[StBernard] properties in limbo

[Westley Annis]

"So who is still in Katrina limbo, which is not quite as bad as Katrina
hell?" --ddk

Jer: Yes, DDK, some of this is true/fact. However, also filtered in: Does
one consider the elderly, those who got taken by the insurance companies,
those who are ill/disabled? Those who are truly waiting for the results of
the Road Under, those (like my son-in-law, whose father died months before
the storm and the matter is in succession with his affairs, including his
father's home who had no insurance when he died? 

And, a thousand other situations. 

Yes, it is unfortunate that one must leave a home to further ruin, rot, etc.
but to the many who have gotten screwed so many other times (including
fraud, contractors taking off without finishing the job, etc..and it goes
one), then a sign: "Between a rock and a hard place in life" could be
appropriate, perhaps. If a dog was left behind, there is a considerable
amount of rah rah to its needs. When a human falls into perilous, times of
dilemmas, and so forth, we kick them out into the streets and tear down
their homes. The situation about those who most desperately need assistance
in this matter by waiting for funding (including out of work, unable to land
mortgage/SBA help, having just enough money from having to live in a higher
insurance area, pay taxes, etc. and nothing to work further on the home
until the money is available to them should be considered and hopefully, the
parish should understand in the "special circumstances" matter of things. 

Some need to be educated/better informed (as the matter goes) as to what's
the right thing to do in their own case, but some also are entering mental
hospitals, considering/committing suicide over the intenseness of their
post-traumatic situation that it bothers me when I hear of such cases.  It's
so easy to be in a situation where one is fully recovered financially and/or
emotionally (ahead of proper grieving time) it seems.

One must understand this: we all heal at various points of the recovery
process.

To better understand the severity of the emotional impact of this situation,
one must reach to The Kübler-Ross (Switzerland) psychological grief cycle.
In this model, her book, called 'On Death and Dying' (perhaps better known
as "The Grief Cycle") helps us better understand this issues above (and
could include loss of jobs, stress levels upheaval, being forced to do many
things beyond what one is capable/able, in control of, feeling comfortable
with and those treated negatively toward changes (especially in times of
disasters, etc.) can play into this dilemma, absolutely.

Whether one is to admit or nay, most of us lived in paradise in St. Bernard
pre-Katrina in lieu of what's happened to St. Bernard Parish at this current
stage/presently/up to this point). Those stages of grief I'm mentioning,
leads us from then to now with Katrina forcing a deep wedge into our lives.

Katrina - the Shock Stage

Denial  - Was/is Katrina Avoidable?

Anger - Emotions bottle up to a point of frustration and lashing out at
everyone.

Bargaining - Seeking as escape from reality/this dilemma/disaster/outcome.

Depression - Coming to terms that this disaster happened, is inevitable to
happening beyond our control and in a catch-22 situation not having/knowing
the answers.

Testing - Any realistic solutions/easements are sought whether someone helps
the victim or self-found.
Acceptance - Realizing the fight is over, no way out but face the fact that
the system is stacked against one, financially unable/unfeasible, no
significant real solution, etc. so one has to bite the bullet, so to speak.

(Also, one has to perhaps list one more stage at some point: Recrimination.
Do we blame someone else for our situation/cause & effect relationship? --
Perhaps the governments/inept system in place/current population mandating
government in a call for action?)

With this theory/model in consideration, we better understand WHY
individuals must make serious choices (some which are not acceptable to
others). Whether there is a right or wrong to decisions (popular or
unpopular), education and information are the key to success in recovery. 

However, we should not leave out the most important factor which got so many
to this point in the recovery: Money ($$$) being pourd into the local/state
economy and filtered down to the individual is key to the elimination of
issues caused by everyone. Imagine local and state government getting
no/insufficient monies at all for proper recovery? In the short term, ever
local and state governments were in this situation the first 3 years after
Katrina. They know as well this Grief stage I discussed today.

--jer-- 

-----------------------------------------------------
I've been reading all the comments about the parish's efforts to move
forward with demolitions. This is my personal opinion based on what I know
about real people in my surrounding neighborhood, as well as friends and
relatives.

No one I know has hailed Katrina as a windfall or the best thing that has
happened in their life, i.e. it's been a stressful, gut wretching hardship,
with not only financial losses, but emotional losses as well. Those who
found the inner strength, courage, ability to make a hard decision, and the
luck to make a right decision are not caught in what I term as Katrina
limbo. For example, those who chose the path to bundle their resources and
buy an undamaged house and turn over the old  house to LRA or signed up for
demolition, are not in Katrina limbo. Those who chose to scoop up a damaged
house at a better location or rehab their own damaged  house or tear down
their house and rebuild new on the same lot, are not in Katrina limbo.
Sure, we all bare some scars (financial, emotional, physical), but they have
put Katrina behind them.

So who is still in Katrina limbo, which is not quite as bad as Katrina hell?


There are those who continue to hold out for an unreasonable sale price on a
damaged house because "I"m not giving my house away". They have bought
houses elsewhere and re-settled, but unrealistically expect that someone is
going to give them the price they want for a flood damaged home. While
nationwide and locally there is a  housing glut, a buyer's market, insurance
problems and high rates, and skyrocketing construction costs, these people
are holding on to a boarded up house that just cannot be left that way
indefinitely. It's unsafe to the residents who have recovered and must deal
with the empty house. As time goes on, the inevitable will happen-rot,
mildew, termite infestation-then what? Will they have the money to demolish
the house when FEMA stops paying in August 2008?  Will they get a buyer
then?  

Also in Katrina limbo are those who just can't bear to part with the past.
There are those who have settled elsewhere using all their insurance, FEMA,
LRA money and personal savings to buy a new house, but they just can't
psychological sell or demo the house in the parish they love. They have no
money left to fix up the parish house (whether to rent out or to come back
for visits), and they fully expect that their neighbors won't mind having an
unoccupied house just sit there for the rest of their life. 

The parish's newly elected leadership has provided a process to move along
and work with those who truly want to move forward. The Katrina limbo people
will not move forward on their own because of unrealistic financial
expectations (Did Katrina make anybody financially whole again?) or because
of an emotional bond they don't want to break.

Ultimately, it is up to those who are living here now to determine the
present and future of our parish for the good of  the residents who have
invested everything to be in St. Bernard. We, the voting citizens, have
elected leaders to do the job to move us forward, to make the tough
decisions for those who can't or won't, and to demand accountability and
responsibility from all property owners for the sake of  the parish. 

Special cases have an avenue to appeal, but the people in limbo need to make
decisions or have the decision made for them. We can't all live in limbo
because others wish to.  ddk
http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/stbernard