“I wonder if by the time this thing gets drafted — if it does — Hood will get around to seeing Judge Senter’s refusal to approve the class action and State Farm’s lack of performance
Attn: (Signature:) “Mr. Blank” (It must be someone of no significance to not have at the least, an e-mail name).
What “lack of performance by State Farm” are you alluding to? State Farm is just one of many facilitator companies that process the flood policies underwriten by the NFIP. If you have a complaint with the flood insurance policy provisions, why don’t you go to the source of the policy promulgators (read: The U.S. Congress and/or NFIP) and voice your complaint there instead of the proxies handling the claim process? Or is it you’re just a sore-head who has an axe to grind with State Farm? Come out of your shell, whoever you are!
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – State Farm Insurance Cos.’ lawsuit against Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has come to an end with a confidential settlement.
I WANT TO KNOW THE CONFIDENTIAI SETTLEMENT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WERE WE ALL SOLD OUT PLEASE MR HOOD DO NOT GIVE UP TELL THE TRUTH STATE FARM WILL BE STOP YOU NEED TO CALL ANITA A OPEN YOUR MOUTH STOP THEM FROM OVER RUNNING THE LAW IT YOUR TIME YOU WILL BE THE ONE
Of course, insurance companies intended to cover man-made flooding. Of course, it is only the natural flooding that insurance companies did not want to cover. Of course, the premiums collected by insurance companies included coverage for man-made flooding.
Of course, this is a desparate move by people who didn’t purchase flood insurance through the federal government and cannot accept responsibility for their inaction. Of course, the insurance companies must be responsible – they have the deep pockets to pay for it.
“he’s an 89 year old holocaust survivor (Joseph Sher vs Lafayette)”
While I am very respectful with all that he has endured, what does this have to do with his property insurance? Is there a special exclusion in the policy?
Every time they posted the story in the past, they included this information. Is it relevant to coverage? No. Other’s who’ve been reading it in IJ and in New Orleans are accustomed to seeing this though. I just assumed the author forgot to mention it this time.
I am from New Orleans. I heard early on after the event an exceptionally informative radio interview of a long time now ex judge extremely knowledgeable about this very topic. This was when the rheoteric about getting HO policies to cover flood was just getting started. The judge went on to explain very clearly and suctinctly that the jurisprudence on this very issue had been on going since the early 1900’s. He went further to explain that over time the insurance policy wording excluding flood has been evolving to the point where it is now and has shown up to now it cannot be penetrated.
Regretably those uninsured or underinsured should have bought and/or kept adequate flood insurance.
Glenn, I remember hearing stories so similar to what played out in New Orleans, when I first entered the insuance business. As it was told to me, Travelers Insurance Company had a great deal of business in the lower 9th and St. Bernard Parish at the time of Hurricane Betsy. Travelers denied the claims for the same reason carriers are denying today. The population swarmed on Travelers, because as is still today, the big rich company is treating the little guy badly.
Why didn’t we learn? Fast forward to 2005, and people were still making the same mistakes by not carrying flood insurance and then angry at the homeowners carrier for not paying for their stupidity.
A major difference between then and now, the federal government did not create lifelong dependents for the governement to take care of after Betsy. You either qualified for the loan or you did not, then you paid it back. I know someone who’s Father was a gambler, so deep in debt when Betsy struck, that the NFIP would not give them a loan. She said during the winter they lived in their home with the sheetrock torn out and it was cold. This was the right thing though, because we used to protect the taxpayers, not the freeloaders.
Anyhow, it’s late and I’m out of here. I cannot solve the country’s problem with so little time. :-)
What I don’t understand about the New Orleans situation is why flood insurance was not required for anyone with a mortgage. Where I live, if you have a mortgage and even 1 square foot of your property is in a flood zone, the mortgage company requires you to have it – even if you live behind a levee. My understanding of the situation in NO is that somewhere in the past they were no longer required to have flood insurance because they had a levee. How did this ever happen? This seems to be the scandal that no one is talking about.
If you were in Flood Zone A, and you had a mortgage, the mortgage company required the coverage. Once the mortgage was paid, or if you were in Flood Zone B or C, you made the decision.
Really, no one had an excuse not to have coverage. Every year, Bob Breck and Nash Roberts, the local weathermen, would have what-if specials at the beginning of hurricane season. We were warned for as long as I can remember, that the area was vulnerable. As recent as 2005, pre-Katrina, he was warning that the right hurricane could come in and even swamp the French Quarter. The hurricane show included the warning, that once the pumps were inundated with water, it was over.
On top of that, we had several heavy thunderstorms over the years that flooded large areas of the Greater New Orleans area.
I have little to no sympathy for the people who had no insurance. If they carried insurance, taxpayers would be picking up a great deal of the losses, BUT, at least premiums would have been collected over the years to help offset some of the loss.
Wow… I just read this 3 times trying really hard to understand what the hell you’re talking about.
I’d like to officially serve you notice that I am now filing suit against you for the 3 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back, pain and suffering for the headache caused by trying to read your rant, and punitive damages to teach you to never write here again.
Sad thing is that I used to teach elementary school (K-3rd grade) and my students could write better than that.
People think twice who you will vote for Prez! The supreme court will be defined by the next prez. Obama has no experience whatsoever. McCain has experienced but is a flip flopper. Clinton is in the middle. Do you prefer a Carter type admin (=Obama), a Bill Clinton type admin (=Clinton), or a George Bush type admin (=McCain)?
The Obama hype is all air no real substance and this guy is unknown to everyone. People are sooooooooooo naive!
From where I stand here in eastern Canada and as a 5-time visitor to NOLA & the rest of south LA, the whole turn of events due to Katrina smells of more than the toxic waste that festered the flood waters. I’m talking about the connection between institutional racism and the resulting lower income and opportunities, except for a very small percentage of people of color. Only those with adequate incomes and opportunities can afford to purchase better homes and flood insurance, among other luxuries. The government’s role is restricted to providing affordable housing to needy individuals. If people (in America and elsewhere) truly believed that “all men and women are created equal”, we could avoid seeing such tragic results like drug & alcohol addictions, gangland shootings, suicides and homelessness. In other words, all people with noble aspirations should be provided adequate encouragement. Thank you.
dude,
Obama is way more socialist than Hillary! Obama makes Hillary look right wing! People are so ignorant and shallow to be giving Obama so much hype when they guy is openly advocating socialist doctrines. Who is really the guy behind this rethoric? This country is going nuts!
Obama IS more of a socialist than Hitlery. They’re both awful for this country. McCain may not be the best, but he is best of the lot. He’ll keep the supreme court from falling off the planet with the left.
I agree. If it comes down to McCain vs Obama I will go with McCain! If it is McCain vs Clinton, I will go with Hillary because I want to give women a chance. To me both McCain and Hillary are very similar. Obama is way out left and unknown (twilight zone).
Anthony D,
Well I feel so relieved that a 5 time visitor from East Canada has all the answers.
Flood insurance is “cheap” because it is subsidized by the Federal Government. There is no excuse for not having flood insurance at adequate limits to protect which is most likely for most people the “most valuable item they will own in their entire lives”.
I have lived here all my life and have been an insurance agent for over 30 years.
Sorry but you are way way off base as to what are the problems and solutions here.
To the others, let us please keep to the original topic.
Let me clarify briefly. I simply stated that the images and responses following Katrina have revealed large-scale inequality along racial lines, which was otherwise hidden from the outside world, even from visitors to the French Quarter. In regards to flood insurance, I must admit not knowing what the premiums are, but what’s your best explanation for so many NOLA homeowners without such insurance? Besides all this, I still don’t understand how the NOLA region, with oil wells, refineries, agriculture, aquaculture and one of the world’s largest ports, hasn’t been better protected over the years.
Anthony, you sound like a genuinely nice guy, but the City of New Orleans has been run by “minorities” since 1978. The problems created in the city were caused by giving people things. I just received this story in my e-mail, which describes exactly what happened in New Orleans.
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange
students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the Prof
noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and
stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him
he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.
In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange
question. He asked:
“Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young
man said that it was no joke.
“You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting
corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the
free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one
side of the place where they are used to coming.
When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you
put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate
to eat that free corn again.
You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild
pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence,
but they are caught.
Soon they go back to eating the free corn . They are so used to it that
they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they
accept their captivity.”
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of
programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax
cuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to
plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose
our freedoms, just a little at a time.
One should always remember two truths:
1) There is no such thing as a free lunch
2) and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than
you can do it yourself.
If you see that all of this wonderful government ‘help’ is a problem
confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send
this on to your friends.
If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will
probably delete this email.
Why? Probably the same reason people merely maintain the state liability limits and don’t purchase an umbrella. It is not a priority and most times not required. The only time it becomes a priority is after the loss and they realize their mistake. People would rather spend money on things rather than insurance. Funny thing is, insurance can help you keep those “things” after a loss.
I believe I read a similar analogy and I’m happy that you brought this up. What this story reveals is government policies which systemically give disincentives towards individuals’ health and prosperity, which are the bases of true freedom. I still wonder how prevalent is the collective memories of the “minorities”, of the “Jim Crow” era and if today’s social benefits are accepted as adequate compensation and a definite improvement, compared with that era.
Yes, I agree that it’s universal human behavior to accept such risks. It leaves me with one more question: How strict are the building construction codes and are there any double-standards, especially in less affluent neighborhoods?
I would imagine they are the same by county as I believe that is how it is done here. What do you mean double standards? Either way, double standards or not, white and black lost their houses in Katrina, and in most cases neither had flood.
Dustin, I’ve got to agree with what you’ve said. It hit everyone. Katrina did not discriminate. I wonder if we can find the statistics on how many people that flooded, carried flood insurance.
Unfortunately, people are swayed by the media that were hell-bent on casting President Bush as the bad guy, instead of giving the news. Add Spite Lee’s film, which I understand is full of lies. I refuse to watch it because I will in no way support a film filled with racist and hateful lies.
Dustin you are wrong. Most people did have flood insurance. The suits are from those that did not or did not have sufficient coverage and want the government to pay for their stupidity.
Louisiana post Katrina enacted very strict building standards similar to Dade County, Florida which are probably the most stringent in the country. But with Katrina the problem was not wind….it was flood. Without the flood Katrina is a relatively light storm for New Orleans. It was not light (wind) for southern Louisiana (Lower Plaquemenes, St. Bernard, and Jefferson and the Misisisippi Gulf Coast). Houses are not built to sit soaking in water for weeks so no building code can stand up to that peril. That is why one needs flood.
Some people chose knowingly not to carry flood. Others stopped flood once their mortgage was paid off and “it was not required”. Still others were misled in some way to believe they did not need it. I go back to my original premise; are you not going to protect the most valuable possession you will own in your lifetime? And particularly from the most destructive peril flood?
The Federally funded Road Home Program is giving these people billions as a result of their insurance inadequacies. So the HO insurance companies should also pay…I don’t think so.
In accord with Mr. Glen, NOLA did have one of the highest rates of insureds in the country. Also with some of my relatives, they were told that their homes were too old to insure. It’s really a mixture of ignorance, apathy that caused this whole debacle. Also I’d like to see more agents called on the carpet (E & O, anyone?) for their erroneous advice which I have seen and heard first hand. Also with the rate of unemployment BEFORE Katrina which was more viable – food or insurance? Paying said mortgage and insurance on top of that? Now that’s a clincher. Yes, there was a higher ratio of affluent whites that had better terms but Katrina DID equalize things. There was the recent article of the doctor in Metairie that felt half a million was not enough to rebuild – go figure! From an insurance standpoint NO ONE can plead ignorance from now on. From a racial standpoint and social issue, that will have us here all day and then some. As far as I am concerned it is all wearying and some people need to go somewhere else and start over and take the insurance part as a lesson learned and do better.
To Ad,
How was Spike Lee’s movie full of lies when there so many with eyewitness accounts? So much footage? Are you afraid to blame Bush. I blame alot of people across political and racial lines. A lot of people sat on their a@&@!* with Katrina. If it was racist do you have guilt? How would you really know what to feel when you haven’t seen it? It’s a multicultural take on what happened and I have to say the Whites were more vocal than the Blacks. You just have an issue that a Black man produced it and you equate Spike Lee with incendiary movie making. There are whites that have made thought provoking movies too so who cares who did it just as long as the story is told.
Saints Fan, You don’t like my take on it. Too Bad!!! You’re just going to have to get over it. Put your hand out and get more freebies.
I saw enough of Spite Lee’s garbage when I would pass trough the channels through HBO. It was slanted from what I saw and from what I was told. I am a New Orleanian, so you cannot fool me. Furthermore, it was NOT George Bush’s fault. If you don’t have insurance, it’s your fault.
Where in Heaven’s name did you get the fact that you could not carry flood insurance because it was too old? Utter nonsense. Are you REALLY in the insurance industry? In what capacity? If you’re an agent, please surrender your license.
God deals out tough times. You need to get up off your laurels and move on. You and the Greater New Orleans area aren’t the only ones to fall on hard times, so please allow me to put my violin away for you.
Back to work. I will not wait for someone to take care of me.
Didn’t I say that some of my relatives were told that? One went along and didn’t purchase it and so she had to deal with the WRONG decision and live in another state with her niece. Her houses are gone and so is her father’s legacy. That was ignorance on her part. Another pays her insurance a year in advance and had flood insurance – Allstate tried to drop her but couldn’t once she and I forced the issue. So SHE knew better. I personally cannot control my own relatives and don’t want to. I try to tell them what to do but hard heads make for soft bottoms and some of them learned the hard way. Told you so and all that.
I liked the Spike Lee documentary. What was Bush’s fault was not acting quickky enough and you didn’t need a documentary to see that. I know Louisiana is a corrupt state and the mayor of New Orleans isn’t any better so there are many vilians in the whole scenario. Please re-read THAT part of my former commentary. I have moved on and so has my family. For those that want to continue to sue, well they’ll end up paying more for the attornies than keeping any for themselves. Good luck with that…
I lived in Baton Rouge when Katrina struck. From what I remember hearing on the radio and reading in the newspapers, President Bush was trying to work with Governor Blanco to allow the federal government to legally take control of the disaster preparations before Katrina made landfall. By law, a disaster of this type is a state matter and the federal government cannot just swoop in without the state agreeing to it. The governor delayed accepting this offer because it would POLITICALLY benefit the president and make it look like the elected democrats in the state and New Orleans city government were inept.
The City of New Orleans had a disaster response plan and had planned for an evacuation using the city’s school buses. Remember the picture of the school bus rooftops just above the floodwaters? Mayor Nagin decided those being evacuated should be riding in comfort and he demanded that the federal government commandeer Greyhound buses BECAUSE they were air-conditioned and the city’s buses were not. The mayor’s grandstanding was ill-timed at best and inexplicably stupid at worst.
After the floods, one elderly man interviewed from the Convention Center said he didn’t understand why the city did not come to take him and everyone else away. He said they were told it was a mandatory evacuation and so they were waiting for the city to come get them. This is damning evidence of fifty years of government handouts in New Orleans.
Another part of the non-executed disaster response plan was the transfer of prisoners. There was to have been an orderly transfer to other prisons. When Katrina came along, the cell doors were opened to the rapists and murderers behind bars and the prisoners were told to fend for themselves. This explains why stores were looted for weaponry and why snipers were shooting at helicopters.
Is President Bush blameless? No – where I see he erred is in throwing BILLIONS at New Orleans. What would he do if San Franscisco had fallen into the Bay because of an earthquake the week after Katrina had hit? Throw BILLIONS there too?
However, the initial responsibilty rests with the democrat administrations of the New Orleans mayor and the governor of Louisiana.
In reading all of the commennts about claims not being paid. I think our hats should be taken off to all of the adjusters that settled 1,700,000 claims in which insurers paid over $4.6 billion in claims.
2 La. insurance lawsuits may rock legal world
by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
Sunday February 24, 2008, 8:17 PM
By David Hammer
Staff writer
For thousands of Louisiana hurricane victims still battling their insurers over policy interpretations, Tuesday is the biggest of judgment days, with millions of dollars and, possibly, the future of the state’s insurance landscape at stake.
The state’s high court will hear its first Hurricane Katrina insurance payment case Tuesday, and later in the day, will hear its first Hurricane Rita insurance case. And if the Supreme Court rules in favor of policyholders in either case, it would trump federal court rulings in similar cases that have gone in favor of insurance companies.
Federal courts will have to follow the state Supreme Court’s rulings in these state-law cases, said Edward Sherman, a former Tulane Law School dean who has monitored the litigation. There are dozens of federal cases still pending that would be immediately affected if the Louisiana Supreme Court bucks the federal ruling in either case, he said.
The most significant case for New Orleans area residents is Joseph Sher’s lawsuit against Lafayette Insurance Co. The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor claims Lafayette’s homeowner’s insurance policy — along with most others used by the industry — should have covered the water that flowed into his Uptown fourplex because of the failure of man-made flood-control structures.
The other case originated with southwest Louisiana residents Mark and Barbara Landry, who claim the 108-year-old “valued policy” law forces Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which covered them for wind but not flood, to pay the full value of their totaled home, even though storm surge was responsible for some of the damage.
“I wonder if by the time this thing gets drafted — if it does — Hood will get around to seeing Judge Senter’s refusal to approve the class action and State Farm’s lack of performance
Attn: (Signature:) “Mr. Blank” (It must be someone of no significance to not have at the least, an e-mail name).
What “lack of performance by State Farm” are you alluding to? State Farm is just one of many facilitator companies that process the flood policies underwriten by the NFIP. If you have a complaint with the flood insurance policy provisions, why don’t you go to the source of the policy promulgators (read: The U.S. Congress and/or NFIP) and voice your complaint there instead of the proxies handling the claim process? Or is it you’re just a sore-head who has an axe to grind with State Farm? Come out of your shell, whoever you are!
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – State Farm Insurance Cos.’ lawsuit against Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood has come to an end with a confidential settlement.
I WANT TO KNOW THE CONFIDENTIAI SETTLEMENT. THE PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW WERE WE ALL SOLD OUT PLEASE MR HOOD DO NOT GIVE UP TELL THE TRUTH STATE FARM WILL BE STOP YOU NEED TO CALL ANITA A OPEN YOUR MOUTH STOP THEM FROM OVER RUNNING THE LAW IT YOUR TIME YOU WILL BE THE ONE
Of course, insurance companies intended to cover man-made flooding. Of course, it is only the natural flooding that insurance companies did not want to cover. Of course, the premiums collected by insurance companies included coverage for man-made flooding.
Of course, this is a desparate move by people who didn’t purchase flood insurance through the federal government and cannot accept responsibility for their inaction. Of course, the insurance companies must be responsible – they have the deep pockets to pay for it.
he’s an 89 year old holocaust survivor (Joseph Sher vs Lafayette)
“he’s an 89 year old holocaust survivor (Joseph Sher vs Lafayette)”
While I am very respectful with all that he has endured, what does this have to do with his property insurance? Is there a special exclusion in the policy?
Every time they posted the story in the past, they included this information. Is it relevant to coverage? No. Other’s who’ve been reading it in IJ and in New Orleans are accustomed to seeing this though. I just assumed the author forgot to mention it this time.
I am from New Orleans. I heard early on after the event an exceptionally informative radio interview of a long time now ex judge extremely knowledgeable about this very topic. This was when the rheoteric about getting HO policies to cover flood was just getting started. The judge went on to explain very clearly and suctinctly that the jurisprudence on this very issue had been on going since the early 1900’s. He went further to explain that over time the insurance policy wording excluding flood has been evolving to the point where it is now and has shown up to now it cannot be penetrated.
Regretably those uninsured or underinsured should have bought and/or kept adequate flood insurance.
Glenn, I remember hearing stories so similar to what played out in New Orleans, when I first entered the insuance business. As it was told to me, Travelers Insurance Company had a great deal of business in the lower 9th and St. Bernard Parish at the time of Hurricane Betsy. Travelers denied the claims for the same reason carriers are denying today. The population swarmed on Travelers, because as is still today, the big rich company is treating the little guy badly.
Why didn’t we learn? Fast forward to 2005, and people were still making the same mistakes by not carrying flood insurance and then angry at the homeowners carrier for not paying for their stupidity.
A major difference between then and now, the federal government did not create lifelong dependents for the governement to take care of after Betsy. You either qualified for the loan or you did not, then you paid it back. I know someone who’s Father was a gambler, so deep in debt when Betsy struck, that the NFIP would not give them a loan. She said during the winter they lived in their home with the sheetrock torn out and it was cold. This was the right thing though, because we used to protect the taxpayers, not the freeloaders.
Anyhow, it’s late and I’m out of here. I cannot solve the country’s problem with so little time. :-)
What I don’t understand about the New Orleans situation is why flood insurance was not required for anyone with a mortgage. Where I live, if you have a mortgage and even 1 square foot of your property is in a flood zone, the mortgage company requires you to have it – even if you live behind a levee. My understanding of the situation in NO is that somewhere in the past they were no longer required to have flood insurance because they had a levee. How did this ever happen? This seems to be the scandal that no one is talking about.
If you were in Flood Zone A, and you had a mortgage, the mortgage company required the coverage. Once the mortgage was paid, or if you were in Flood Zone B or C, you made the decision.
Really, no one had an excuse not to have coverage. Every year, Bob Breck and Nash Roberts, the local weathermen, would have what-if specials at the beginning of hurricane season. We were warned for as long as I can remember, that the area was vulnerable. As recent as 2005, pre-Katrina, he was warning that the right hurricane could come in and even swamp the French Quarter. The hurricane show included the warning, that once the pumps were inundated with water, it was over.
On top of that, we had several heavy thunderstorms over the years that flooded large areas of the Greater New Orleans area.
I have little to no sympathy for the people who had no insurance. If they carried insurance, taxpayers would be picking up a great deal of the losses, BUT, at least premiums would have been collected over the years to help offset some of the loss.
BYE BYE Ms American Pie
Drove my chevy to the Levee
But the Levee was gone
This ole boy drinking whiskey and rye
An this will be the day that I die
Wow… I just read this 3 times trying really hard to understand what the hell you’re talking about.
I’d like to officially serve you notice that I am now filing suit against you for the 3 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back, pain and suffering for the headache caused by trying to read your rant, and punitive damages to teach you to never write here again.
Sad thing is that I used to teach elementary school (K-3rd grade) and my students could write better than that.
Go back to sleep.
People think twice who you will vote for Prez! The supreme court will be defined by the next prez. Obama has no experience whatsoever. McCain has experienced but is a flip flopper. Clinton is in the middle. Do you prefer a Carter type admin (=Obama), a Bill Clinton type admin (=Clinton), or a George Bush type admin (=McCain)?
The Obama hype is all air no real substance and this guy is unknown to everyone. People are sooooooooooo naive!
From where I stand here in eastern Canada and as a 5-time visitor to NOLA & the rest of south LA, the whole turn of events due to Katrina smells of more than the toxic waste that festered the flood waters. I’m talking about the connection between institutional racism and the resulting lower income and opportunities, except for a very small percentage of people of color. Only those with adequate incomes and opportunities can afford to purchase better homes and flood insurance, among other luxuries. The government’s role is restricted to providing affordable housing to needy individuals. If people (in America and elsewhere) truly believed that “all men and women are created equal”, we could avoid seeing such tragic results like drug & alcohol addictions, gangland shootings, suicides and homelessness. In other words, all people with noble aspirations should be provided adequate encouragement. Thank you.
dude,
Obama is way more socialist than Hillary! Obama makes Hillary look right wing! People are so ignorant and shallow to be giving Obama so much hype when they guy is openly advocating socialist doctrines. Who is really the guy behind this rethoric? This country is going nuts!
dude????
Obama IS more of a socialist than Hitlery. They’re both awful for this country. McCain may not be the best, but he is best of the lot. He’ll keep the supreme court from falling off the planet with the left.
I agree. If it comes down to McCain vs Obama I will go with McCain! If it is McCain vs Clinton, I will go with Hillary because I want to give women a chance. To me both McCain and Hillary are very similar. Obama is way out left and unknown (twilight zone).
Anthony,
So America’s racism caused the Katrina mishap? Is that what you are saying? If it did, exactly how do you advise we fix it? I am just curious.
Anthony D,
Well I feel so relieved that a 5 time visitor from East Canada has all the answers.
Flood insurance is “cheap” because it is subsidized by the Federal Government. There is no excuse for not having flood insurance at adequate limits to protect which is most likely for most people the “most valuable item they will own in their entire lives”.
I have lived here all my life and have been an insurance agent for over 30 years.
Sorry but you are way way off base as to what are the problems and solutions here.
To the others, let us please keep to the original topic.
TO GLENN AND DUSTIN:
Let me clarify briefly. I simply stated that the images and responses following Katrina have revealed large-scale inequality along racial lines, which was otherwise hidden from the outside world, even from visitors to the French Quarter. In regards to flood insurance, I must admit not knowing what the premiums are, but what’s your best explanation for so many NOLA homeowners without such insurance? Besides all this, I still don’t understand how the NOLA region, with oil wells, refineries, agriculture, aquaculture and one of the world’s largest ports, hasn’t been better protected over the years.
Anthony, you sound like a genuinely nice guy, but the City of New Orleans has been run by “minorities” since 1978. The problems created in the city were caused by giving people things. I just received this story in my e-mail, which describes exactly what happened in New Orleans.
There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange
students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab, the Prof
noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and
stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him
he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.
In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a strange
question. He asked:
“Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young
man said that it was no joke.
“You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting
corn on the ground. The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the
free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one
side of the place where they are used to coming.
When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you
put up another side of the fence. They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate
to eat that free corn again.
You then slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild
pigs have lost their freedom. They run around and around inside the fence,
but they are caught.
Soon they go back to eating the free corn . They are so used to it that
they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves, so they
accept their captivity.”
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America . The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of
programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax
cuts, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to
plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose
our freedoms, just a little at a time.
One should always remember two truths:
1) There is no such thing as a free lunch
2) and you can never hire someone to provide a service for you cheaper than
you can do it yourself.
If you see that all of this wonderful government ‘help’ is a problem
confronting the future of democracy in America , you might want to send
this on to your friends.
If you think the free ride is essential to your way of life, then you will
probably delete this email.
But God help you when the gate slams shut!
Why? Probably the same reason people merely maintain the state liability limits and don’t purchase an umbrella. It is not a priority and most times not required. The only time it becomes a priority is after the loss and they realize their mistake. People would rather spend money on things rather than insurance. Funny thing is, insurance can help you keep those “things” after a loss.
TO AD:
I believe I read a similar analogy and I’m happy that you brought this up. What this story reveals is government policies which systemically give disincentives towards individuals’ health and prosperity, which are the bases of true freedom. I still wonder how prevalent is the collective memories of the “minorities”, of the “Jim Crow” era and if today’s social benefits are accepted as adequate compensation and a definite improvement, compared with that era.
Yes, I agree that it’s universal human behavior to accept such risks. It leaves me with one more question: How strict are the building construction codes and are there any double-standards, especially in less affluent neighborhoods?
I would imagine they are the same by county as I believe that is how it is done here. What do you mean double standards? Either way, double standards or not, white and black lost their houses in Katrina, and in most cases neither had flood.
Dustin, I’ve got to agree with what you’ve said. It hit everyone. Katrina did not discriminate. I wonder if we can find the statistics on how many people that flooded, carried flood insurance.
Unfortunately, people are swayed by the media that were hell-bent on casting President Bush as the bad guy, instead of giving the news. Add Spite Lee’s film, which I understand is full of lies. I refuse to watch it because I will in no way support a film filled with racist and hateful lies.
Back to work. Will catch up later.
Dustin you are wrong. Most people did have flood insurance. The suits are from those that did not or did not have sufficient coverage and want the government to pay for their stupidity.
Louisiana post Katrina enacted very strict building standards similar to Dade County, Florida which are probably the most stringent in the country. But with Katrina the problem was not wind….it was flood. Without the flood Katrina is a relatively light storm for New Orleans. It was not light (wind) for southern Louisiana (Lower Plaquemenes, St. Bernard, and Jefferson and the Misisisippi Gulf Coast). Houses are not built to sit soaking in water for weeks so no building code can stand up to that peril. That is why one needs flood.
Some people chose knowingly not to carry flood. Others stopped flood once their mortgage was paid off and “it was not required”. Still others were misled in some way to believe they did not need it. I go back to my original premise; are you not going to protect the most valuable possession you will own in your lifetime? And particularly from the most destructive peril flood?
The Federally funded Road Home Program is giving these people billions as a result of their insurance inadequacies. So the HO insurance companies should also pay…I don’t think so.
In accord with Mr. Glen, NOLA did have one of the highest rates of insureds in the country. Also with some of my relatives, they were told that their homes were too old to insure. It’s really a mixture of ignorance, apathy that caused this whole debacle. Also I’d like to see more agents called on the carpet (E & O, anyone?) for their erroneous advice which I have seen and heard first hand. Also with the rate of unemployment BEFORE Katrina which was more viable – food or insurance? Paying said mortgage and insurance on top of that? Now that’s a clincher. Yes, there was a higher ratio of affluent whites that had better terms but Katrina DID equalize things. There was the recent article of the doctor in Metairie that felt half a million was not enough to rebuild – go figure! From an insurance standpoint NO ONE can plead ignorance from now on. From a racial standpoint and social issue, that will have us here all day and then some. As far as I am concerned it is all wearying and some people need to go somewhere else and start over and take the insurance part as a lesson learned and do better.
To Ad,
How was Spike Lee’s movie full of lies when there so many with eyewitness accounts? So much footage? Are you afraid to blame Bush. I blame alot of people across political and racial lines. A lot of people sat on their a@&@!* with Katrina. If it was racist do you have guilt? How would you really know what to feel when you haven’t seen it? It’s a multicultural take on what happened and I have to say the Whites were more vocal than the Blacks. You just have an issue that a Black man produced it and you equate Spike Lee with incendiary movie making. There are whites that have made thought provoking movies too so who cares who did it just as long as the story is told.
Saints Fan, You don’t like my take on it. Too Bad!!! You’re just going to have to get over it. Put your hand out and get more freebies.
I saw enough of Spite Lee’s garbage when I would pass trough the channels through HBO. It was slanted from what I saw and from what I was told. I am a New Orleanian, so you cannot fool me. Furthermore, it was NOT George Bush’s fault. If you don’t have insurance, it’s your fault.
Where in Heaven’s name did you get the fact that you could not carry flood insurance because it was too old? Utter nonsense. Are you REALLY in the insurance industry? In what capacity? If you’re an agent, please surrender your license.
God deals out tough times. You need to get up off your laurels and move on. You and the Greater New Orleans area aren’t the only ones to fall on hard times, so please allow me to put my violin away for you.
Back to work. I will not wait for someone to take care of me.
Didn’t I say that some of my relatives were told that? One went along and didn’t purchase it and so she had to deal with the WRONG decision and live in another state with her niece. Her houses are gone and so is her father’s legacy. That was ignorance on her part. Another pays her insurance a year in advance and had flood insurance – Allstate tried to drop her but couldn’t once she and I forced the issue. So SHE knew better. I personally cannot control my own relatives and don’t want to. I try to tell them what to do but hard heads make for soft bottoms and some of them learned the hard way. Told you so and all that.
I liked the Spike Lee documentary. What was Bush’s fault was not acting quickky enough and you didn’t need a documentary to see that. I know Louisiana is a corrupt state and the mayor of New Orleans isn’t any better so there are many vilians in the whole scenario. Please re-read THAT part of my former commentary. I have moved on and so has my family. For those that want to continue to sue, well they’ll end up paying more for the attornies than keeping any for themselves. Good luck with that…
I lived in Baton Rouge when Katrina struck. From what I remember hearing on the radio and reading in the newspapers, President Bush was trying to work with Governor Blanco to allow the federal government to legally take control of the disaster preparations before Katrina made landfall. By law, a disaster of this type is a state matter and the federal government cannot just swoop in without the state agreeing to it. The governor delayed accepting this offer because it would POLITICALLY benefit the president and make it look like the elected democrats in the state and New Orleans city government were inept.
The City of New Orleans had a disaster response plan and had planned for an evacuation using the city’s school buses. Remember the picture of the school bus rooftops just above the floodwaters? Mayor Nagin decided those being evacuated should be riding in comfort and he demanded that the federal government commandeer Greyhound buses BECAUSE they were air-conditioned and the city’s buses were not. The mayor’s grandstanding was ill-timed at best and inexplicably stupid at worst.
After the floods, one elderly man interviewed from the Convention Center said he didn’t understand why the city did not come to take him and everyone else away. He said they were told it was a mandatory evacuation and so they were waiting for the city to come get them. This is damning evidence of fifty years of government handouts in New Orleans.
Another part of the non-executed disaster response plan was the transfer of prisoners. There was to have been an orderly transfer to other prisons. When Katrina came along, the cell doors were opened to the rapists and murderers behind bars and the prisoners were told to fend for themselves. This explains why stores were looted for weaponry and why snipers were shooting at helicopters.
Is President Bush blameless? No – where I see he erred is in throwing BILLIONS at New Orleans. What would he do if San Franscisco had fallen into the Bay because of an earthquake the week after Katrina had hit? Throw BILLIONS there too?
However, the initial responsibilty rests with the democrat administrations of the New Orleans mayor and the governor of Louisiana.
In reading all of the commennts about claims not being paid. I think our hats should be taken off to all of the adjusters that settled 1,700,000 claims in which insurers paid over $4.6 billion in claims.
For those of you who are interested, this isn’t the entire article, so I’ve given the link.
http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/02/2_la_insurance_lawsuits_may_ro.html
2 La. insurance lawsuits may rock legal world
by David Hammer, The Times-Picayune
Sunday February 24, 2008, 8:17 PM
By David Hammer
Staff writer
For thousands of Louisiana hurricane victims still battling their insurers over policy interpretations, Tuesday is the biggest of judgment days, with millions of dollars and, possibly, the future of the state’s insurance landscape at stake.
The state’s high court will hear its first Hurricane Katrina insurance payment case Tuesday, and later in the day, will hear its first Hurricane Rita insurance case. And if the Supreme Court rules in favor of policyholders in either case, it would trump federal court rulings in similar cases that have gone in favor of insurance companies.
Federal courts will have to follow the state Supreme Court’s rulings in these state-law cases, said Edward Sherman, a former Tulane Law School dean who has monitored the litigation. There are dozens of federal cases still pending that would be immediately affected if the Louisiana Supreme Court bucks the federal ruling in either case, he said.
The most significant case for New Orleans area residents is Joseph Sher’s lawsuit against Lafayette Insurance Co. The 92-year-old Holocaust survivor claims Lafayette’s homeowner’s insurance policy — along with most others used by the industry — should have covered the water that flowed into his Uptown fourplex because of the failure of man-made flood-control structures.
The other case originated with southwest Louisiana residents Mark and Barbara Landry, who claim the 108-year-old “valued policy” law forces Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which covered them for wind but not flood, to pay the full value of their totaled home, even though storm surge was responsible for some of the damage.