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Risk Estimate Led to Few Flood Policies
Dennis Rowan Sr., with wife Antoinette Rowan, covers a door with plywood at the home of his wife's aunt in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. Although many of the neighborhood's residents lack flood insurance, the aunt had a policy. "I don't know what we're going to do," one resident said.
(By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)
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Buckley said that FEMA's New Orleans maps were based on assurances from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the flood control system would stand up in a "100-year flood" -- that is, a flood so severe there is only a 1 percent chance of it happening in any given year.
Buckley said that had the levees held, most of the Lower Ninth Ward would have remained dry.
"While Katrina was considered greater than a Category 3 hurricane, the rain was not considered a 100-year event within the city," he said.
The assumptions about the levees proved wrong. But, Buckley said, simply throwing out that assumption would create significant problems for New Orleans.
If flood insurance regulations did not assume the levees would hold, every new building would have to be built as much as 15 feet off the ground. That would make new construction ungainly and much more expensive.
"It's not a simple subject," he said.
While some lawmakers talk about relief for the uninsured, no one is sure what will happen, and the uncertainty in the Lower Ninth Ward breeds household fears.
"What happens when I don't pay my mortgage?" Minor asked. "What are they going to do?"
Rep. Gene Taylor (D), who represents portions of southern Mississippi hard hit by the hurricane, has proposed legislation that would allow those who suffered flood damage to retroactively enroll in the flood insurance program.
"Katrina erased entire communities, and those communities are anxious to rebuild," Taylor said. "Unfortunately, many homeowners and business owners were not required, or even encouraged, by their banks or their insurance companies to purchase flood insurance."
Private insurers are expected to pay about $40 billion in Katrina damage, Hartwig said. The flood insurance program will kick in billions more. But total Katrina damage has been estimated at $125 billion, and Hartwig said that figure is probably too low because the interruption of business is only partially included.
"Places that are well-insured tend to bounce right back," he said. Those that are not, do not, he said.
Burnell Lucien, 48, a foreman on a concrete crew, built his home in the Lower Ninth Ward last year.
"The kitchen had granite countertops and stainless-steel everything," he said recently, carting away some of the second-floor furniture. "I had a perfect life."
He frowned, though, when his thoughts turned to the future. The water rose about 10 feet inside his home, leaving about two inches of muck.
"We weren't in a flood zone, and the breach wasn't our fault," he said. "But nobody knows who's going to pay for what. People keep telling me, 'It's going to be better.' The president says, 'We're going to rebuild.' But show me. Show me the money."
