And this was in 1998....Wonder who tops the list now? How many of those buildings were HUD rental properties?
Communities must take lead in flood control
The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.)
October 24, 1997
Author: GREG GARLAND
Estimated printed pages: 3
NEW ORLEANS - The problem of houses that flood over and over again is "a nightmare" for the federal flood insurance program, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director James Lee Witt said Thursday.
But Witt said local communities and individual homeowners have to be the ones to initiate flood mitigation efforts, such as elevations and buyout programs, to break the disaster cycle.
Witt talked about the costly problem of repetitive flood losses, and about an Advocate series of articles this week on that subject, during a brief interview after speaking at a national housing conference here.
The news stories detailed how the federal flood insurance program has paid out $200,000-plus in damage claims on oft-flooded houses originally bought for as little as $30,000.
Nationwide, nearly 40 percent of the $6.8 billion in claims paid from 1978-95 went to the 2 percent of policyholders who own repetitive flood loss properties, FEMA's own records show.
"It's a nightmare," Witt said, referring to the problem posed by houses that flood repeatedly.
The flood insurance program currently owes the federal treasury - taxpayers - $917 million because the premiums collected from policyholders are far less than the amount paid out in claims.
Witt said FEMA is very much aware that such repetitive flood-loss properties are a drain on the federal flood insurance program and that it is a problem that needs to be addressed.
But Witt said the problems stem largely from development decisions made at the local government level and the solutions need to come from the local community.
Some critics say the flood insurance program contributes to the problem of flood losses because it offers low-cost protection for people who live in flood-prone areas.
They note that there is little incentive for homeowners to spend money trying to protect their houses from flooding since flood insurance pays to repair damages when they do flood.
Witt conceded that people who flood frequently might do more to protect their property from flooding, or at least to limit damages, if more financial incentives were offered for floodproofing measures.
But Witt said local governments and individual homeowners should be the primary source of funding for such floodproofing projects and should spearhead them, not the federal government.
"Mitigation is a local issue," Witt said. "It should be a local issue. It should come from the local level up."
FEMA has been willing to work with and help local communities that do show initiative in trying to address the problem of houses that flood repeatedly, Witt said.
As an example, Witt said, FEMA has worked with local communities around the country to buy out 20,000 repetitive flood-loss structures since the massive Mississippi River flood of 1993. Both federal and local funds were used for the buyouts, he said.
In his speech to the American Association of Housing Educators, Witt said natural disasters in all their variations - floods, hurricanes, earthquakes - are extremely costly for the nation.
Witt said FEMA alone has spent $14 billion just since 1993 to deal with one disaster after another spread out among the 50 states. That doesn't include billions more spent by local and state governments and other federal agencies that respond to disasters, he said.
"Over the past 10 years, the intensity of violent storms has increased," Witt said. "Scientists tell us the number and severity of destructive storms will increase with the rise in temperatures and global warning."
Witt said it only makes sense for local and state governments to prepare for disasters and take practical steps that can reduce their impact, in terms of economic losses and the threat to the population.
"We need to spend money on prevention," Witt said. "It will cut costs and it will save lives. ... Mitigation is a long-term effort, not a short-term solution, but it is a long-term investment that will pay off."
To illustrate why mitigation efforts make sense, Witt talked about the impact on Des Moines, Iowa, when the 1993 Midwest flood inundated the city's water treatment plant, cutting off the city's water supply.
"We had to furnish water for 250,000 people for 11 days," Witt said. "The businesses in the city had to shut down."
Witt said it only cost $12.8 million to fix the water plant so it would not flood again, but economic losses to the paralyzed city during the 11-day business shutdown were $200 million to $300 million.
"We've got to change the way we're dealing with disasters," Witt said.
Witt said FEMA is trying to work with communities to help them create "disaster resistant communities." A $30 million pilot project to help seven "high-risk communities" do that is about to commence, he said.
Witt's appearance at the housing conference was arranged by the LSU Agricultural Center and School of Human Ecology, which organized a program on "Breaking the Housing Disaster Cycle."
Disaster experts from the state and around the country were on panels to discuss the issue during the daylong conference.
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HOUSE OKS MONEY FOR LA. EVACUATION PLAN
Times-Picayune, The (New Orleans, LA)
October 15, 1999
Author: Bruce Alpert Washington bureau
Estimated printed pages: 3
WASHINGTON
Pressing for federal help to create better hurricane evacuation plans for southeastern Louisiana, the House Thursday approved a spending bill that includes a mandate for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to study the issue and report back with recommendations.
"We got to look at what happens when we have 27 feet of water and the levees break down and think those terrible thoughts so we can identify the best way to evacuate our people quickly and safely," said Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, who pushed for the addition in the spending measure.
The $90.9 billion appropriation, which finances housing, environmental and other government operations, provides FEMA with $300 million, the same amount requested by President Clinton. It also includes the $2.5 billion in emergency disaster relief sought by the president.
The bill is expected to pass the Senate soon and be signed into law by Clinton.
"Assuming this version of the bill is signed into law, we will conduct the study knowing that part of Louisiana has got some special concerns in regard to hurricanes," FEMA spokesman Marc Wolfson said. "There's a need to arrange to evacuate people quickly and efficiently, and we'll do what we can to contribute."
Last September, as Hurricane Georges, a Category 3 storm, neared the Louisiana coast, an estimated 325,000 New Orleans area residents heeded warnings ands evacuated. For many, it meant frustratingly long hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic on Interstate 10.
Since then, area officials have agreed on a plan that would have all I-10 lanes between Kenner and LaPlace be converted one-way to lead out of the area during a major hurricane emergency, along with other improved evacuation plans. But local officials said they could use FEMA's expertise to add additional enhancements.
Tauzin said that he hopes FEMA can come up with some vertical evacuation plans -- shelter in secure high-rise buildings -- for those not able to get out of town soon enough.
The bill also appropriates $500,000 for monitoring buoys in the Gulf of Mexico to provide data about storm strength to local officials considering evacuation plans.
The spending bill represents a compromise between versions passed earlier by the House and Senate.
It restores some of the cuts in programs for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other Clinton priorities that had earlier prompted a veto threat by administration officials.
It provides $19 billion for veterans medical health care, an increase of nearly $2 billion over last year and from what the administration requested. It provides the same $7.59 billion provided to the Environmental Protection Agency last year, while rejecting the president's request for a nearly 100 percent increase for his Climate Change Technology Initiative to deal with possible global warming.
NASA is financed at $13 billion, $875 million above the president's request and $25 million below the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30.
Among the local initiatives in the bill:
* $2 million for improvements in waste-water treatment in St. Bernard Parish.
* $850,000 for restoration projects for Lake Pontchartrain.
* $500,000 for Jefferson Parish water and waste-water improvements.
* $300,000 for expansion and improvements at the Globalplex facility at the Port of South Louisiana in Reserve.
* $100,000 for a disaster communications center in Plaquemines Parish.
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