City might seize homes not cleaned by Aug. 29 (NOLA)

[funkybutt]

Deadline to gut homes is set

Owners who don't face seized after Aug. 29

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1145602126266320.xml

Concerned that thousands of residents are doing nothing to fix up their flooded homes, the New Orleans City Council voted Thursday to set Aug. 29, Hurricane Katrina's first anniversary, as the deadline for people to clean, gut and board up their homes, or risk having the city seize and demolish them.

The ordinance was introduced by Councilman Jay Batt, who said ravaged, mold-infested houses, especially if not boarded up, can become "environmental biohazards" that will slow the recovery of whole neighborhoods by discouraging nearby owners from moving back or making repairs.

The ordinance, approved 7-0, says "every owner of a dwelling or dwelling unit shall be responsible for mold remediation, cleaning, gutting and properly securing the premises of all properties" damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita "in a manner so as to render the premises environmentally sound and not open to the public."

[partylessinOhio]

1. How do these victims comply with this edict from on high?

How do they get back to their homes from all over the country?
How do they repair or rebuild when insurance companies have not paid them?

[funkybutt]

3. It's very difficult

But I have to say that it's necessary. These homes are health hazards. I know because my next door neighbor's property has not been touched since Katrina. She is an elderly woman with health issues. There are tons of charitable organizations that will do it for free, especially for the elderly. I approached my neighbor in an attempt to put her in contact with one of these free gutting services but I couldn't get her to understand the severity of the situation. Several other neighbors will be visiting her to try to convince her to allow a group to clean out and gut her home. I sure hope they can convince her b/c the smell makes me sick and I hope to be back in my home soon. I can smell her home from inside my home when the windows are open. It's disgusting! At the very least, the city should somehow seal up the homes so that neighbors aren't exposed to the health hazards presented by a home that has set up for 8 months. No matter what your situation, one year should be plenty of time to clean out your home, especially when there are so many free volunteer organizations willing to help.

[partylessinOhio]

5. If there is free help then why haven't all the damaged homes been cleared,

repaired or replaced?

The outdoor areas and streets have yet to be cleared. The task is formidable.

I'm not in the area but I can sympathize with those who are still waiting for help.

I do not favor tearing down a home until the owner has received their insurance money and had ample time to find a contractor to do the work.

[funkybutt]

9. Several reasons

There is a waiting list for most free gutting services. However, had my neighbor gotten on the list when I approached her about it, her home would have been cleared out months ago.

You don't have to have your insurance money or a contractor to get the stuff cleared out. We did ours ourselves but you can pay about $1.50 a sq ft for gutting. It's a small price to pay for saving your home. If a house sits up with rotting wet contents for 8-12 months, it's very likely that it may no longer be structrually sound.

[intheflow]

11. Volunteer efforts have been stymied by

1) lack of infrastructure to house large numbers of volunteers.
2) lack of comprehensive plans to repair the levees to a truly safe standard.
3) lack of political will to contact the homeowners in diaspora and inform them about the help that is available in the area.

:cry:

[merh]

13. I understand your frustration funkybutt

and each case should be an individual consideration, not a broad brush take over and assumption that folks just don't care.

I could even go along with the city condemning the structures and tearing them down and clearing the lot, but not with confiscating the property.

They get FEMA monies to clear the debris and to profit on top of the FEMA monies is a crime (and a sin).

Thousands were shipped out of the area, thousands are so stunned by all of this and broken from the loss and the destruction, they don't know what to do. They are trying to get the FEMA monies, the SBA loans, their insurance proceeds, etc.

Thank the good Lord you were strong enough to take on the task of recovery and rebuilding. You neighbor needs to understand your position and the health risk her home creates, but she does not deserve to lose all she has all over again, especially at the hands of the government that failed her in the first place by not taking care of or improving a levy system that was in disrepair and inadequate.

[funkybutt]

16. I do not support the City taking the Property

and profiting from it. I think owners must be fairly compensated. OR the city could assist the person in getting their home cleaned out and remediated.

"Councilwoman Renee Gill Pratt said many homeowners want to return to New Orleans but have yet to receive insurance settlements or other needed aid. At her suggestion, Batt's ordinance was amended to provide a process for reviewing hardship cases."

The fact is, many property owners haven't returned just because they are irresponsible and don't comprehend the hazardous effects of their rotting property. Owning property is a resposibility. City's accross the country have to deal with Blight. This kind of blight is even more dangerous to the community.

[merh]

18. See, I don't know how you can make this generalized statement

"The fact is, many property owners haven't returned just because they are irresponsible"

HOW do you know that they are not responsible? It is wrong of you to say that.

I appreciate the hazards and I know full well the paralyzing effect that Katrina has on the home owner. You are blessed that you are so strong to be able to keep going. To assume that folks not as strong as you are irresponsible is just plain wrong.

And yes, FEMA monies have to be spent on what FEMA allows them to be spent on. If you don't know this, then it appears you were not in as bad a shape as many of those you complain about.

I can't get off of my job during the week to tend to my property and to be quite honest, dealing with it is very hard. I paid to have it cleared and blessed friends have come by to help me clear debris that riddles the yard. Eight months later and I still find myself crying when I find the shards of a family heirloom in the dusty sands of my lot. I am one of the healthy folks and the task is very overwhelming.

I just resent your generalizations, though I do appreciate your anger and frustratrions.

[funkybutt]

22. Not generalizations

I have personally spoken with people who I refer to as "irresponsible". THAT is how I know. Many of them are absent landlords who didn't care for their property prior to the Hurricane and certainly don't care to be bothered with it now. Others have moved on and have an "out of sight, out of mind" attitude. I'd be so happy if FEMA would offer specific money for gutting and clean out. But the fact is, down here we understand that you can't count on the government to take care of your problems. We have to all work together and pull ourselves out of this mess.

I also think that my neighbor, however complicated her situation is, has been somewhat irresponsible for not accepting the help that was offered. I used to cook for her, drive her to the doctor and do various other tasks for her as requested. I have been a good neighbor to her. She is not a bad person and I want her to return and be my neighbor again. I do not want the city to take her property from her. I just want her property to no longer be a health danger to me and my other neighbors, some of whom have small children living in the area.

I can't get off my job to clean my property but I can deal with it on the weekends. I have done my share of crying, too. I lost family heirlooms too!

[merh]

28. I lost it all sweetie, not just heirlooms

I have no house to rebuild as you have, but that does not make me angry at you or those that do have a house. It just means I have a different perspective than you and I do understand that some, like you are stronger emotionally than others and have an easier time of dealing with this.

I told you that I understood your frustration with your neighbor. If, in your original post applauding this ordinance, you were to have said you have spoken to or personally know of many landlords or property owners that do not care and should be subject to this ordinance, then my post would not be what it was.

You did generalize and your generalizations are what is so harmful to the efforts, as if the entire city should just be bombed cause nobody cares. That is what you read all over because they take posts such as yours and use them to define all in your town. That is your situation, not mine.

I personally know of several that wish to god they could do more, but they can't, they don't know how, they aren't as strong as you and I, and this whole thing has been too much.

Does your neighbor have any family or did she go to church? If so, have you tried to enlist the family or the minister's help in dealing with her and impressing upon her the need to do something before she loses it all?

[funkybutt]

30. Point taken

I guess that wording was generalizing. I should have written that I have personally spoken with some irresponsible property owners instead of just sayign that "many" are irresponsible. I agree that this is the type of thing that hurts our efforts. Thank you for pointing that out.

I feel confident that along with my other neighbors, we will be able to convince my neighbor to allow a volunteer group to gut her home. We have contacted several church based organizations and gotten their applications. She has a step daughter that she doesn't like or trust and several neices and nephews who haven't helped at all. They seem to just be wanting to see what they can get out of this tragedy instead of helping her move home. That's why the neighborhood is organizing a visit to discuss this with her. Other neighbors have known her longer than I and i think together we can convince her. She did go to church, but I don't know which one. If I did, I would certainly use the approach you suggested b/c I know that she takes advice from her church group from past conversations. I will further look into this b/c someone in the neighborhood is bound to know what church she went to. I'm glad you brought that up!

[merh]

31. We are in this together

:hug: :loveya:

[funkybutt]

32. Yes Indeed!

I wish you all the best in your recovery. I saw your bay picture in your journal and my heart goes out to you! What a beautiful view!

:hug:

[merh]

33. thank you

It will take us years, but we will recover and the bonds we form during our efforts will sustain us and bring us solace when we need them the most.

:hug:

[snooper2]

2. Good idea...you can't have trashed homes sitting month after month

All kinds of problems.

And what about the areas where 2 out of 18 homes on a street nobody is doing anything with. Gutting a house is not rocket science. Rip out the sheet rock, insulation, carpet, and put it on the curb to be picked up. Put up some plywood on the windows and figure out what you want to do.

[uppityperson]

41. How about the city sponsering a gutting program rather than seizing homes

many people got shipped out all over, and do not have the resources to get back yet. They need help, NOT their homes seized. Gutting a house is not rocket science, true, but it needs to have either people physically able and present to do it, or enough money to pay someone to do it. They need more assistance with gutting homes, not threats.

[woo me with science]

4. makes sense to me. nt

[uppityperson]

6. Oh lord, will the city give money and workers to do it?

Some people are not home because their kids are schooling in other states, will return after schools out.

Some people are waiting to see if they can get money or assistance to muck and gut their houses. Yes, there is some help available but the numbers are staggering. Some people have gotten the money to hire help to do this, put the money in the bank and the bank has kept it (figuring that they might as well get a little since the owner may walk on their bank loan. The owner has no money to fix it up so now they walk). Many people have no money or resources to do this, or are working on it slowly, since they live elsewhere.

Some people are waiting to see if the levees hold this season.

Some people are waiting on their FEMA mansions so they can live close enough to be able to work on their places. Some people are living in unsafe conditions in the disaster area, while family lives states away, trying to maintain, clean, work to make money to support yourself.

Yes, it is a mess. Lots of mold and debris around. Lots of people working on it but it is a huge disaster, the scope is large, the problems many, the resources (affordable workers and money) little.

[bluerum]

7. Can the property giveaway to "corporate sponsors" of urban

renewal be far behind?

[intheflow]

8. K&R'd! WTF is wrong with these people?!?!

:grr: People haven't cleaned up their homes because they've been shipped out to the far corners of the country--NYC, Denver, LA, wherever! I'm not even sure anyone in New Orleans has a comprehensive list of who got shipped out where, so how would people even be contacted to let them know this was going down? :grr:

[funkybutt]

10. After 8 months

while FEMA is paying their rent, the least they can do is schedule a trip home to deal with their property. If they are not physically able, their family should help. If they have no family their neighbors should help, which I have been trying to do for my neighbor, who so far hasn't accepted the help. Come to my house and try to breathe!

[intheflow]

12. I've heard that FEMA money cannot be used for anything but

home rebuilding. If it is, they can be charged with criminal fraud. So they might not be able to afford to come home from wherever they've been relocated. :(

[funkybutt]

14. FEMA rental assistance

I don't know of anyone who hasn't qualified.

[intheflow]

20. Right.

But that's what I'm saying. Rental assistance goes directly to the rental agent, as far as I can tell. The $2000 or whatever people got from FEMA after the storm have to go to rebuilding their homes. So there is no money for folks to return to New Orleans. That's all I'm saying.

[Sgent]

15. There's also an issue

that there are 1000's of homes which will never be gutted -- there is no reason to. If your home was underwater in a current for 2-3 days, its toast. Land values are down so much currently that you couldn't make up the cost of demolition via selling the land in many cases.

Beyond being an eyesore, these homes are a genuine danger. Would you want your family and kids to move back in to a neighborhood where have the structures are open to the public (kids playing inside them), health hazards, and falling down?

[merh]

17. Tear down the homes

Don't confiscate the property.

The city gets reimbursed by FEMA for the debris removal, to profit on top of that reimbursement by taking ownership of the land is criminal.

I bet folks would love the City to come in and help, they are probably waiting for them to make that offer.

Here on the Coast, we can sign waivers allowing the City on to our property to remove the debris (remainders of our home). It is the City that is taking so long to take on the task, not the citizens.

[intheflow]

21. It's not the home demolition I have a problem with.

It's the use of imminent domain. You can demolish the homes without taking the property. imo.

[funkybutt]

24. good point

I hope that's what will happen. Of course, it's much less expensive to clean out and gut a home than it is to tear it down. Hopefully that is the approach they will take.

[merh]

26. exactly

Most of these folks are probably waiting to have the city offer to tear down the remnants of their homes.

It is a monumental task to deal with, no matter how brave and strong funkybutt is and/or how easy that he/she makes it sound, the task of rebulding after such destruction is daunting. All you have is in ruin, all that you worked for all of your life is mud covered and moldy and in shambles, its hard to know where to begin or how to begin, let alone to know when it will ever end.

For most folks, being able to wake up and face the day after this type of destruction and trauma, is a task - add to it trying to recover what you had or rebuild what once was with the limited FEMA resources, no SBA loans or insurance proceeds, the unscruplous out their taking advantage of the storm to make a profit, it is quite overwhelming.

[funkybutt]

27. It's not easy

I certainly didn't intend to give the impression that dealing with this has been easy. I wish!

I'm sorry for your loss, Merh and I hope that you are able to recover fully. This task is indeed all those things you described. I apologize if I have offended you. Like I have said many times. I just want the homes to be remediated so they don't pose a threat to our health.

[merh]

29. I understand your concerns and your need to have those

homes taken care of, I really do.

I have a house two lots over that remains standing, falling in on itself that has yet to be torn down because the eccentric, elderly couple that own it don't want the heavy equipment to tear up their "landscaped" lot. These folks are richer than most folks, they have old banking family monies, yet they cannot bring themselves to tear down the house that is collapsing because the storm surge stole the back half of the house.

Certain folks just have trouble dealing with things.

I wish you luck, funkybutt - you haven't offended me, it just concerns me that your posts can be used to continue to harm your city and your people. The conservatives want nothing more than to be able to quote a local and say "see, they are irresponsible and we should stop wasting our money trying to help them." I have seen the distortions on other forums.

Take good care, we are in this together, survivors of the Big One of '05.
You and yours are in my prayers, as is your neighbor, so that she will find reason despite her heart ache.

:hug: :loveya:

[EFerrari]

19. Land grab. Who didn't see this coming. First they drown you

or drive you away, then they tell you it's too dangerous to go back. Then, they grab your land.

That's disgusting.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

23. A week after Katrina

did anyone else think this wasn't going to happen?

[0007]

25. This doesn't sound right. Bet lots of greedy people are licking

their chops right now.

[ThomCat]

34. So the poor will all lose their homes.

Because they can't afford to travel back to NO, they can't afford to live in a hotel somewhere, and they can't afford the cost of cleaning and boarding up these homes.

Now rich people will be able to buy up these plots of land for pennies on the dollar.

Wonderful.
:eyes:

[Raster]

37. Dear Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Paul Allen,

The three of you could make a world of difference in New Orleans simply by helping the poor hold on to what they have. Snatch victory from bushco*'s jaws.

Share the Love. Save the Planet. Death to tyrants.

[ThomCat]

43. They would all get smeared as opportunists

stealing land from the poor. Never mind that this is exactly what the neocons are going to do. The media will ignore the neocons, but they'd put Gates, Buffet and Allen (or God Forbid, Soros) on every headline.

[Raster]

44. No smearing. IMMEDIATELY set up a non-profit to ascertain the rightful

owner, IMMEDIATELY offer them FREE, NO STRING ATTACHED ASSISTANCE to clean and clear, including any and all legal aid to hold their property. New Orleans is a NATIONAL SHAMEFUL DISGRACE. We should do whatever we can to help the rightful owners--the poor and disadvantaged--hold their property. And then somewhere along the line hold bushco* accountable. The uber-wealthy among us could turn the tables.

[KamaAina]

35. When will people be getting their LRA "The Road Home" money?

LRA = Louisiana Recovery Authority, which will be distributing about 4 of the 6 billion dollar Federal aid package to property owners -- but will it come in time for people, especially the many who were uninsured or underinsured, to get the work done by just over four months from now?

Then again, there's no possible way that the city, with its skeleton work force, can possibly condemn and demolish all these thousands of blighted homes at once. One hopes they'll use a sort of triage process in which only the worst of the worst get taken at first, giving time for people like your neighbor to get things straightened out.

It would've been nice to see the ordinance aimed more specifically at the absentee landlords, rather than just tacking on an appeal process, but then, we are talking about the N.O. City Council... :eyes:

[partylessinOhio]

36. There are many valid comments here. As a nation we should all be

shamed at how the Katrina victims were treated. Nothing is black and white, there are shades of gray too. Everyone cannot handle the destruction as well as some others. Not all the victims have the financial means to help themselves. Many do not have the means to come back from the states where they were forcibly taken after the hurricane hit. I would imagine that many cannot emotionally handle returning and seeing the destruction.

I don't know how these victims have survived for I don't feel I could have done as well. I have heard that America has tens of thousands of homes with blue tarps. Some are from previous years damages. There are not roofers and roofing materials available to do those repairs.

So I don't feel anyone can set time limits that are unreasonable to meet.

I have great empathy for all the victims and all the animals that have suffered from Katrina and other storms. We really need to handle these people gently and reasonably.

I don't mean to criticize or upset anyone that suffered in Katrina.

[DemInDistress]

38. let's bypass that PATHETIC FEMA and give a 10 billion dollar

contract to ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ask them to rebuild New Orleans. Hell they've already rebuilt some homes and firehouses. Now those are competent folks and can you imagine the "ratings" wow !!

[classysassy]

53. Bush and his cronies need that$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$to continue

their evil wars.

[Nailzberg]

54. Good call, we'd do it all if we could.

I was one of the design producers for those Hurricane Specials. Which means it was my job to make sure everything the story producers gave attention to, was built, and built right. It was really an eye-opener for me to come out from California and see those areas. Flying in on approach and seeing blue tarps on each and every roof-top made me wonder if we'd make any bit of difference to the Gulf Coast.

Materials are in short demand, and labor is spread pretty thin, but really what it comes down to is MONEY. If the federal government sent disaster relief funds, the resources would be there, plain and simple. To finish those builds on Extreme, I had to contact contractors as far away as Washington State, but those materials did arrive. That lack of attention the Gulf Coast has received is really quite pathetic. That's really what it comes down to. The materials and labor are available, it's just a matter of making it a priority.

There's still a lot of work to do there. Our government should make it a priority. It shouldn't be a TV shows job to fix it. Thanks for noticing our efforts, though. Bringing attention to the situation was all we were hoping to accomplish.

[Caoimhe]

39. I know some folks that went down for Spring Break to help

and I think it really opened their eyes about the situation down there. They are a pretty religious family and the dad is a Fox news/Rush Limbaugh junkie. He came back a much more humble man. It was the first time any of his family had met black people in their lives. I am proud of them for doing it, I never thought I'd see the day.

Most of the families they helped either had no insurance, or were elderly or incapacitated and couldn't do the work themselves.

[funkybutt]

40. I'm so thankful for the Spring Breakers

They selflessly gave up their vacation time to come down here and help out those who need it the most. It's actually opened my eyes as well. I used to judge people that were really religious based past experiences with unscrupulous religiously affiliated people. Most of the help I see is church related. Churches have been able to do what FEMA, the federal, state, and local government couldnt do. It's amazing and it's renewed my "faith" in organized religion!

Thanks Spring Break Hurricationers! :hi:

[uppityperson]

42. UPJr came down, as did churchy friends

The church group were going to come back down this fall, will be back next month, they were very shocked at the reality. UPJr and friend (librul hippy types) are trying to get back down this summer between school and school. We are all in this together, someday my community will be hurt and I will have to accept this from others. May not be easy, but necessary.

[merh]

45. it is so appreciated

as are you and UPJr. & friend. :grouphug:

It is the volunteers that have been coming here since September 1 that have made the difference in our lives.

I can't imagine what it would be like here had the volunteers not come.

[Minnesota Libra]

46. funkybutt, I assume from the articles and your other replies that you.....

....are either from New Orleans and possibly still live there.

Based on that assumption, why hasn't the local/state government or these agencies gone in already and gutted these buildings that are vacant if they are such health hazards?? I'm sure by now there must be forwarding addresses for many people in NO whether they intend to go back or not.

I'm not going to offer an opinion because I'm not there so I don't know the present conditions. It just seems to me that if these buildings were indeed such health hazards the health department from NO or a nearby functioning health department would have stepped in before now.

Please educate me here.

[uppityperson]

47. I think NO is trying to avoid bankruptcy.

not enough money. This is a good question so here's a kick for someone who might know.

[funkybutt]

48. Good Question

But I think the financial issue is the problem. The task is really too big for state or local government. The federal money that has been allocated to the state is still in Washington for some reason. This is such a massive problem, I don't think the government will solve it for us. The federal money will help, though. The state's recovery program will offer a buy out/recovery program. You can either take the money and leave, or use it to rehab your property. What the government will do with the bought out properties is the next question.


And yes, I'm in NOLA. The post office has the change of address information, but it's not easy to get. FEMA knows where people are but they won't release their lists. It's really not as easy to find people as one might think.

The city is broke. They've laid off lots of people and they can't even seem to be able to figure out how to pick up our trash. Not storm/home debris, but it's just bagged garbage. Across the street from my apartment there is a pile of over 30 bags of trahs that's been accumulating for MONTHS now!

[Minnesota Libra]

49. OMG, thank you for the info - yes this helps answer the issues I was......

....wondering about.

As for the feds, we know why the money hasn't been forthcoming with NO being Democratic and all. How dare those people not worship His Idiotness anyway. :sarcasm: We just won't release the money, that will teach them. I know I'm making light of it and I'm sorry I don't mean to be offensive but I truly think that is why you guys have not received the money you should rightly have, and probably won't for a good long time either.:cry:

As for the city and state, yes they are broke and you guys didn't start out being one of the richer states to begin with. OMG, I wish there was something we could do.

Anyway, :hi:thank you for your response and yes it helps answer a lot.:applause:

[merh]

51. FEMA doesn't know what it is doing.

I doubt if they have complete lists.

Did you know that FEMA called me in February to make arrangements for a trailer? When I told them I had a trailer, they told me that I did not. We debated for several minutes on the topic, it was so bad I asked for the supervisor and then a number to call back once I had verified that the office calling was a division of FEMA and not some crooks trying to get information from me to take advantage of my situation.

FEMA is a joke, no organization, too many little sub-contractors stepping on each others' toes and incomplete computer records.

I doubt if any organization/agency has a list of all the people that have been relocated and where they are.

[pitohui]

52. outside interference has been another problem

some homes were nothing but piles of trash, but during the time when FEMA would have demolished and removed the debris for free, clearing the lots at no costs to the owners, dumb-asses blocked the city's plan to do so and now the deadline has passed, in addition, the city is prob. going to have to go bankrupt or otherwise re-organize financially, there is no $$$

now people who have already lost all must pay $4-5K to have a rotten unsound structure demolished, instead of having it done at FEMA expense

land grab conspiracists, whether because of naivitee or because of deliberate rovian manipulation of human psychology, continue to insist that anything the city does to clean up destroyed structures is part of some unknown "land grab" tho it is never quite explained why slums that were of no value and could have been bought for pennies pre-K would suddenly be worth more post-K with piles of garbage on top of them

these conspiracists have done great harm

i am sorry to say that aaron neville was one of the worst, spewing how dangerous the air was and how people should not return because they would get some strange disease and die, those people who listened and did not return now face houses that are completely blighted and ruined from not being cleaned in sufficient time to save them -- and meanwhile the stats show that rates of respiratory illness were actually down this winter -- the storms, as storms do, if nothing else, cleared the air

i know i won't get any apology from the conspiracists but if one or two reflect on the great harm they have caused and stop spreading gossip and conspiracies that is the most positive outcome i could imagine as a result of my posting here

hysteria was being used for political purposes and it is quite an ugly thing

[uppityperson]

50. UPDATE: Mayor upset with council's deadline for fixing homes

http://www.nola.com/newslogs/tpupdates/index.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_tpupdates/archives/2006_04_21.html#133655

(clip) But Mayor Ray Nagin said he thinks Aug. 29 is too early for such a deadline, though he did not say whether he would veto the ordinance, which passed 7-0. It would take five votes on the council to override a veto. “Homeowners are already making decisions. They’re moving forward. They’re not waiting on anything,” Nagin said in Thursday night’s televised mayoral debate. “We had 125,000 homes that had some type of damage with Katrina. About 60 percent of those homes had less than 50 percent damage. So those folks have already gotten their permits, they’re rockin’ and rollin’, they’re ready to go.

“The rest are a combination of people who are spread out all over the country, particularly senior citizens. I think they need special treatment, and I think Aug. 29 is too soon. And by year’s end, we should have a program in place to contact those residents and make sure they’re coming back.”...
(clip)
But the owners of some untouched houses said Friday there are good reasons they have yet to do anything to their properties. Chief among them, they said, is the fact that thousands of homeowners are still waiting on insurance settlements or Small Business Administration loans, and waiting for the state to decide who will qualify for repair grants or buyouts as part of Gov. Kathleen Blanco’s “Road Home” recovery program.

“Many homeowners are going through the process of borrowing money from the SBA, which is giving us hell,” one frustrated homeowner said in an e-mail to The Times-Picayune. There also still is widespread confusion about whether some neighborhoods will be rebuilt at all, and if so, how high residents will have to elevate their homes.“I do not have the money nor the time to do anything to the house until FEMA and everyone else decides what I can do, and funding becomes available for such actions,” said Michael Trachtenberg, a Gentilly resident now living in Metairie. “It does not make economic sense to gut, then tear down.” ...(more@ link)

[funkybutt]

55. Several good points there...

First of all, of course the mayor wouldnt support this, he's trying to get re-elected. However, all the city council is trying to get re-elected too and they know that something has to be done. Aparently they are more in touch with the people who are actively trying to return to their homes than the mayor is. He said that people aren't waiting on anything. That's simply not true. Many people are still waiting. There is the SBA wait, the FEMA advisory map wait, the Governor's grant/buyout wait, the insurance wait and the list goes on and on. I agree with the mayor that August may be too soon since the State's program is not likely to have those funds available by this time. I think that once the State recovery plan begins paying people, THEN we will see activity. I also expect quite a bit more activity once the school year is over. It is also a good point about the widespread confusion about whether neighborhoods will rebuild at all. Areas with a high concentration of slab homes, like Gentilly, may be better off raising or tearing down their homes b/c they don't meet the elevation requirements of the new FEMA advisories. But the advisories are very hard to understand and seem to be written with the intent to cause some degree of confusion.

[zann725]

56. "Might?!" Was there ever any other plan when they relocated NO citizens

thousands of miles away?

It is NOT a matter of "might"...but "will." Even if these poor people could afford to travel back to their old homes, and beg and borrow money to bring their old homes roughly to "liveable" status...the Gov't would just exert its "new" "Emininent Domain" privilege...and deem the land could better "profitly utilized" by corporate entities/developments.

And exactly HOW are ALL (or even a small portion of) these relocated NO citizen votes being "counted" in the curent NO Mayor race? Most probably never got near a "polling place" recdemt;u in their isolated new "homes"...nor do I doubt many got mail-in ballots (that even IF they did, will ever be counted). At least NOT counted any more completely than "mail-in" ballots in the '04 election.

Katrina was really "redistricting"...another example of NOT counting ALL black and poor votes.

[peacebuzzard]

57. My co-workers home was destroyed & she is still waiting

on a FEMA trailer that she plans to park in front of her mangled and tangled home.

Her house is uninhabitable, but she is lucky & staying w/ her parents, and they do not live too far of a commute from her property. She is one of the few able to remain in the area with the extra blessings of health, youth and currently still gainfully employed at the same job for 18 years.

Only her inanimate tangibles were destroyed and she will be able to recover something.

I am so sad the story is so different for so many.