September 22nd
5:45 am-KTVE-TV. Monroe. Interview on Hurricane damage
6:45 am-KNOE-TV. Monroe
8:00 am-KNOE radio
noon-KALB Alexandria
5:30-KXRR radio-Monroe

September 23rd
6:20 am-WBRZ TV. Baton Rouge
8:00 am-WIBR radio-Clay Young
11:00 am-KANE radio-Jeff Boggs

September 24th-Main Speaker. Evangeline Book Fest-Ville Platte, La. Noon.

September 25th -Pinhook Rotary Club. Noon. Lafayette

September 27th-Slidell Rotary Club-8:00am.

September 28th-New York City

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NEW COLUMN AND NEW POLL

Jim’s NEW column is now posted on this site, and you can access it from the box on the top left of this page. Jim asks the question: What happened to the buses in New Orleans during Katrina. Are will anything be different if new hurricane hits?. Also, take the new poll up on this page and express your thoughts on how and if New Orleans should be rebuilt. The new poll is up now on this site. And you can express your opinion of getting those without transportation out of New Orleans if another storm hits.

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You can hear a new Podcast where Jim is interviewed on a national syndicated program on Insurance issues involving officers and directors as well as lawyers of corporations. Go the Podcast box on this page to the lower left.

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Is Louisiana about to suffer more damage from another Hurricane? You can stay updated on this site by reading key articles from newspapers and websites all over the nation. Check these articles out on this page, upper right side.

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Public Watchdog C.B. Forgotston has an interesting take this week on his impressions of his personal struggles and observations of the hurricane. You will find them of interest.

Return

It is not politically-correct to say this, but the indigents from the Katrina effected areas of LA have been taken care of by government agencies before the storm, during the storm and after the storm. In the future, they will be returned, by the government, to the cities and parishes where they were previously domiciled. They will be provided free or subsidized housing and food stamps and free or subsidized utilities. In New Orleans, for example, of all the residents of the city, only 49% were employed before the storm.

Who won’t

However, those non-indigents who paid taxes to provide for the indigents and a bloated government bureaucracy, have received little but bad news from government. Most evacuated on their own. Have found refuge on their own. Many even found refuge in hotels thinking that their Homeowners’ insurance would pay under the “living expenses” coverage. They comprise those who do the work in LA. They are the “average man” in LA who worked hard, paid a mortgage and bought insurance on their homes. Their homes comprise their entire life savings. Their homes are gone and the flood insurance coverage in most cases will not even provide enough money to reimburse them for the equity in their homes.

We see that the Attorney General of Mississippi has already at least begun trying to address the issue of homeowners with insurance, but without coverage. Charlie Foti, LA’s Attorney General, is still trying to figure out what to do. The leges hold hearing to learn the obvious, but have no plan to do anything. Same for all our other public officials from the Governor on down.

Even if there is successful litigation, how long will it be before the displaced working class see the proceeds? What will they do in the meantime? Who’s going to pay the taxes in LA to continue to provide for the growing number of indigents and the ever-expanding government.

What they are facing

There are limited government programs for the able-bodied, working class. Those that are, are for limited duration. We hear lots of political rhetoric about rebuilding New Orleans and other parishes in the New Orleans area that were devastated by flood waters. Yet, until today, nobody seemed to recognize that there are no resources available to the working class to begin again.

Even if the working class wanted to rebuild, how could they possibly build back in areas with substandard levee protection due to nothing, but political corruption. It would only mean that the next storm and there will be a next storm will bankrupt them again.

Yes, I count myself as a member of the working class whose property was destroyed by the negligence of man, but for whom the insurance companies have declared that it was a result of rising waters. But don’t cry for me or for the others. Cry for all those who will remain in LA thinking that things will soon be back to normal. Cry for those who will pay all the taxes to make up for the loss of a huge working class tax base.

I now know what it must have been like to see Nero fiddle while Rome burned.

C.B.

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Louisiana Prayer

Bless this house, oh Lord, we cry.
Please keep it cool in mid-July.
Bless the walls where termites dine,
While ants and roaches march in time.
Bless our yard where spiders pass
Fire ant castles in the grass.
Bless the garage, a home to please
Carpenter beetles, ticks and fleas.
Bless the love bugs, two by two,
the gnats and mosquitoes that feed on you.
Millions of creatures that fly or crawl, in LOUISIANA,
Lord, you’ve put them all!!
But this is home, and here we’ll stay,
So thank you Lord, for insect spray.

HOLD IT………….there’s more………………..

YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN LOUISIANA IN JULY WHEN. . .
The birds have to use potholders to pull worms out of the ground.
The trees are whistling for the dogs.
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
Hot water now comes out of both taps.
You can make sun tea instantly.
You learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.
The temperature drops below 95 and you feel a little chilly.
You discover that in July it only takes 2 fingers to steer your car.
You discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.
You actually burn your hand opening the car door.
You break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30 a.m.
Your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, “What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?”
You realize that asphalt has a liquid state.
The potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter, salt and pepper.
Farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.
The cows are giving evaporated milk.

Ah, what a place to call home.
God Bless Our State of LOUISIANA!!

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Financial Times
September 11th, 2005
By Christopher Swann in Baton Rouge

Louisiana is set for an epic legal battle to determine who should pay to repair damaged or destroyed properties, according to insurance experts in the state. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of homeowners will find that insurance claims will not cover the cost of repairing damage to their houses. Jim Brown, the state’s insurance commissioner from 1992 until 2004, estimates that only about a quarter of houses in the poorest affected areas had flood insurance. In addition, since Federal flood insurance only covers loses of up to $250,000, many wealthier households will find that insurance will pay for only a fraction of their rebuilding costs. Homes in the flooded Metairie Club Gardens division of the city were generally worth between $1.5m and $6m.

“There is a big insurance gap,” says Mr Brown. “In all likelihood many people will suffer great financial loss.”

Standard insurance policies, carried by almost all homeowners, covers damages caused by the storms. Individuals also had the option to buy flood coverage under a scheme backed by the Federal Flood Insurance Program. In addition to providing limited coverage, Federal flood insurance was expensive, costing as much as $1,000 a year for a $200,000 home. This was beyond the means of residents of many of the worst affected areas, such as the parishes of St Bernards and Plaquemines. Many of the submerged properties were in areas that had never been affected by flooding before.

“The nightmare of the emergency is hopefully over for many people but the financial nightmare is just about to begin,” said E.L “Bubba” Henry, a lawyer representing insurance companies and a former speaker of the Louisiana legislature.

A report by Risk Management Solutions estimated that losses from the hurricane could reach $125bn with insured losses of between $40-60bn. But how far insurers are liable will depend on whether the damage was due to hurricane Katrina or the flooding. The rule of thumb is that if the damage is caused by wind or by water falling from the sky the insurance companies are liable and if the water comes from the ground up then the Federal Flood Insurance Program is liable.

Many homeowners are expected to argue that the flooding was caused by the storm, which led to the bursting of the levees to burst. James Donelon, general counsel for the state Department of Insurance, believes that this issue will be decided in the courts.

“This will leave many homeowners in limbo, since they cannot begin reconstruction of their houses until they have some insurance money,” says Mr Brown. “Insurers are certainly not going to roll over and accept responsibility caused by flooding. This would bring down some smaller insurers and have a big impact on the bottom line of the larger companies.”

Thousands of contract loss adjusters are expected to be brought into Louisiana to help clarify insurance claims. The largest insurers in the state are State Farm and All State.

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