<p>$25,000 per family. Offset by insurance benefits paid. The State of LA pays half.</p>
<p>Have the victims of disasters in other parts of the country been compensated for their losses? What happens when a poor uninsured person’s house and possessions burn down, but not as a result of a natural disaster.</p>
<p>Many are usually helped by the Red Cross and other local organizations - tho I am sure that there are times when this does not happen.</p>
<p>And the state of Mississippi and Alabama and Florida</p>
<p>They should also double the amount if they move somewhere less prone to problems. One chance is enough. I will refuse to pay this every thirty years.</p>
<p>BARRONS - you will refuse to pay this every thirty years??? Well - we as Americans ALL pay when a disaster occurs in this country - we share the monetary and cause/effect costs as a Nation - not just hurricanes of this magnitude - no matter where you live in this country - you will undoubtedly encounter some type of natural disaster in some shape or form - and very costly as well - and if it should befall YOU - you too will be helped as well - and that would come from MY tax dollars. There is NO perfect place - and if there were - it would be a bit too crowded for my liking at least.</p>
<p>I just hope barrons never needs any help for anything. Hope he has is bunker ready. </p>
<p>Its called humanity and pride. We built this country on sharing, doing for each other. WW!! was all about taking care of others.</p>
<p>I don’t know how much it would have cost to shore up the levees to withstand category 4 hurricanes and to maintain them properly; nor do I know how those costs should have been distributed between the federal and the state level. Nor do i know to whether inadequate funding was caused by the deficit and the tax cuts. I do know that every single taxpayer of this country is paying now and paying dearly for not having adequate levees and for the failure to preserve the wetlands that had once acted as a barrier between inhabited areas and the ocean. In the context of the $125billions I read Katrina will cost, the $2000 per family is a mere bagatelle.</p>
<p>I think they are pulling the plug on this program as I type. Victims who have not received these cards at the few shelters that distributed them need to access a computer or find another way to get these funds. I am sure it is not as bad as it sounds, but it certainly is a mess.</p>
<p>Here’s an article about FEMA pulling the program that was posted on another thread.
<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_debit_cards;_ylt=AqoQDrj3ORhhHbBz44awqA0DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl[/url]”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_debit_cards;_ylt=AqoQDrj3ORhhHbBz44awqA0DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl</a></p>
<p>Was Texas the only state to get the $2000 cash card?</p>
<p>i am not sure, but its not suprising, they did it there, so that money would be spent there</p>
<p>Too labor intensive. Gee, people with nothing.</p>
<p>I guess they were so afraid of people getting more than one card, they stopped it</p>
<p>So trusting</p>
<p>FEMA’s Blocking
Of Relief Efforts -
An Amazing List
9-8-5</p>
<p>FEMA won’t accept Amtrak’s help in evacuations
<a href=“http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e[/url]”>http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e</a>… </p>
<p>FEMA turns away experienced firefighters
<a href=“http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048[/url]”>http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048</a> </p>
<p>FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec</a>… </p>
<p>FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec</a>… </p>
<p>FEMA won’t let Red Cross deliver food
<a href=“http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm[/url]”>http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm</a> </p>
<p>FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans
<a href=“http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=[/url]”>http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=</a>… </p>
<p>FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
<a href=“http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826[/url]”>http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826</a> </p>
<p>FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509[/url]”>Chicago News - Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune… </p>
<p>FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck
<a href=“http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale[/url]”>Chicago News - Chicago Tribune - Chicago Tribune… </p>
<p>FEMA turns away generators
<a href=“http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html[/url]”>http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html</a> </p>
<p>FEMA: “First Responders Urged Not To Respond”
<a href=“http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470[/url]”>http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470</a> </p>
<p>That last one is real – not satire but straight from FEMA’s website.</p>
<p>Actually there are FAR less risky place to live than a low-lying flood and hurricane ravaged part of the country. We don’t let people build in flood plains in my part of the country. If the public is expected to pay to cleanup the mess it should set some reasonable rules for development too. That means NO building in areas subject to a storm surge in a 100 year hurricane just as building is generally not allowed in a 100 year flood zone in most thinking jurisdictions. If building is allowed in areas prone to high winds from hurricanes it needs to be to Category 5 levels. That will stop most building. I went down to the Outer Banks of NC after a little Category 2 storm hit a couple of years ago and homes were knocked off the foundations all along the beach. Now they are building bigger and better homes that sell for $1,000,000+ that will certainly be wiped out when a 25 foot surge comes crashing some time in the next 100 years. That is lunacy. They do it because they know YOU will underwrite the risk. Nobody has a right to be reimbursed for taking a known risk. So no you won’t find me living in LA or SF or along the hurricane belt. I’m on high ground a couple of hundred miles from the coast and it will take a huge unforseeable event to create a similar problem around Central Virginia.</p>
<p>PS. Even the relatively unsophisticated areas hit by the tsunami had the sense not to allow rebuilding in the storm surge area.</p>