answer, picture yourself as one of the people who had FEMA backed flood insurance who are now being told: sorry you will have to wait for your money to rebuild your home as we neglected to look at our liability and let the well go dry?

Any mid level manager knows the importance of forecasting and managing cash flow.

Blaming the president for everything? Did he not appoint the FEMA personnel? I am held responsible for the actions of my staff, I would expect at least the same for the president.

As for gas prices--my gas (utility) company has announced a 30% rate increase. Hopefully you're right, but the same forecasters who predicted a wild hurricane season are predicting a very cold winter.

[EyeManFla]

It's unfortunate that FEMA is in such disarray. Back in the 70's and 80's when I was working in DC, I had three really close friends that were managers for FEMA. They were good at their job and made FEMA a top flight government agency.

All these good men have long since passed on or passed away. And worse, I believe putting FEMA under Homeland Security was a major mistake.

[fvc2020]

What I was trying to say was, how to you predict how much will be needed for the type of damage that was done. I am not condoning people not getting what they should be getting, but give me a break. Did anyone know that those storms were going to do what they did? Did we know that billions would be needed? We did after the fact.

I am just tired of the blame game. There is forecasting, but how far can you forecast for natural disasters?

Christina

[Vicki]

Christina,
I totally agree with you. There is only so much preparation you can do for such natural disasters. And yes, I would be upset if it were me not getting the funds, yes I admit that. But there are thousands of people that were affected and only so much can be done at one time.
My parents were involved in a natural disaster back in 2001 that destroyed their entire home from a flood. They had over 12 feet of water in their home and the mud, filth, bacteria, smell was horrible. We had to rely on the Red Cross and family and had to wait days for National Guard to come help with the cleanup of large debris, etc because the whole town was affected. There was no blame thrown around everyone just did what they had to do to survive.
Vicki

[chm2023]

What I was trying to say was, how to you predict how much will be needed for the type of damage that was done. I am not condoning people not getting what they should be getting, but give me a break. Did anyone know that those storms were going to do what they did? Did we know that billions would be needed? We did after the fact.

I am just tired of the blame game. There is forecasting, but how far can you forecast for natural disasters?

Christina

I guess I'm not making myself clear, nor did the article. The money is there--Congress has to appropriate. AFTER the storms FEMA needed to look at the insurance liability they had based on damage--not rocket science. Storms hit, estimates are made, FEMA looks at their cash situation and should have gone to Congress and say "hey, we will need $XXX to cover our insurance claims". They didn't fulfill the basic fiduciary part of their job, keeping the paperwork flowing to allow funds to be released in a timely manner.

Your argument is "gee, what can you expect when there's natural disasters?" Do you know what the EM in FEMA stands for? This is like saying, gosh how do you expect the fire department to cope with lots of fires? I sick to death of apologists for incompetence. I don't tolerate it in my work life or my personal life and fail to see why I should lower my standards for my government.

[Spexvet]

I really hate to pooh pooh anyone, but do you think fema messed up or do you really think that the amount of damage from all three hurricane is what is causing fema not to have enough money?

I mean was the last time three Catagory 5 hurricans hit back to back.HMMMMnever maybe?

Get over blaming the President for everything. Mother nature has a real werid sense of humor and can do anything she wants, no matter who the President is.

As for the gas prices, as of this morning in Savage, Mn gas is at $2.01. Go figure. GAs is going down people, not up. The last time it went up for for 3 days and went right back down.

Just wanted to vent sorry

christina

I hope you feel the same way if a tornado hits Savage, Minnesota.

[Jacqui]

After the tornados that hit SW Wisconsin FEMA refused to help !!!!

[chm2023]

After the tornados that hit SW Wisconsin FEMA refused to help !!!!

Why?

[Jacqui]

No explanation. Several people were killed and parts of several towns were destroyed. The congressional delegation is investigating it (for about 3 months now)

[drk]

Just to clarify:

How do you all feel about the collectivization of our individual wealth by a government agency who acts as a federal underwriter of private insurers, and who decides how to appropriate the expenditures to loss sustainers, who, essentially fork it over to the construction and retail industries?

Is this not just a very indirect form of a transfer payment? Is this good for the economy? Is it good for our people?

Is this not an example of our risk-averse society? Health insurance for physical maladies, bankruptcy for financial misadventures, disaster insurance for bad weather, social security as a bottom-level retirement income, not to mention SS disability or private disability. Not only that, but we are indemnified against any product liability as well, and civil suits for criminal acts as well. We do have a hedge against poverty called welfare. I suppose I'm still missing a few things.

Can we admit to ourselves that we have a form of economic, if not political, socialism? We have our rears covered pretty well, don't we?

Should we stop here, or should we all chip in more money until every citizen is protected from the pitfalls of life? Should we lessen the government's role in mandating and managing these forms of community spirit, or should we have more private control involved?

Paying taxes can be a noble thing, indeed, no? As long as you do it for the right reasons with a cheerful heart. Why, then, do we want to maximize our tax deductions/credits? Is it to have more money to distribute to the needs of society as we individually see fit, or do we just want that plasma TV, or bigger savings?

[chm2023]

Just to clarify:

How do you all feel about the collectivization of our individual wealth by a government agency who acts as a federal underwriter of private insurers, and who decides how to appropriate the expenditures to loss sustainers, who, essentially fork it over to the construction and retail industries?

Is this not just a very indirect form of a transfer payment? Is this good for the economy? Is it good for our people?

Is this not an example of our risk-averse society? Health insurance for physical maladies, bankruptcy for financial misadventures, disaster insurance for bad weather, social security as a bottom-level retirement income, not to mention SS disability or private disability. Not only that, but we are indemnified against any product liability as well, and civil suits for criminal acts as well. We do have a hedge against poverty called welfare. I suppose I'm still missing a few things.

Can we admit to ourselves that we have a form of economic, if not political, socialism? We have our rears covered pretty well, don't we?

Should we stop here, or should we all chip in more money until every citizen is protected from the pitfalls of life? Should we lessen the government's role in mandating and managing these forms of community spirit, or should we have more private control involved?

Paying taxes can be a noble thing, indeed, no? As long as you do it for the right reasons with a cheerful heart. Why, then, do we want to maximize our tax deductions/credits? Is it to have more money to distribute to the needs of society as we individually see fit, or do we just want that plasma TV, or bigger savings?

Oh please. Buy yourself a pipe and find a coffeehouse. I might be able to dig out an old copy of Ferlinghetti.

[drk]

I'm never going to post again, CHM, if you have to be a nasty butt all the time. I know you don't like me. Just pretend I'm not talking to you, Ok?

[rinselberg]

Here I go, acting like a "butt-inski" again, but really drk - if chm2023 didn't LIKE you, you wouldn't get the "needle" - you'd get the sledgehammer. Check out the way she used to take after a former OptiBoarder known as "mrba" from time to time.

[Spexvet]

Just to clarify:

How do you all feel about the collectivization of our individual wealth by a government agency who acts as a federal underwriter of private insurers, and who decides how to appropriate the expenditures to loss sustainers, who, essentially fork it over to the construction and retail industries?

Is this not just a very indirect form of a transfer payment? Is this good for the economy? Is it good for our people?

Is this not an example of our risk-averse society? Health insurance for physical maladies, bankruptcy for financial misadventures, disaster insurance for bad weather, social security as a bottom-level retirement income, not to mention SS disability or private disability. Not only that, but we are indemnified against any product liability as well, and civil suits for criminal acts as well. We do have a hedge against poverty called welfare. I suppose I'm still missing a few things.

Can we admit to ourselves that we have a form of economic, if not political, socialism? We have our rears covered pretty well, don't we?

Should we stop here, or should we all chip in more money until every citizen is protected from the pitfalls of life? Should we lessen the government's role in mandating and managing these forms of community spirit, or should we have more private control involved?

Paying taxes can be a noble thing, indeed, no? As long as you do it for the right reasons with a cheerful heart. Why, then, do we want to maximize our tax deductions/credits? Is it to have more money to distribute to the needs of society as we individually see fit, or do we just want that plasma TV, or bigger savings?

There must be a better way (I don't like corporate welfare), but until it's in place, we've got to stay with this system. The alternative would be a society where nobody helps anybody else, because thet's "their problem". Corporate America would be free to purposely sell faulty goods (think Pinto) without penalty, to the detriment of Americans.

Come up with a better way. :cheers:

[chm2023]

Here I go, acting like a "butt-inski" again, but really drk - if chm2023 didn't LIKE you, you wouldn't get the "needle" - you'd get the sledgehammer. Check out the way she used to take after a former OptiBoarder known as "mrba" from time to time.

Cheers Rinselberry! :cheers: (From one butt-inski to another!!)

Land o' goshen--mrba!! Forgotten all about him (her?) !! And I really don't deserve the blame/credit for driving the faint of heart from OB. There are just a certain percent of people who can't get as well as they give--I wonder is this is a trait that is exacerbated by internet communication? I suspect so. Anyway, happy TG Mr R!!!