Hurricane Victims Need Help!

When I attended the Florida Department of Financial Services town hall meeting in Orlando I got a glimpse of what many insurance agents must have encountered after last year’s hurricanes–how the heck did you cope?

Despite the fact that their only possessions were the clothes on their backs, some hurricane victims stood up to say “thank you” to Florida CFO Tom Gallagher and applauded his efforts to solve their problems. And what problems!

One woman’s home was demolished by two hurricanes. She moved young children, her husband and her Alzheimer’s disease inflicted mother-in-law into a small Federal Emergency Management Agency trailer. She told the CFO that on April 1, FEMA takes the trailer back and she and her family will be homeless–her plight brought a lot of people in the audience, including me, to tears.

Gallagher and his staff did all they could to solve similar problems. After each person described their situation, a DFS staff-member escorted them outside to talk to insurance company representatives.

In comparison, other complaints seemed minor, like a woman who complained about cave-ins around her 30 year-old swimming pool; a contractor wanted $500 to fill the holes and she was upset because her insurance company refused to pay the bill.

I was surprised to hear the CFO admit in some cases that he could not do anything, and that in most cases all the DFS can do is suspend an insurance company’s license.

In the comments that readers put at the end of news stories posted about Gallagher on Insurance Journal’s Web site, readers often criticize him for being politically motivated–there’s no denying Gallagher probably wants to be Florida’s governor–but is he taking the safest route? Other candidates, including several legislators, have the same aspirations, but you don’t see them out talking to the victims, or doing anything but standing at their podiums pontificating about what should be done.

Gallagher IS responding to needy people who don’t have anywhere else to turn. At the Orlando town hall meeting I saw Gallagher welcome everyone to speak, he listened intently to their problems and seemed to be genuinely concerned. He and his staff did everything they could–if there wasn’t anything he could do, Gallagher said so, telling them to try mediation, then hire an attorney.

Gallagher is responsive, forthright and seems to be a straight-shooter. Most don’t want to associate with such a controversial topic. Why not? Because they don’t want to stick out their neck, knowing that if such a delicate situation is improperly handled it could result in political suicide–guess what, if Tom Gallagher decides to run for governor in 2006 he can count on my vote.

The overlying question, however, is why hasn’t SOME government agency stepped in to assist homeless hurricane victims? The issue here is NOT whether or not a former homeowner had insurance coverage, it is their survival! Instead of legislatures and charities sending assistance overseas, why aren’t they helping out our own destitute citizens in their time of need?

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Florida Hurricane A.J. Gallagher