The people in the path of the intentional flooding . . . . are they getting compensation?

[Stinky The Clown]

My question is serious. I don't know enough about the issue to have an opinion. I understand why it is being done, but am ignorant of the politics of it all.

Are the people in the path of the flooding getting any compensation?

[ananda]

1. Maybe they'll get a FEMA trailor and a lick and a promise of help.

nt

[madinmaryland]

2. I have no idea. What ever they get will probably be a small amount. BTW, what are

you still doing up? I'm in Washington State and am getting tired.

[TheMadMonk]

3. Since it's a deliberate release, insurance companies won't get to...

...use the "act of God" copout.

More seriously, I believe they should be covered. However, it is America so no guarantees.

[mopinko]

21. i don't think that is correct. just because the government

took needed actions to minimize flood damage does not mean that the flood itself is not an act of god.

[ArcticFox]

4. Maybe if something is allocated to them special

Doubt many of them have flood insurance, and it's unlikely they'd have a claim in inverse condemnation because this would be an exercise of the police power, which is not considered a compensible taking. Hopefully the government will pay them something out of compassion.

[tammywammy]

5. I would hope they have flood insurance, otherwise I doubt their homeowner's insurance will cover it.

Edited to add: I had family who's homes were flooded during hurricane Ike. They didn't live in a flood plain, and those without flood insurance were offered low interest loans and I believe $26k in grants to fix their houses. If you live in a flood plain, I think flood insurance is required. Regular home owner's insurance does not cover flooding.

Also, they were given FEMA trailers, which for all the disdain they get here my family was grateful to have them. I visited my grandfather's it was a decent little trailer.

[riderinthestorm]

6. I doubt it. I'm a farmer and have followed this story and get no answer on the question

which always leads me to believe that somebody's getting screwed. There's already a lawsuit from farmers near Cairo IL against the Army Corps of Engineers for compensation from the levee's intentional destruction down there which indicates to me that nobody plans on compensating anyone unless they can get a high powered attorney to strong arm it out of the government.

Oh there's some vague promises that "aid" will be forthcoming but even crop insurance (which only covers for the current year) can't help these farmers whose land is potentially destroyed for a decade if not permanently by the tsunami of water the Corps released onto that land. For some farmers, they will never farm again at least not there since the debris that has flooded the fields will render it virtually un-reclaimable (is there such a word?) You get my gist I hope.

[msongs]

7. will they pay back the government for all the flood prevention they've gotten the past 20 years? nt

[riderinthestorm]

13. No! This is a tsunami of sand, garbage, debris and other stuff

Most farmers who live in the Delta lands understand that a natural flood is normal. They have crop insurance for losing that season's crop when/if a natural flood occurs.

There is nothing natural about what is descending on their land right now. There's no way to even know if it's even going to be able to be reclaimed. There are houses, power lines, human waste, garbage, dead animals and more pouring into those fields plus the enormous gush of water scouring the topsoil.

The Mississippi has been sculpted into an entirely unnatural entity to protect the cities and even now, it's being re-channeled into an entirely unnatural way to do that again, at the expense of farmers who are willing to roll with natural floods but are no way prepared to deal with the shitty hand they are being dealt with right now.

[Joe the Revelator]

8. They live in the flood plane.....

Aside from an insurance payout,if they have it, what kind of compensation should they get

[riderinthestorm]

10. This isn't a gentle rise in water that the land can sustain, this is a tsunami of water crashing the

land at many millions of pounds of pressure, scouring the topsoil and dumping toxic waste, power lines, junk, debris and other shit.

A "normal flood plain" would be a completely different story but the Corps and the US has re-sculpted the Mississippi into something unnatural to protect cities and the farmers have tried to cope the best they can with the hand they've been dealt. Now they are dealing with something that is utterly unholy and unnatural.

What kind of compensation do you think they should get?

[Joe the Revelator]

11. Again, they knew where they were moving when they moved onto the spill way

It's a chance you take and reason enough to have really good home insurance.

[uppityperson]

15. I bet a lot of them were there before that spillway was built. Used to flooding but not this

huge release of water. I do not understand why you do not understand this is not a "normal" flood but an avalanche of water, a tsumani of water.

[tammywammy]

16. That spillway was built in 1954.

The people are warned every year about the potential for flooding.

"This intentional flood is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the corps each year in written letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway, which is 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) long and has 125 gate bays."
http://www2.wsav.com/news/2011/may/14/army-readies-to-open-spillway-flood-cajun-country-ar-1843748/

[Joe the Revelator]

19. I live on the coast, in Va, and if a hurricane hits

I better have flood insurance.

[Stinky The Clown]

22. You're not wrong

But you sure aren't demonstrating any compassion.

I guess we just need to expect they all have bootstraps.

[Joe the Revelator]

23. What kind of compassion should be offered?

I'd give money to a fund drive for these folks but not much else.. At some point you have to take responsibility for your choices in life.

[Stinky The Clown]

24. I rest my case

[Joe the Revelator]

25. You didn't answer the question....

If you took a minute to stop being morally superior then maybe we could have a discussion.

[Stinky The Clown]

26. You never answered the one in the OP.

You posed another a question instead.

[Joe the Revelator]

27. Your question is impossible to answer without knowing what kind of compensation

You're asking about.

[Warpy]

9. Not in Miss, where Haley Barbour

has basically said, "Gee, it sucks to be you."

I'm sure he'll lavish any Fed money that comes in on the casinos.

[shanti]

12. it's troubling for sure....

here in sacramento, we have a shaky levee system on the sacramento river that is similar to louisiana. so many housing developments have cropped up over the years that have been built on the 100 year floodplain. much of it is farmland, and it's mindboggling that so many people would purchase homes in these areas, but they have.

i imagine they will be compensated if they have flood insurance, but could be wrong :shrug:

[moondust]

14. (MO) Farmers sue Army Corps of Engineers after levee explosion destroys farmland

http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/farmers-sue-army-corps-of-engineers-after-levee-explosion-destroys-farmland/24734.html

[marybourg]

17. In many of these areas, the federal government bought

easements to flood from the owners of the land in the 30's & 40's when the flood protection plans were put into place. These easements continue in the chain of ownership and should alert subsequent owners that money was paid to a previous owner for the right to flood the land, thus lowering the value of the land carrying the easement. I have no way of knowing whether every single plot of land that will be flooded is carrying this burden, but that was the plan. The right was largely bought and paid for by the federal government.

[tammywammy]

18. Residents are warned every year about the possibility of flooding

http://www2.wsav.com/news/2011/may/14/army-readies-to-open-spillway-flood-cajun-country-ar-1843748/

This intentional flood is more controlled, however, and residents are warned by the corps each year in written letters, reminding them of the possibility of opening the spillway, which is 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) long and has 125 gate bays.

[Stinky The Clown]

20. Thank you for that bit of history

That may well answer what I was asking. That said, I wonder what's in the fine print. Has the agreement been updated? Was it a take it or leave it deal?