[StBernard] LRA

[Westley Annis]

I guess it would not have been passed the legislature if the Road Home was
set up in such a way that the  money went first to those who flooded the
most. Imagine if the applications, processing, and closings had been
prioritized according to zip codes. All of us in St. Bernard and
Plaquemines, Lakeview, 9th Ward, Mid City, N.O. East, etc would have come
first. Then those flooded due to stupidity of their parish leadership, i.e.
Metairie, would come next, but only if funds were available, and finally to
those under or not insured for wind. 
 
The distinction with flood is that you can't buy more than $250,000
insurance on the house or $100,000 for contents and that amount was the
ceiling set many years ago, so it has not kept pace with inflation.
Furthermore, the insurance companies and NFIP did a horrible job explaining
and selling flood insurance so that many were not insured or were
underinsured not expecting to need it for a levee failure or breach.
However, everyone knows the risk of fire, wind, and hail and should have the
maximum coverage they can afford. 
 
Of course, the above wouldn't have brought home the bacon to everyone who
had a tree damage their roof in the parishes affected the least and
therefore their state reps wouldn't have voted for it, would they? So in the
land of equality, somehow the homeowners in St. Bernard with water to the
roof sit and wait for a golden letter or closing 21 months after the storm,
while others in the least affected areas have collected their underinsurance
for wind damage. 
 
Perhaps it was because we weren't supposed to come back. We in St. Bernard,
Lakeview, NO East, 9th ward, Mid City and Plaquemines were supposed to walk
away and wait for the big land buyouts, mitigation money, full pre-Katrina
prices for our homes and businesses so our properties would revert back into
swamps and pastures (greenspace).  That didn't happen either, did it?  No
mitigation money available for that either. 
 
One day the insiders will write a tell all book about the where all the
money really went. The disaster within in the disaster. Who got rich, who
got kickbacks, quid pro quo deals, businesses that gouged on their prices,
citizens that defrauded the system, insurance companies and experts who
violated their ethics to avoid fulfilling their policies, contractors that
stole money, etc. will one day all be revealed. 
 
You know the opening line from the classic TALE OF TWO CITIES-"It was the
best of times, it was the worst of times." It was a story about the French
Revolution. How appropriate that opening line would be for a tell-all
expose. ddk