Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Overheard in the hall...

Me: "These 'When Will The Taxpayers Bail My Flooded Ass Out?' idiots are making my Empathy Deficit Disorder act up."

RobertaX: "Don't you want to reach a hand out to your brethren...?"

Me: "Yeah, and hold their heads underwater for not buying flood insurance."

12 comments:

Unknown said...

"making my Empathy Deficit Disorder act up."

I'm totally stealing that line!

-=[ Grant ]=-

Anonymous said...

If the elevation of your floor is below the top elevation of the levee, I'd say you're at risk.

HokiePundit said...

Just to be contrarian, what of public policy concerns? Their elected officials told them they didn't need flood insurance and they relied on that. Yes, they're dumb for trusting their government. At the same time, we want people to be able to trust the word of the government (as it's supposed to be representative of them), and so not bailing them out undermines good civic behavior.

Shermlock Shomes said...

"When is the Government going to bail my sorry ass out for signing for a mortgage that I knew I couldn't afford?

Anonymous said...

First off, Shermlock, aren't they already doing that? Oh wait, they're bailing out the banks that loaned you the money you couldn't afford to pay back, sorry. Second; if you can't figure out that the big pile of dirt next door means you're below water level, you probably shouldn't be allowed to vote for those officials that told you you were safe, down there, below the level of the river. But, did see a farm house surrounded by water that is a full 2.3 miles away from the Skunk River here in central IA. You'd have thought that would be safe. Surprises, like tornados, happen with nature.

Ct1Catfish said...

Hokie - The problem is their elected officials are representive of them, none of them could figure out that they were in danger of flooding when they were below the level of the levee....

Anonymous said...

FEMA says its risk assessment of Gulfport was accurate, and the agency is spending $1 billion to upgrade outdated maps and re-evaluate flood dangers.

Anyone else see the contradiction in that sentence? Or is it just me?

Home on the Range said...

Sen. Christopher Dodd, Democrat-Conn., has sponsored a bill passed by the Senate that would require FEMA to assess risks more accurate as homeowners and businesses behind levees or downstream of dams "are often unaware of the risks to their properties" and so don't buy flood insurance.

So I buy a home DOWNSTREAM of a DAM or a Levee built because of the LAST flood and I don't know the risk to my property?

As Bill Engvall would say "here's your sign !"

Anonymous said...

Hokie,
I have no problem with the responsible government OFFICIALS bailing out the residents, with their own money. I have a problem with their using taxpayer money.

We need to start holding these morons personally responsible when one of their asinine statements results in people dying. Yes, that includes presidents and Boards of Regents at Universities.

Dr. Coyote said...

After Katrina people should know that if flooding is at all possible (not "unlikely," not "in the 500 year flood zone," not "but the bank said I didn't need it to get the mortgage," etc.), you're just a damnfool not to have flood insurance. I can't tell you the number of my neighbors in MS who stayed dry in hurricane Camile but got flooded out by Katrina. (No, I didn't have it either -- at 26' above sea level and a mile inland, I thought I was on a mountaintop. And when the water crested, I my land was one foot above it. So now I've got flood insurance. A bargain at $300 a year.)

Yeah, if I ever hear a neighbor whine about needing a handout after getting flooded, I'll be reaching out to that neighbor too...

Cybrludite said...

To be fair, the last time some of these areas flooded there was a chap named Noah involved. In several of these places, the water went above the 1,000 flood mark. Not everyone effected had spent the last few years watching river traffic going past higher their house...

Tam said...

Yes, but the building of the levees actually exacerbates the effect when a flood happens, as most thinking folks know.

Where I used to live, I wasn't too worried about flooding. The house was on a hillside some 30+ feet above lake level. The lake was behind a dam on the Tennessee river. If I had water in my front yard, Chattanooga was in big, big trouble.

Here I'm over a mile from the nearest bend of the White river, but if there's 15 feet of elevation difference between the high water mark and my front yard, I'd be shocked. A big flood, and I'll need a rowboat. C'est la vie.