[StBernard] Rainwater said owners who can fix their structurally sound but

[Westley Annis]

What's the scoop on this?!  Is this for real?!
Bman

	-----------------------------------------------------
	>From Karen Turni's article:
	
	"Rainwater said owners who can fix their structurally sound but
	
	hurricane-damaged homes for less than 50 percent of the pre-Katrina
	
	value won't be forced to raise their homes. "
	
	
	
	Just a note of caution to repeat what I posted many months ago.
	
	I have been in two meetings with FEMA reps. One was for all 
	
	parish officials, dept. heads, CRC people, planning commissioners
	
	when the Base Flood Elevation, 3 ft. rule, first came out.
	
	After Hunnicutt said he was going to be really lenient with 
	
	residents about percent damaged, the FEMA rep said (and I am 
	
	paraphrasing from memory) that FEMA would be checking up to ensure 
	
	that the FEMA rules were followed. In another meeting, a different
	
	FEMA person said to the planning commission that the FEMA rule for
	
	percent damage has nothing to do with structural damage to the
house.
	
	They know the average price per sq. ft. of homes in various
neighborhoods.
	
	They know whether the water in a neighborhood was 4 feet up the
walls
	
	or to the ceiling or to the second floor/attic. They also will
determine
	
	the average repair costs per sq. foot for each level of flooding.
	
	They take their estimate of the repair cost and divide it by
	
	the value of the house (not including the lot). If that is 50
percent
	
	or more, then the house is 50% or more damaged and would have to
follow the
	
	new flood elevations if repairs started after the parish adopted
them for
	
	your neighborhood. The FEMA rep said it didn't matter if all the
materials
	
	were donated and the homeowner did all the repair work themselves,
their
	
	calculation of percent damage is based on their estimate of average
	
	repair costs. The consequence is being kicked out the flood
insurance
	program
	
	if audited and found to have started after the new base flood
elevations 
	
	apply and you were 50% or more damaged.
	
	
	
	Example: A $140,000 pre Katrina valued house and lot is given a
house-only
	
	value of $120,000 for its 1,800 sq. ft., which is $67 per sq. ft.
	
	The repair started after the parish adopted the new 3 foot elevation
rule. 
	
	FEMA determines that the one story house was flooded into the attic.

	
	FEMA estimates the repair costs to be valued at $60 per sq. ft.
based on
	
	it being gutted to slab and studs and current construction costs. 
	
	$60/$67 calculates in FEMA terms to a 90 % damaged house.
	
	FEMA then notifies the homeowner that they are ineligble
	
	for flood insurance. Nothing else matters to FEMA. 
	
	
	
	People in Galveston cannot even substantially renovate a house, even
if
	
	it was never flooded,without being careful that each major
renovation (like
	adding
	
	on to the house) doesn't exceed 50% of the value of the house,
because
	
	if it does, then they have to raise it to the new base flood
elevation.
	
	
	
	IT IS REALLY IMPORTANT IF YOU HAVEN'T STARTED REPAIRS YET TO KNOW
WHEN THE 
	
	PARISH WILL OFFICIALLY ADOPT THE NEW BASE FLOOD ELEVATIONS AND BE ON
RECORD
	
	THAT YOU FILED FOR ELECTRICAL OR PLUMBING PERMITS. 
	
	
	
	ddk