Feds reject individual flooding aid in St. Louis, Lake counties
July 25, 2012 at 8:32 am in Duluth News Tribune
The request was for people who live in St. Louis, Aitkin, Crow Wing, Lake and Pine counties as well as for those in the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Continue Reading
We get one disaster in 40 years and we get turned down. Go figure.
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Go figure…REJECTED! Obama’s FEMA says NO to more money.
Obama didn’t come though again, just like his administration on the Fond Du Lac Casino money owed the city where Obama’s appointee denied the contractual money owed Duluth, FEMA rejects request for more DFL Duluth disaster aid. YOU GOT WHAT YOU VOTED FOR DFL DULUTH.
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And people think government health care is going to be a good thing. You need surgery?? Too bad….you don’t qualify…or….maybe we will get to your case in a few years.
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john said:
“You need surgery?? Too bad….you don’t qualify…or….maybe we will get to your case in a few years.”
And that’s different than the way the insurance companies are currently handling things, how?
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Isn’t that what you wanted? I thought you were tired of those democrats handing out money all over the place.
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It definitely feels pretty devastating for the local area but, do you really think that 17 homes destroyed and another 154 with major damage should qualify as a National Disaster?
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Small government 1, whiners who lived in low lying areas, without flood insurance nothing.
The check for individuals would have probably been around 3k anyways. Helpful, maybe…but in most cases a drop in the bucket.
We got the important declaration for public infrastructure…the individual designation is rare and for the most part pretty insignificant.
Local charities and the state will far exceed what the feds would have chipped in.
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Quite a few people got flooded out who never dreamed they were at risk. Consider yourself fortunate if you stayed dry. Whiners?
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Yeah, FDL NEVER floods… And the homes in Lincoln park don’t sit in a 10 foot hole. Thompson doesn’t sit next to a dam and Barnum isn’t located in a giant bowl.
I get it…it was an unpredictably bad flood. The very reason to insure.
My earlier point stands. The individual benefit is capped in the 32k range, but 2-3 grand is the standard. Grand Forks and Ceder Rapids saw these amounts when thousands of properties were total losses.
It’s not like I can’t sympathize for these people and explain reality at the same time.
In the end, the state government and charities/relief funds will be the true method of aid for individuals.
In the grand scheme of things, this disaster was infrastructure heavy, residence light. Total home losses are less than 50 area wide. Horrible for those families, but not even mentionable at a national level. The only reason this disaster has national significance was because of the widespread infrastructure damage.
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How about the Hillside? Or Raleigh Street in West Duluth? Or Lakeside? Or the UWS area? The places that never had anything even close to what they saw last moth. You’re going to sit here and tell us that those people (especially the ones who can hardly afford to put food on the table) should’ve had flood insurance policies. I’m guessing your house escaped unscathed, Nathan. I wonder how much different your tune would be if your house flooded, you lost priceless belongings, and had no idea how you could afford to repair your home.
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’97 in EGF individuals were given $4000 for a flooded basement. This covered the cost of a new furnace and electrical panel for me.
As far as infrastructure…FEMA will only cover what was damaged by the flood, which makes sense. GF had to pay back $1.5 mil after the work was done. FEMA is very strict in this are.
I wish this would have turned out better for the homeowner’s in Duluth. A flooded basement alone can set people back financially 5 years.
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If you play the game, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. My car doesn’t have comprehensive coverage. I’m not going to complain that the feds didn’t bail me out in the event of arson.
I already have made a contribution to the local relief fund. I’m simply trying to convey that individual property damages at a federal level aren’t even on the radar screen.
In 2 days, 500 homes burned to the ground in Ft Collins and Colorado Springs.
The estimate of total losses to structures in our entire region stands at 15-50. Can you not see the difference?
I’m not saying the state shouldn’t assist, and gov Dayton is on record that they will. But at a federal level, this isn’t even a knat.
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By the way, those hillside homes you speak of were on a creek. If flooding hadn’t occurred to you then it sounds all to familiar like the whiners after Katrina.
Just like ignorance to the law is no excuse, so is ignorance to life.
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Superior, as an example? It floods every year, like clockwork. Just because something is worse than has been seen, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have the foresight to know it’s possible.
The funniest part is that the two homeowners I know with serious damage have the same attitude as I. And quite frankly most I have seen interviewed have more out less said the same.
It’s not blame, it’s that we weigh options in life, then deal with the consequences of our decisions.
Have a nice evening, all.
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Nathan,
It’s as if you are taking joy in the fact that people are hurting. Look at it this way…..We often get snowstorms here…we budget for them and pay for plowing. We dont expect for anyone else to pay for this cost. Down in the Gulf…..they often have multiple hurricanes in a single year. They know this is a common weather event down south. We send our federal aid money south every time this happens. So now in our time of need they say too bad?
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If Minnesota wasn’t in the bag for Obama for this years election he would have been here immediately after the flood and the FEMA individual flood aid would have gone through immediately.
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steve0 said:
“the FEMA individual flood aid would have gone through immediately.”
Probably not. The President doesn’t have the authority to change FEMA guidelines on his own.
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Hey, I have some swampland in FL if your interested …
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When did Obama care start caring about exceeding his authority?
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@Nathan
You do realize that most insurnace comapnies around here dont even have a flood insurance option right? And the reasoning for that is duluth is not a town likely to flood! Also are you aware that this was called a FLASH flood? No one could have anticipated it espceially since the warning called for like 5 inches not 10 inches like most areas got around here. Living next to a creek is not a reason to buy flood insurnace as most creeks rarely ever get high enough to flood hence the name creek. Your trying to use the same logic as peta is to sue the zoo and it wont work for them and its not working for you
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Ben, no private insurance company offers flood insurance. Only the federal government does.
You might want to educate yourself, before embarrassing yourself.
So please feds give me money, even though I didn’t buy your insurance.
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I do not have flood ins. I only got a couple leaks in my basement. But my house ins WILL go up next year because of this flood and not a thing I can do about it. Is that fair? The flood option is available if you want to add it and if you dont then how can you expect someone else to pay you for damage. I do feel bad for people who lost things but they just need to do what they can and take there time and get things fixed.
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We are getting money. Over 100 million dollars worth. People just don’t understand the process.
Hurricane damages my home due to wind. Home insurance covers. Storm surge flooding, no.
Now if I purchased federal flood insurance, covered. Without this policy, I get a check for a few thousand dollars, because thousands of homes are completely destroyed, not 15-50 as in our case.
It’s amazing how much ignorance exists on this topic. Try http://www.google.com. Great jumping off point.
Don’t blame the feds, they are covering 75 percent of infrastructure damage. State government and relief funds are there for the homeowners.
Go ahead and let the thumbs down fly, sheeple.
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So the Feds will give us money to fix our streets….which were a wreck before the flood. Homeowners are s.o.l. ?..
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Thanks Mh for being a voice of reason. Nearly everyone I have heard from with damage feels the same way. It seems to be just a few uneducated lemmings that don’t get it.
“Like, it’s hard to get flood insurance. Most companies don’t offer”…Yeah it’s really hard to get from a private insurer, since no company on the Us has offered it in 50 years…Only the Federal government does.
Or “we aren’t getting any money”…Yeah, only around 100 million dollars.
Or “Duluth never floods”, nevermind FDL every spring, and the flood of 1972 which was almost as bad, and hit the same locations in Duluth.
Ignorance must truly be bliss.
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Analogy for you John, since the federal government is the only flood insurer….
“hi state farm, cancel my home insurance”
2 weeks later after it burns down “hi state farm, my house burned down, now pay for it”
Get it? The very insurance agency for flood is the feds. You opt out, and now want a check?
Why even offer insurance then?
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john said:
“Hope we don’t ever have an earthquake in Duluth…..we will all be on our own. ”
And, that’s pretty much how we should all look at everything…as though we are on our own. Cuz frankly, that is the reality of things.
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@Nathan
You are still missing the point, no one in duluth in their right mind would purchase flood insurnace because it is not an area that should ever have to worry about it. Your still using the logic peta is using and it just doenst work that way!
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Ben, you are the one missing the point. It had already happened, nearly as bad in 1972. Mudslides, flooding, lost homes and roadways.
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/dlh/?n=1972_floods
Educate yourself.
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Lol, “PETA”…I think you mean FEMA.
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There are a number of areas in Duluth that require flood insurance if you want a government-backed mortgage. I listened to these people whine, complain, piss and moan about how “Duluth never floods” and how “they don’t need flood insurance”.
Not ironically, these same areas were the ones that flooded. Weird.
You opted out. Your fault.
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Nathan….
All the years of voters dedicated to putting the DFL in office and this is our payback? That hollow ring of “Yes we can!” kinda stings now.
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Well, vote libertarian. At least we will shoot straight with ya.
Gary Johnson 2012.
President Obama did a couple of good things, Dadt repeal, OBL seal choice not drone attack, and his stance on Libya and Egypt. I can’t say I could support anything else.
Sorry you bought into a semi mirage. But read the fine print.
It has happened before in this town. 40 years ago, which is well within 1 ownership timeline. Then do cost benefit analysis.
Anyways, have a good night.
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Spilt opinions until I say I support a third party. Then the ideologues show up. I even gave the “enemy” credit where it id due.
That is why this country is imploding. National level rhetoric.
Sad future we face.
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I really don’t understand why so many of you are trying to play this off as a political decision when, it simply isn’t.
FEMA has rules and guidelines. They were pretty much the same under Bush as they are now under Obama and will remain pretty much the same in the future, no matter who’s in the White House.
The rules say a certain percentage of property in the area has to be totally destroyed before individual help will kick in. Duluth and the surrounding area simply did not meet that threshhold, end of story.
I’m constantly accused here of being a Liberal but, I can’t understand for the life of me why so many people are crying that it’s the government’s job to help them fix their property. It just isn’t. The government is responsible for roads, bridges and in some cases, takes on infrastructure.
I’m pretty sure that Minnesotans will do what we always do….take care of our own.
Those that can afford it will donate money to groups that will in turn, help those that really need help.
Will everyone that had damage get it repaired 100%? Probably not.
But, I do believe that a good portion of the people will be able to remain in their homes.
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I lived on 5th East and 5th in 1972 so, I’m fully aware of the fact that, although that kind of flooding isn’t the norm for Duluth, it also isn’t unheard of.
Even after witnessing the distruction in ’72′, I don’t buy flood insurance now. I figure $1500 a year to insure against something that might happen every 40 years is not the wisest use of my meager funds.
I figger I’ll roll the dice and take my chances. If I end up being wrong, it’s on me.
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Arab, the purpose of the office of Secretary of State is foreign affairs. It is the one office that has nothing to do with domestic affairs.
I can’t believe how ignorant, well actually I can. Look where this country is headed and ignorance of the populace is the only reasonable explanation.
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