If your house was ruined in a flood, fire or tornado are you responsible for it?

Question

or is the federal or state government suppose to come and take care of it for you? This is what I cannot understand about the people of New Orleans, they are just standing there with their hand out and waiting for the government to fill it up. If you dont have insurance that is your fault and no one elses. If it is to expensive then you need to go somewhere else. People of New Orleans stand up be counted and get busy and clean up your own backyard. That maybe hard to do from the Emabassy Suites room you have been in for the last year and half...

Answer 1

To answer your question, flood requires flood insurance. Fire and tornado are usually covered under home insurance.

As for your comments about the people of New Orleans, when you have walked a mile in their shoes, you have earned to right to complain about them. One day it could be you.

Answer 2

The government offers through FEMA low interest loans. The catch is that you have to do all the work, make all the repairs, put up all the money up front and then FEMA will reimburse you. That's how it worked in my area when it flooded a couple of years ago. Some homeowners insurance will not cover flood damage unless you have a policy specifically for flood damage. Some policies won't even cover natural disasters. Some people don't look over the fine print of the policies they pay for and they realize too late, usually after a disaster, that they are not covered.

I imagine there are alot of people taking advantage of the handouts, there are in every situation. There were people that took advantage of the Sept 11 events. What most working class people will tell you is that they way things are today it is VERY hard to have any kind of extra money such as in a savings account. Depending on what kind of money you make, you may not even be able to save anything. You would be surprised how many people live paycheck to paycheck.

Like I said, I am positive there are many people taking advantage of the situation. There are some families from New Orleans in my area and several have been investigated for child abuse and neglect. They are young, perfectly healthy adults and are not working or attempting to find work. They are living off the welfare system and the kind hearts of people who feel sorry for them. You would think they would at least find a job to help out a little.

Answer 3

There is more to it than simply collecting insurance money and putting up another house, assuming that you have insurance. Some of those people were in rental homes, and you don't normally insure those. The landlord does, so the responsibility in that case is not on the renter but on the landlord.
Aside from all that -- you can't build a house in a swamp. You can't build a house when the road hasn't been repaired, the water system hasn't been put in, the power isn't available. In short, the infrastructure was trashed in many areas, and it is simply not feasible to re-build in those areas. Partly, that is the fault of the New Orleans city government, but the debt load for the aftermath of the tornado was so overwhelming that it is going to be a long time before they can catch up. The ironic part is that their tax base is away down because those properties are no longer taxable, which makes it a real catch 22 situation.
Your comment is really very ill-founded and not very compassionate. But then, you have likely never experienced anything like the trauma that has afflicted the residents of New Orleans.

Answer 4

Most people in the flood zone that hit that area have no insurance and can't afford it, so what ever money the state they get goes towards food or clothes, hopefully. Many of the people are very poor. They lose everything they have and usually find themselves in the welfare situation. Don't be so fast to blame them, it is not there fault, if you didnt have insurance of a way to replace your house and had kids, you would not be so fast to leave the embassy suites either.

Answer 5

It wasn't just a house or houses that were destroyed-where if the person owning the house has flood or hazard insurance then they are covered but if not too bad. Katrina caused the land itself to be flooded on a catastrophic scale because the city's(Goverment-City) Levees broke. So because city property failed to protecct the homes the city is responsible and because its on such a large scale the city can classify it as a national disaster and then apply for disaster aid from the US (Nation) Goverment.

Answer 6

If you depend on the government, then you're S.O.L.

If you're a house owner, you should always purchase property insurance. And don't be cheap, buy the best ones available. The best one's are those that insure your house, property, valuables, for natural disasters, fires, breakins, everything.

Quite often, renters don't purchase insurance, because they're either too poor to get it, or they have nothing to insure to begin with. When a natural disaster strikes them, they're left with absolutely nothing.

It is nice when people care. :-) More people should care about others. It's also nice that we see some of them striving to get their lives back in spite of what they've been through.

Answer 7

You and you alone are responsible for the things you own, like homes, cars and all other things. The government of the United States unconstitutionally gives all this money to people stupid enough to build homes below sea level. The constitution does not give the government the right to take my money I work for in taxes and give to people anywhere. Read the constitution for yourself.

Answer 8

not if u have house insurance. when u do get it there is a certain list that u choose from, it shows how much u want to be covered. so it all depends on what you choose. if a natural disaster did occur and you paid so you could get covered , then the insurace for all that was lost. they find out the value of your home first

Answer 9

have you ever been broke hungry and homeless? the place you worked at was destroyed so now you have no job. can't afford to stay can't afford to leave.have you ever lived pay check to paycheck with nothing to spare so if you get sick you work anyway or get evicted. try some empathy instead of living in your nice safe comfortable life and judging others.

Answer 10

You must be a Republican.

Only a Democrat would expect and support a socialist government to solve all of your problems.