New FEMA flood insurance regulations are going to have a huge impact on homeowners who live along US waterways. Robert Rash (see below) says these regulations will impact 40% of Americans. Keith Haley, a former weather forecaster who has lived in his current home 47 years and never been flooded, is being required buy FEMA to buy flood insurance for $800/year even though he is living on a fixed income. Haley accuses FEMA of “a power grab for more money”.
From Keith Haley’s blog: “Here is a problem that will affect many in the United States. It deals with FEMA drawing up new Flood Maps and determining who lives in a flood zone. I have lived in my home for 47 years and have had no problems with flooding. If you have similar problems with FEMA or Flood Zones you need to look at my videos.”
Mississippi Residents Forced To Pay Flood Insurance Due to New FEMA Zones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LXuPH6IpCo
Robert Rash, a professional surveyor and engineer, says the new FEMA regulations will impact up to 40% of Americans.
Keith Haley’s website
Keith Haley’s Weatherpro YouTube channel
Insurance is OK in small incidents. But what happens when there is a wide spread catastrophe? Not sure about flood insurance, but fire and earthquake. insurance companies have the ability to file bankruptcy.
Say a large earthquake hits SoCal. If a huge portion of the damaged homes were covered, more then likely some insurance companies would seek bankruptcy protection rather then make large payouts. A while back there was a report of homes destroyed by California wildfires not being rebuilt because the insurance companies supposedly had too many payouts.
IMO this is just another aspect of government going too far. It seems they want to protect us from everything.
People are emigrating from other states along the Mississippi River, not just in Mississippi. Met a couple from Illinois that lost or left nearly everything: home, belongings, household items, etc. They bought a motor home with their savings and are now home schooling their two children while moving from job to job, living in the RV. They told me that many people from along the rivers are doing this.
Insurance is a Catch 22. Sure, it ‘might’ help in catastrophic events. But….. insurance is also a very huge business in this country. All insurance companies are one of the drivers of our economic crisis, but they have received little attention for their part in the overall historical spiral. They are also a large lobbing entity for establishing requirements and prices, just like any market-driven commodity. They set the prices, we all have to pay. And the probabilities of realizing any benefit for most people that pay is, as most gambles, a bet that we all hedge.
I question how much of this recent regulation is market driven.
From Louisiana here and I agree with your ‘Catch 22’ paragraph.
My home had never been flooded from the time it was built in the 1950s until it was in the 1990s. Then we were put in the flood zone. Sorry, 47 years isn’t that long a time when it comes to weather trends. I was fortunate, the water didn’t come in very much but the people on the other side of the creek had waist deep water and no insurance to help cover the extensive damage done.
I think each house would have to be handled on a case by case basis.
Don’t get me wrong, I think having lots of insurance is generally a good thing, but should people be forced to buy it even if they don’t want it or can’t afford it? That’s not the kind of country this is supposed to be. You make your own decisions and take responsibility for them, even if they turn out to be mistakes. Regulations like this seem to be trying to protect us from ourselves, assuming that we’re too dumb to know what’s in our own best interest or most appropriate for our own life situations.
Yet one more reason why families are leaving Mississippi in droves…
MANY of us are packing. And what’s worse its that this is just the beginning…
Ronin — so this is for real? People have told you they are leaving because of this? I ask because this is so important.