[StBernard] St. Bernard drowns in a sea of slabs

[Westley Annis]

St. Bernard drowns in a sea of slabs 
by Richard A. Webster  
St. Bernard Parish is a sea of slabs as far as the eye can see. 

Simone Bruni, president of the The Demo Diva, points to a three-headed
monster - Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and
parish officials - as the source of this topographical oddity.

In the wake of Katrina, demolition crews rolled through St. Bernard tearing
down severely damaged houses on FEMA's dime but left behind the concrete
foundations. Because slabs were not considered a public safety issue, they
were not demolished.

After the parish adopted the new base flood elevation standards in June
2007, the federal government offered homeowners up to $30,000 in Increased
Cost of Compliance funds administered through insurance carriers to help
them rebuild and raise their homes. But when homeowners applied with the
intent of using the money to demolish the remaining slabs, their insurance
companies deemed them ineligible for the ICC money.

The problem, they were told, is that under the old flood elevation
standards, the homes were in compliance with federal regulations so there
was no need to raise their homes at the time they were demolished. And if
there was no need to raise their homes, they were not eligible to receive
ICC funds.

However, if they would have waited until after the parish adopted the new
flood standards, which put them out of compliance, they would have been
eligible.

Bruni said that twisted logic enrages her, as people who suffered an
unimaginable hardship are being penalized because they took advantage of a
free demolition program. 

But what's worse is that the problem was largely created because St. Bernard
Parish officials waited until June 2007 to adopt the new flood standards
when Orleans and Jefferson parishes did so shortly after the storm, Bruni
said.

To meet the new standards, they still have to demolish their slabs, which
FEMA and the parish chose not to raze, Bruni said. 

Shouldn't that make them eligible for ICC funds, she asked.

Answers are hard to come by.

FEMA is still investigating the matter and could not provide an explanation,
but others have guessed at the reasons.

Under federal regulations, FEMA does not consider a slab a structure for
flood plain management purposes, said Jerry Graves, director of community
development for St. Bernard Parish. Even though FEMA paid to demolish the
home, it may only consider what exists on the plot after the new flood
standards were adopted, he said. If there is only a slab and slabs are not
structures, the homeowner is ineligible for ICC funds.

Why the parish waited so long to adopt the new elevations is clearer.

The Parish Council wanted to give homeowners a few years to rebuild their
houses under the old flood levels, saving them thousands of dollars in
unnecessary elevation costs, said District D Councilman Mike Ginart.

"The council members said it was stupid because most people had eight to 10
feet of water. So what are we doing raising it three feet?" Ginart said. 

Plus, because $30,000 was considered inadequate for elevating the
slab-on-grade homes that make up most of the St. Bernard landscape, the
council delayed adopting the new flood elevations.

"We were trying to give people time to grandfather themselves in," Ginart
said. "If we passed the guidelines right away, anyone whose house was more
than 50 percent damaged had to raise it, and most houses suffered more than
50 percent damage."

Ginart's home was also caught in the time gap. Parish officials told him his
home was substantially damaged and that he had to either raise it or
demolish it. When he raised it and tried to collect his $30,000 in ICC
funds, he was told he was not eligible because he acted before the new flood
levels were adopted. 

Ginart sued his insurer, State Farm Insurance, but lost in federal court. He
is appealing the decision.

"People who tried to quickly get things together and move forward are being
penalized," he said.

The state is going to pay to remove slabs at the properties it acquired
through The Road Home, Graves said, and the parish is in line to receive a
$5 million grant to remove all other slabs.

"A lot of people here are hip to fact that the slab will eventually be taken
out on someone else's dime anyway so they may be waiting," Graves said.

Bruni hopes that is true.

The sea of slabs in St. Bernard looked like a great business opportunity for
The Demo Diva. It costs $10,000 to remove a slab, and she figured all she
had to do was submit paperwork to insurance companies for homeowners and
collect the ICC funds.

Not only would she generate business for her company, but she would be
helping people start over in the area where her father has been a doctor for
35 years.

But instead of providing homeowners with relief, Bruni had to tell them they
had been rejected and would have to pay for slab demolitions out of pocket.

"So you have all these residents so excited when we call them saying they
qualify for ICC money. It's the first free thing that has come their way for
many," Bruni said. "And then they find out the insurance companies rejected
them. People just break down in tears and say they are getting screwed
again. Out of all the parishes, St. Bernard seems to be stuck in repetitive
heartbreak.".