It is not surprising that the poor have the hardest time recovering from such events, after all they are poor. What I hope happens is several charities notice and do something to assist them in getting back to where they were.
@ melody
i hope that the people in Huston get help with food and water and many people lost their homes and they are living of two dollars and many people are mad because no one is helping.
the article explains the aid delivered to flood victims. to say no one is helping is factually wrong. nobody is starving or are thirsty.people who work for government or receive government aid are unceasing whiners.
It was surprising to find out that people are still suffering through the damages of Harvey. I hope they find a contemporary shelter to stay and local, state and federal government officials must find a way to solve this problem immediately.
1
Politics don’t adequately explain the situation. It is very doubtful that anybody in either party could prepare or mobilize a response to a disaster of this magnitude. Yes, we have developed land that should have been left alone. No, we have not done enough to mitigate the effects of flooding, and more can be done. But let’s not let our partisan views blur the immensity of the challenge here, and let’s not forget the huge swath of Gulf Coast Prairie that was inundated. Many rural communities are still dealing with this, too, all the way down to Corpus Christi. The floodwaters rose in areas that had never seen floods like this. It’s easy to point at specific areas along bayous and known floodplains and criticize the city and county for ignoring the risk. But millions live on top of faults and near active volcanoes, too. Texas is home to polluting yet vital industry; her people have accepted risk, knowingly or not, to have their little piece of the American Dream. They aren’t merely going to uproot and leave. But I’ll admit that we can’t keep doing things the old way, either.
1
The difficult part to fathom is the swath of devastation. Something around 300,000 structures damaged, 7-8,000 square miles, and 13,000,000 people. Much of this area was covered in three feet of water, imagine standing on land waist deep in water and seeing water as far as your eye could see? -- I have met many flood victims in my job. Some who are still waiting for funding. Other's still saying "other's needed more than we did, we could wait." I am stilling designing kitchen for people who are not living at home. I have one client who lived in a horse trailer for a month. They are still months away from moving into their home, FEMA? nothing. -- If FEMA spent those billions of dollars here, I can say in my area too many people experienced what Monika Houston did. I had one person say they would not pay for my roof but paid for the home contents, the flood waters did not come in the doors and weep holes. I'd say FEMA spent more housing the employees who were denying claims than helping people. I know more people who got small business loans to rebuild their homes than than people FEMA helped. --The homes built out by Addicks reservoir, across counties from here? They should have never been built on a flood plain none of them. Developers didn't care, they just wanted the buck. -- I think new homes in this area, all eight thousand square miles should be built on pilings, at least for the foreseeable future.
2
The poorest neighborhoods are the slowest to recover? Who would have guessed that. Next headline “poorest neighborhoods have highest rate of food stamp recepients.”
3
I hope that the people from Houston that lost their home get help and they lost many memories and the people that don't have money are struggling a lot at this moment for food and good water
Investigative reporting by our dedicated free press now stands alone in exposing the hideous revelations of waste, fraud, and abuse going on in this country. Meanwhile, our inept, obtuse leader guts reforms, regulations, regulators, and restrictions on his greedy corporate pets. The Pig (of Animal Farm fame) has brainwashed a swath of ill-informed voters into accepting lies as truth and offering up their own self interests in homage to the carnival barker who disrespects them for being so easy.
2
One need only look as far as the absolute idiocy of developers and planners throughout coastal Houston metro, in a non-stop race to drastically overpopulate land unfit for human habitation, as the single source for all the problems the city experiences. Year after year, storms notwithstanding.
3
@to make waves No zoning of which many Texans are quite proud but hands are out and filled for those who have the most in Texas. We just voted for a flood mitigation bond in Harris County but still no zoning. I speak as a temporary resident of the state.
How is it that despite there being an agency intended to help people rebuild after a large-scale natural disaster such as Harvey would deny a person funding to repair her house from flood-water damage by claiming a flood could not have done said damage? I feel as if it is a rhetorical question, but you just never know anymore.
5
Didn't the personal million $ donation from potus* help anyone? Oh, and I wonder if he's donating his salary to charity...He's not bragging about either so I doubt both.
1
Most people feel bad for the poor, & since the dawn of time no one has come up with a solution to the problem of poverty.
I still hope somehow we do a better job helping the neediest, not just after hurricanes either. But that would require electing intelligent, competent & caring politicians. That of course rarely happens anywhere, but I've never heard of it happening in Texas.
In Houston...politicians, business leaders, builders & most citizens don't believe in climate change, don't listen to the best science we have regarding the likely impacts & how to mitigate them.
No, they listen to the 1% & developers that want to build on flood or coastal plains, or in any low elevation area regardless of likely risks from hurricanes, colossal rainstorms & extreme storm surges.
After all Hurricane Harvey's death toll is now over 80 people and it caused an estimated $125 billion in damage. What's the problem.
And climate scientists project an increase in frequency & intensity of these types of storms with a warming planet. And yet the elected toads rubber stamp whatever zoning the rich want.
Now politicians & the oil/gas industry there are asking US taxpayers to fund a ~$16 billion, 60-mile seawall near Houston, along the refinery-heavy Gulf Coast.
The anti-tax crowd wants Fed tax dollars to build a structure to mitigate rising seas, storm surges & flooding. Do these people have any integrity or humility. Of course not. But they still want no taxes or regulations.
Vote.
3
Money can smooth a lot of problems away. For my relatives who live Houston, but are white, upper middle class, their problems were minor, and the one household that did flood, received FEMA help very quickly. In fact, many in their neighborhood that dealt with flood damaged homes, were able to get FEMA money to help rebuild their homes fairly quickly. But, they know how to deal with the system, have money themselves and have lawyers. Oh, one is a lawyer, so that was helpful. For the working class Hispanics, whites and blacks in the poorer areas of Houston, that help was hard to get and still is as this article attest to. It isn't fair but it seems to be the system we have, and it has gotten worse under the Trump administration. Just look at Puerto Rico.
15
@Mallory
Trump hasn’t been in office long enough to cause such social disadvantage among the disadvantaged. Puerto Rico was bankrupt before he was elected, something that happened during the Obama administration.
4
"The race and income disparities identified in the survey are likely a result of what existed before the storm"
Really? Could that even be possible? I mean don't hurricanes, tornadoes and what not change people races and net worth?
1
@Mark
Did you read the article?
@sjn
Yes. I just find statements like that to be so meaningless. Nobody's race changes because of a hurricane. Nobody gets richer because of a hurricane. Everyone takes a hit, some more than others.
Face it, those with more financial assets will fare better. Low income home owners will have little or no home insurance, while wealthier home owners will have better coverage. Not to mention the resources to cover repairs while they are waiting on claims to be completed. And they will have the resources and education to properly file FEMA claims as well as challenge denials.
While the race baiters want to make it look like a race thing the fact is no one has gotten federal funds according to the article. Remember our Government is broke and has been for years. Texas is a relatively wealthy state, they should pony up to the bar and buy a few rounds as well.
1
i hope that the people in Huston get help with food and water and many people lost their homes and they are living of two dollars and many people are mad because no one is helping
I am a Las Vegas, Nevada resident that signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross to help with Hurricane Harvey disaster relief. I was deployed to Houston to work on a ERV. Emergency Response Vehicle. I spent two weeks on this truck with my crew working 16 hour days in the poorest of poor neighborhoods. We made our main focus St. James and Rockport housing projects. What we saw and experienced was appalling. We served thousands of meals a day to incredibly hungry people. For many this would be their only meal for the day. Often we would not arrive until 10pm to feed and hundreds would come out of destroyed apartments. We were soon greeted by the police telling us that if we continued to feed on private property that was declared condemned we would be subject to arrest. They were trying to force people out. They had no where else to go. We did everything in our powers to make sure these children and parents were fed daily. Often times fights would break out over food between children. Our crew was 100% committed to making sure every last person was fed. An incredible experience.
25
Thank you Dylan for you time and work to help those in need after Harvey.
7
Good work!
2
So easy to blame republicans for not getting everything back into shape with in 1 year of a huge natural disaster. When it took decades of man made progressive liberal polices to destroy many working peoples lives with institutionalized poverty with poor government planning
1)Puerto Rico electric grid beyond just poorly maintained, but a hazards to the population as was found out
2) NYC policy of containing poor people in substandard housing
3) Chicago crime from years of neglect and poor polices on the south and west side
4) Income disparity reached record spreads during a Obama rein and only now narrowing the spread between income and employment
Look at data and not use your feeling to get in the way of your judgement
15
@Longtime Chi
Number of Chicago homicides in 1992 at the end of the Reagan-Bush reign: 965. Last year: 665.
As you advise, let's look at data and not let our feelings get in the way of our judgement.
4
@Longtime Chi I am sorry; but I have to disagree with your. Both parties have failed the American people equally.
Basically the classic "conservative" take: Avoid and evade taxes wherever possible, cut taxes on the rich, burn more fossil fuels, torpedo anti- climate change agreements, glorify the private sector, deplore any and all regulation, disempower and de-fund government agencies and divert funding to "faith based" charities, then whine and complain about federal bureaucratic incompetence when FEMA can't perform miracles in the face of virtually unprecedented multi-billion dollar disasters brought about by climate change.
42
@Jared
It might have been helpful if the author of the article explained why it is that over a billion dollars worth of HUD community development grants are held up in litigation.
"Community activists" object to the fact that HUD money for low income housing is directed to areas based on a formula that takes into account: availability of public transportation, cost of housing, community acceptance of the proposed development, among other factors. They believe the formula favors housing in areas with high minority populations, and would prefer to see fewer units built in high income suburban areas with low minority populations, despite the fact that those areas have limited access to public transportation and it is more costly to buy land. It is leftists who are preventing federal funds to be released to Houston.
They won a ruling by SCOTUS, and the current allocation of HUD funds complies with the ruling, but activists are unsatisfied and are therefore blocking the distribution of funds.
Historically, HUD funds have been used to redevelop areas of urban blight, which tend to be located in low income, frequently minority, areas.
7
It was Republican policies that put Puerto Rico in a predicament where the country couldn't afford to upgrade its power grid.
6
This NYT article demonstrates how control of the federal bureaucracy is a means to at least ignore or even abuse poor minorities who are not part of the Republican base. The article indicates that over one billion dollars has been already appropriated for hurricane relief for this area (even if rebuilding in flood plains is not a good idea), but despite its representation by two Republican senators, the whip and an incumbent up for reelection, already appropriated funds have not been released for use in these areas with low income minorities, and the described administrative decisions on individual applications for relief are uniformly wholly adverse or at least grossly inadequate to meet the applicant resident's needs. I guess elected Republican representatives in Texas believe that rank and file Texas Republican voters don't care about the fate of these fellow Texans or even would approve of this mistreatment if made aware of it.
2
“Poorest are slower to recover” has not that been the case througout history?
9
Poorest neighborhoods slowest to recover? Who is surprised?
It's always this way. Just ask Eastern North Carolina, a region with plenty of hurricane experience.
3
Well shocked I'm not. Living on Long Island NY, I know the wealthy have been rebuilt on the south shore of the island. Many times over thru the decades of storms, and beach erosion. I know that the local politicians have been both helpful and not in those events. Some better at getting relief then others. All of them white males.
This constant lack of attention to the poor and elderly is nothing short of a war on them. They are soldiers on the losing side. And regretfully their "officers" (elected officials) are at a severe disadvantage due to the racism and inherent bias against the poor that exists in this nation.
There are no easy answers. Electing Dems ain't the cure, as they too lack essential skills in fixing these problems. They too often get lost in their ideological wanderings, as much as the Repubs do in their own.
Few of either side are true, and tried problem solvers. Problem 1. how to get the resources directly to those who need them, when they need them! Problem 2. How to work, or maybe around FEMA, and its apparent lack of touching down in reality. Denying people their claims based on "not the results of the storm" - when there is clearly no other reasons for the damages is abject malpractice.
Congress needs leadership in these matters. Needs leadership to start the proper and swift oversight on these agencies, that results in - results! Not more recommendations for an agency or dept to adopt if they can maybe get around to it. But to immediately enact.
5
Something doesn't seem to add up her from a math perspective. FEMA claims it has distributed $4.3 billion and another $1.14 billion is slated for the city in Community Block Development Grants. That's $5.4 billion. Then there's private charity. Houston Texans Superstar JJ Watt personally raised $30 million and the Red Cross and other aid groups raised a lot of money as well. Let's call the overall aid number $6 billion. Houston, at the time of the of the 2000 census had a little over 700K households, so let's account for population growth and call it 1m households.
By that metric there's easily $6,000 in aid available for each and every household before even factoring in things like insurance. Add to that the fact that some households didn't suffer damage and it's hard to understand where this money has gone. It seems clear that somewhere in here there's been misappropriation or misuse of funds. Is FEMA funneling money to contractors for kickbacks? Are people receiving FEMA funds and then spending them on other things? Do people not know that or how they can claim aid?
It seems like there's a bigger story here to be uncovered. The amount of aid seems quite sufficient to at least get a start rebuilding the city.
14
@JP The by the numbers report from the NBC affiliate, 300,000 structures damaged.
Thanks, though. A thoughtful response.
The story might have more impact if some poor white people, retired or working, were also included. The percentage of nonwhites getting government assistance is higher, but the absolute number of whites getting government assistance is greater.
Covering just the suffering minorities leads people to think that government assistance is a racial issue, where the makers are white and the takers arent (a very common misperception that is supported and furthered by conservatives). It also makes it easier to forget about whites who arent making it, and blame their status and state on their personal failings rather than their class. We encourage them to think of themselves this way because it makes providing assistance cheaper and because it keeps class consciousness down and makes it easier for winners to preserve and extend their victories.
Stressing the needs and problems of minorities and ignoring those of whites in similar situations helps preserve the status quo, in which those on the bottom cannot get together to fight for their interests in a system that is weighted against them. Instead, minorities at the bottom get stereotyped with well-meaning paternalism and whites at the bottom are ignored or get stereotyped as deplorables or worse.
1
Remember that article from awhile ago that said a large number of people would have a problem coming up with $400 on short notice? So is it any surprise that people have no resources to recover from a disaster of this magnitude? So many people these days are living on such a thin edge that any stiff wind will blow them over. Now in this case local government bears responsibility for the lack of zoning that allows building in known flood regions. But I hope people take notice after these major disasters that the government Calvary may be slow to arrive - and may be empty handed when they get there. We all need to be our own FEMA - have an emergency fund (before you buy that new house, car), check flood and earthquake maps BEFORE you buy that house, maintain defensible space around your home if you live in a fire area, have an earthquake survival kit at your house (and in your car). Learn from the examples in this article . . .
7
The Republicans think "if the poors don't like being poors they should get money" - bless their hearts.
The poor don't get the minimum, while the well off will rebuild multiple times in hurricane alley, or in a high fire area with taxpayer support.
6
Is there a reason the NYT continues to use the word “minority” when referring to people of color? It’s not only offensive to many people including me, it’s factually incorrect in many stories. For example, Texas is not a a majority white state. I deeply appreciate the NYT reporting, especially over the past few years, but this word offends me every time I read it in an article.
16
@Michael Robertson
You're not alone in this. By now, the use of the word "minority" is an established code for meaning Black.
I never use it. And when I do, I always write it using quotation marks.
3
Well, speak for yourself but, as a bonafide Mexican-American, I’ve never taken offense at the word “minority” (but don’t get me started on the offensive catch all “Hispanic”). I assume the NYT means a minority as a percentage of the total US population.
The poorest neighborhoods are the slowest to recover?? Doers anyone find this to be a surprise?
6
And how about all those lead-painted apartments...
Not in Houston - riyby...
Y' know...Right in Your Back Yard...
6
Thank you Manny Fernandez for bringing this story to the public. Of course it is about Houston, but it is also a story which will repeat itself many times in the coming years. It could be called the "Perfect Trump Storm". The elements will always be the same:
1. Ignore climate change
2. No effective floodplain management zoning which have been known for 60 years
3. A vulture-like real estate community
4. Corrupt and incompetent local and state officials
5. A bailout of billions by the federal government for a tragedy that could have been avoided.
6. An ignorant re-build and forget mentality
7. Finally, of course, as Fernandez points out, the poor will be left suffering and with little hope.
13
@Paul Robillard
#3. yes! But they are also predators first and foremost. Many are surely living off the carrion, but far more create the carcasses. Add to that how local politicians are always hell-bent on "development, development!" at all costs, esp. the lining of their campaign coffers...and its a died in the wool pay for play system.
The RE lobby, especially on the Development side, is huge in D.C. as it is all around the US. I tend to call them Real Estate Exploiters...as they too often do good and sustainable development. Always seeking new places to exploit and in most cases bring ruination on the locals and environments. Rarely do the lofty selling points ever truly benefit the "community".
@Boregard
Oops...do no good....
Part of me says to myself 'I don't know how anyone could live in a place such as Houston, where the humidity and heat are an everyday lifestyle and which only helps exacerbate the mosquito problems, and in a state which doesn't much seem to care to adequately fund its' public governments so that when crisis hit, there is at least a basic emergency infrastructure- intact.'
But I also understand that so much of our nation everywhere is seeing the same kinds of trends of public services gutting of funding which means fewer and fewer services available to those who truly need them. It's not happening just in Houston.
These vastly wealthy University systems more concerned with building ever larger sports stadiums and paying their sports coaches millions, medical industrial complexes and insurers who deny millions of basic health care claims , the trillion dollar revenue producing Googles, Amazons, Apples, Facebooks of the nation, and none of them are EVER asked, no demanded, to pay their fair share towards the community good. At some point, the camel's back is going to break from the enormity of the imbalance of fiscal responsibility. It's just a question of when.
19
"Vertical wooden beams"
That a new one to me. Why not simply call them studs?
11
@Don Wiss, too sexist. Fortunately the day is coming when we can’t say anything. The bliss of silence.
5
@John Doe
I wouldn't say that it's "too sexist", but many folks, like myself, are simply unfamilar with specific construction terminologies. Lighten up.
@Don Wiss "Stud" is politically incorrect, someone would have been outraged by its use in the article. I wish I were joking.
We punish the poor for being poor and ensure they can’t escape their poverty.
Instead we insist that they are lazy, good for nothing, etc. those most ardent insisting are often lazy, good for nothing never worked a real job, trust fund babies, who know that if they pay taxes to fund any social services, they can’t earn that money again as they don’t work. Once mommy’s or daddy’s money runs out it is gone.
Until we admit that our tax code is biased in favor of people inheriting vast fortunes and never working, we are going to have real problems. There won’t be much help where people are poor, poorly educated and willing to work or already working hard...
Are you happy to know that you are going to work the rest of your days to support Trump and his ilk?
12
@SW It's not entirely a liberal/conservative divide though. I can't think of a better example of sheer hypocrisy than NY's very liberal democratic candidate Cynthia Nixon. Ms. Nixon talks about a state run Medicare for all program which she plans to pay for with a massive payroll tax. Meanwhile, Ms. Nixon files her taxes as an S Corp, so not only does she enjoy a much lower corporate tax rate but since she neither receives wages as an employee nor has an employees of her "corporation," which is just her, she will not be subject to paying one penny of what would be the biggest tax hike in NY state history should she be elected governor.
The middle class has been sold out by both parties. The only hope her is to get money out of politics so are elected representatives start to become more, well, representative of the general population in economic terms. Much has been made of the lack of racial and gender diversity in politics but more needs to be said about the lack of class diversity.
3
@JP - How would you handle your finances if you were an actor or other form of entertainer receiving large amounts of non-wage income?
1
@JP
Goodpoints.
Class diversity.
Repubs tend to go into politics to leap frog into the higher levels, and do so by protecting those already there...seeing the wealthy as virtuous and sacred. They see themselves as rightful, righteous servants and protectors of the upper echelon. Its a Cult mentality. Protect those at the pyramid top, and they will bring you up there. After you fulfill their sacred rituals.
Dems go in for social justice, and when corrupted its a result of a "take some of whats lying around, or due to me" mentality. But like dirty cops, they typically go in to do good, and protect the downtrodden. But the corruption gets to them...they see it as a method of getting things done. Its not the original intent.
We're all corruptible under the right conditions. But some of us seek the means over those who get drawn in.
1
The government in this country is by the rich for the rich period. The rich will eventually pay no taxes and they will get rid of all the social services program. The mentality of these people is that poor people deserve it.
12
Amanda K. Edwards for next governor of Texas.
4
The rich get richer. The government doesn't give out money. For the most part, they loan money based upon your ability to pay it back. So, if you have money, and a good job, and high credit score, just borrow at a less than market rate all you can. Document all your damages, including ones which might be questionable.
I know, I was in the 94' Northridge Earthquake. About 2 years earlier I had started working for myself so my income wasn't high enough to qualify for a government loan. At the age of 43 years old I had to have my parents consign for the loan of $20,000. In retrospect I should have been more circumspect, challenged the "low ball" government estimate of damages and gotten a $150,000 loan.
Texas has no state income tax- they want their state to be low tax and prosperous.If they cannot rebuild after a flood they look shabby and poor.The excuse for continued devastation in Puerto Rico was that it is an “island”.What is the excuse for Texas?
13
Unfortunately, this is the nature of natural disasters, those least able to bear loss suffer longest. How to help Houstonians at risk is both obvious and not obvious. The “obvious" is prevent flooding, a costly and long suite of projects not favored by Washington who hold the money. The Trump administration is not supportive of cities, knowing they don’t support him. This is naive since votes are tallied state wide and if Texas goes Democratic, it ain’t comin’ back. The "not obvious" is assistance after a flood … source of money, for what, how paid, by whom, suitable administrative structure and controls. Practically, this is done best at the city-county level however, the city-county don’t have the money, resources or experience. This argues for a partnership, feds/city/county that federal agencies do not appear configured to do. The State of Texas did little. Governor Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Patrick are focused on what their base wants, conservative social engineering.
13
I am surprised at how few responses to this article. We could all be affected by a natural disaster only to find all the taxes and insurance we pay don't really help us.
I lived in a area where we lost 350+ homes in a fire. Luckily ours survived, however our insurance provider cancelled our policy immediately. It took people years to rebuild and some never could. The legalities went on for years.
12
Is this headline a surprise to anyone?
That is the essence of "rugged individualism".
The government can and will help, but we prioritize that help for the most potentially productive of those in need, the 'right sort of people'.
1) Those from upper social strata.
2) Those of the preferred races, religions, and nationality, such as Norwegians. (Per Trump's comments.)
3) Those "geniuses" with great talents such as athletic skills and beautiful models like our First Lady.
4) The well educated.
5) Those with essential skills for our industries like hotel and golf course workers, provided they work long hours for low wages.
6) Middle class people in areas that vote right.
...
17) Other people like teachers and state workers with low pay scales.
...
22) People from nice countries we like.
...
47) Poor people who rarely vote, those in big cities or rural areas poorly served by transportation and public services.
...
172) Citizens who live outside the 49 states, like those in Guam, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii.
173) People from "Splathole" countries like Haiti and Kenya.
174) Liberals.
6
the wealthy will get FEMA to cover everything. because that's what wealth gives you, power. the poor are too busy and too tired to fight back, so they get nothing.
8
@gdf
If they completed school they would be able to read the the FEMA applications and fill them out correctly so they could get the government aid available to them.
3
Honestly, there is no reason to be surprised about this.
After all, we already know in which regard this current administration holds people of certain income level, who also happen to be Black.
Still. It begs one to wonder how is it possible for this government to allot more money for military spending and grant the upper 1%, and corporate elite more favourable tax breaks -- but it still can't find enough money to help those afflicted by catastrophic storms like Hurricane Harvey and Maria.
Is this making America great again?
10
Where is the mayor, city council and representatives of Houston? How are they engaged to to support their constituents? How we care for the poorest among us is how we will be judged. What recourse do these citizens have to negotiate with FEMA?
10
@Deirdre: The mayor and councilmembers -- especially but not limited to Ms. Edwards -- are engaging to support constituents as best they can in the face of intransigence from the Republican governor and complex recalcitrance from Washington. You are welcome to come to Houston, see for yourself, and help us continue to help our neighbors. That works better than casting aspersions from a distance.
5
The journalistic phenomenon of keeping timely news in the headlines remains in place, We read pages and pages about "recent" hurricanes, then how recovery is underway. But within a year, only little spots of coverage. Thus, we begin to believe that communities are all patched up and fine in a short time, Sadly, hurricane disasters take years and billions of dollars to come back, If we are now entering a period of more violent and dangerous storms, we'll be seeing much larger populations start to fail without much attention paid to them, to their and our national detriment,
8
@Ira Cohen
Fortunately, we have entered a period of less violent and dangerous storms, along with better warning. We have fewer deaths, but more property damage.
In areas like New Orleans and Puerto Rico, which have been under exclusive Democrat rule for decades, there are injuries and fatalities because the governments have poor plans in place.
5
When your house is a dump in a dumpy neighborhood to begin with, how much incentive can there be to want to try and repair it back to the way it was?
14
“Dump” or not, it is still someone’s home and neighborhood.
10
@John Doe, shame on you. Home is home. Community is community. This holds no matter how expensive the house or desirable the neighborhood. Somewhere, someone considers *your* home "a dump in a dumpy neighborhood." What would you say to them, if they turned your own language against you?
10
@Witness, I’d tell them, thanks, I’m sick of it myself. Let the termites have it.
It has always been the case that the sorriest real estate is reserved for the poor. The poor frequently live in substandard housing - either trailers or poorly maintained rentals. FEMA is a joke. Years ago after a hurricane, I spoke to a FEMA rep in FL who was from across the country and completely unfamiliar with Florida and hurricanes. I asked him why FEMA did not send people who knew the area and he replied that the feds assumed there would be too much graft with locals. So instead, people got spotty, ineffective care. For as long as I can remember, the federal government has not managed to do a very good job at anything other than collecting taxes.
7
@Eli. Stop perpetuating the myth -- a myth all too willingly advanced by many conservatives -- that the federal government is ineffective or broken. It is not.
You write, "For as long as I can remember, the federal government has not managed to do a very good job at anything other than collecting taxes." Wonderful. I expect, then, that you'll willingly forego Medicare when you reach 65 and opt to pay for private insurance yourself. Will you stop driving on interstate highways since federal tax dollars pay in large part for the highway system? Do you want NC's special needs students not to receive federal education dollars? What about defense spending in North Carolina? Stop that, too, since the feds can't "do a very good job at anything"?
We are the richest, most prosperous nation in the history of humanity, and our civilization is as civilized as it is in large part BECAUSE of the federal government and its work. Not in spite of it.
7
@Eli
They don’t do a good job with collecting taxes...from the rich.
8
@Eli
News flash. Many of Houston's nicer neighborhoods were flooded just as bad as low rent places.
A telling & illuminating piece with much to recommend it in this era of accelerating climate change. One small thing: beams ain't vertical.
1
Typical ending during any Republican administration. Their ideology all for the rich. George Bush treated Katrina people horrible and if you think it gets any better you are breathing to much coal dust. Stop electing the GOP and life will get better.
33
@D.j.j.k. , whenever I read blanket solutions such as yours , it takes me back to the wars in Iraq strictly between Shiites and Sunnis for that reason alone. Very nuanced.
1
@John Doe
You gave a bad example.
Our involvement in those wars is a lot less “nuanced” very GOP-oil blanket reponse
2
@D.j.j.k.
During a natural disaster, local and state governments are responsible for the first 48 hours, and FEMA comes in, along with the National Guard and military but only if the governor requests it. Under our republic, the states are sovereign and the federal government is prohibited from supplying military forces unless requested by the governor.
Nagin, the mayor of new Orleans, was vacationing out-of-state when Katrina hit, so was not in a position to make a request for over 24 hours. Further, the flooding in New Orleans was not the result of Katrina, but was caused by a barge damaging a levy. The levy failed, causing other levy failures, causing the city, which is below sea level, to fill up with water. [Nagin was later convicted of diverting Katrina federal funds for personal benefit and did federal time.] The local police fled, leaving the streets to be looted by thugs. Frail elders were abandoned in nursing homes. All-in-all, a very poor showing for the Democrat mayor of New Orleans and the Democrat governor of Louisiana. The plan was to evacuate using school busses, which were under water. The refuge of last resort, the Super Dome, did not even have bottled water on hand, much less water to flush the toilets.
St. Bernard parish, adjacent to New Orleans, took a bigger hit from Katrina, but got little attention because their parish government did not collapse.
The sorry state of Puerto Rico is similarly the result of poor Democrat leadership.
With the 2018 election cycle underway millions of dollars are being donated to politicians and PAC's with the majority of the money spent on television, radio, and Internet advertising.
A novel approach is sponsoring a home repair or bridge/road rehabilitation and calling a press conference to draw attention to deserving and much needed projects, casting the sponsoring candidate with positive exposure.
There is plenty of money being circulated to the people that need it the least, not the people that need it the most.
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Except for people who pay for flood insurance, it’s not FEMA’s job to rebuild flooded houses. So it shouldn’t be terribly surprising that people with more money are better able to rebuild their own homes.
What people should be angry about is how poorly the government planned for this flood in the first place. Houston has a long history of catastrophic flooding, and nobody should have been surprised by this one. But many people were. They bought homes that were clearly at risk, and they had no idea. That’s bad government.
FEMA needs to do a much better job of analyzing flood risks, and publishing the results. Nobody should be buying an at-risk home unless they know what they’re getting into. And far more of these homes should have a flood insurance requirement for mortgages.
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@Rick
Houston is a city that basically has no zoning. If the blame is going to be laid upon"government," it should start with local government.
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@Rick
It is the Army Corp of Engineers that is responsible for evaluating flood plains and the like, not FEMA, which is tasked with response to disasters, natural or manmade.
After 9/11, the federal government allocated funds for disaster planning to states. Some put together action plans, so didn't do so well.
What is interesting is that it is apparently not a state or local requirement that the Army Corps recommendations be publicized, which in Houston resulted in an area designated as a spillway being developed with homes, which were intentionally flooded to protect other areas. Poor judgment on the part of the Democrat city government in allowing a spillway to be developed. [Houston has always been blue.]
After Katrina, intelligent people believed that the entire Ninth Ward, in which virtually all housing was destroyed, should have been reclassified as a spillway. But it was an overwhelmingly Democrat district, and would have altered the political leaning of the district, so the Army Corps made the political decision to reinstate the original floodplain maps rather than buying out the owners, despite the fact that the levies are likely to fail again.
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@Jared
Zoning is not the equivalent of urban planning. Zoning involves specifying that areas are limited to residential, single family; residential multifamily; commercial; industrial. In Houston, that means that your single family house on a two acre lot can wind up next door to homes on 50 by 100 lots, an apartment building, strip mall, office park or a Walmart that wouldn't be allowed in a community that has tight zoning restrictions.
What was always within the power of the municipal government was to not allow building permits for a spillway and to plan for where flood waters would be directed under circumstances like a hurricane. They also were entitled to require that industrial entities had high water barriers to prevent pollution. The Exxon Baytown refinery, one of the largest refineries in the world, did not release toxins to the environment, but plenty of other industrial and commercial entities did.
The Democrat municipal government preferred real estate tax revenue to planning that might have reduced revenue.
Democrats rarely consider the consequences of their poor policy decisions.
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I appreciate the column and to not forget the victims of a natural disaster on American soil, but Puerto Rico is American soil as well, and their victims deserve the same attention.
It is not about rich or poor, black, white, or brown skin color, or if the place is within a state or not - it is about a government that does not even accept climate change as a factor.
That same government (because of that stance) does not prepare for the oncoming destruction that is only going to get stronger, more deadly, and costlier. (in relation to clean up and lives)
That same government shows up for the obligatory photo op after the disaster. decries ''job well done'' and then leaves, making the people try to piece together their lives all by themselves.
The residents of Houston, (AS WELL AS) Puerto Rico are no where near to being whole. and they may never be. These are the facts, that need to change in attitude and in action.
They are all deserving of our help - equally.
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@FunkyIrishman Puerto Rico at least is still talked about, few if any people mention the US Virgin Islands.
Years from now I would not be surprised to see these neighbohoods gentrified. I often wondered what led to property in poor neighborhoods being abandoned and then bought at a fraction of the truth value. These types of things happened in cities all over America. I do not believe it is an accident. I truly feel it is done on purpose to push people out of areas so it can be rebuilt for a different group of people. Look at the racial makeup of New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina compare it pre Hurricane Katrina.
In other cities, it may not have been a natural disaster. For instance, landlords stop making repairs or owners have a hard time getting financing to update or repair their properties. None of this is by accident. Land and property are some of the most valuable assets in this country. God isn't making any more land. I do not believe in coincidences. American history has shown that terrible things are done for the benefit of the "greater good".
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“Everything always hits the poor harder than it does everybody else.”
Huh? This isn't an explanation, it's a cop-out for the following plain English: the poor, especially the minority poor are relatively powerless, so to heck with 'em; they can wait.
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Wonder if governor Cuomo is reading this. Might blow his phony lawsuit on behalf of Puerto Rico against the federal government.
Also please note:
Poor folks are poor with or without a natural disaster they are still poor
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Is anyone auditing FEMA and the other agencies that are supposed to be helping these folks? Oh wait, the Republicans are in charge. Never mind.
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@ProSkeptic I agree. This sad situation in Houston with Hurricane Harvey is an exact carbon copy of the sad situation in New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina. FEMA promised,but never delivers. And a fine example of Trump-run FEMA stupidity is that letter that poor woman recieved from FEMA stating she was denied financial benefits for her property because the damages weren't caused by the disaster? So, 2 feet of floodwater caused by the worst rainstorm in American history in her home is not caused by a disaster? Humm.... Definitely Trump- thinking FEMA.
Surprise, surprise. Those who don’t have the gumption and desire to get their lives together before the storm, and are therefore underemployed and uneducated, are now slower at cleaning up after the storm. This is news? Of course the behaviors that caused these people to be poor beforehand will still be their behaviors afterward. Maybe the government should pay a big group of good parents to go out and teach responsibility. Or should government just go do every bit of the clean up for them? Is that what we are supposed to think? FEMA spent billions in aid here. Why did these people not participate? It is simply their own fault that they didn’t. You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
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Did you read the article? Did you not note the account of the veteran in his 80s? Your ignorance and dismissive attitude on the poor says more about your humanity than anything I’ve read in some time. You have no idea of the myriad of reasons why many cannot escape poverty, but I sense that trying to explain them to you would be a moot point. As you yourself stated, you can lead a horse to water...
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To: “Realist in Iowa”
**Please act like an informed adult and do some research before expounding profiling and prejudice.
As per your metaphor, we were good little horses; the trough was Dry.
There were many solutions for RENTERS, very few for HOMEOWNERS. My son was a caregiver for his father. Home was declared Destroyed, by FEMA. It was not in a flood plain either—the massive amount of rain caved in the roof. Flood insurance did not cover, since it was not “damage from rising waters.”
FEMA solution? SBA loan. Father is 72, an extremely disabled Vietnam Veteran. Who will loan him money to rebuild? No one. I went and offered to co-sign—still no. Apartment for three months was his only other offer-and my son and I scoured every help site, visited many in person as well as banks and credit unions.
Final solution: They both moved out-of-state.
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@Realist: Let’s remember that when you lose your home due to a natural disaster, or your job or your health at age 74. That will be your own fault then. Good luck with bouncing back from that on your own.
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Regardless of location, this is a truth. Those with less means are inherently less capable of recovery, overcoming insurance shortfalls and replacement of items that simply make life easier. And of course, until insurance payments are made, the damage remains un-repaired which, in many cases, simply worsens the situation.
15
I read that Texas has a 12 billion dollar rainy day fund. I guess they are saving to build football stadiums or mega churches. The people of Flint are still drinking bottled water and the ex governor Snider has the gall to appear on TV adds touting his success in Michigan. His desicion to save money will ultimately cost MI taxpayers billions. Both disasters were exacerbated by conservative politicians, not immigrants.
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Mayor Turner was able to access the fund. He mentioned that in a town hall last year and my understanding is the city will be able to get more money from the fund.
“‘Everything always hits the poor harder than it does everybody else,’ said John Sharp, the head of the Governor’s Commission to Rebuild Texas.” This is always the case. Like it or not, no value judgement, it just is. Just as those with wealth have the options of more costly, less flood prone property, affording flood insurance, and a backstop of personal savings.
Some problems are better avoided than remediated ex post facto. Allowing development on flood prone land is the job of the government to prevent. Absent that, of course the poor will flock to less expensive properties. Root cause analysis, Houston government either prohibit development on these lowlands or make building codes to assure periodic flooding damage is minimized. Raised foundations and other beach property building conventions are well known technologies. Recalibrate requirements from 100 year flood zones to include 500 year flood zones. Raise the minimum of flood insurance required. Work with insurance companies to raise the standards. Yes, home ownership costs in these locations will go up. But the land wasn’t so cheap after all when the inevitable flood added costs are included. Protect the vulnerable before there’s a problem.
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My girlfriend's house was severely damaged in Sandy over 6 years ago, and it is still being repaired and brought up to the new codes. It has been two steps forward one and a half back the whole time. Contractors, permits, testing, inspections, FEMA, NY Rising, insurance companies, etc. etc. It has completely upended our lives, as she has lived in an apartment part of the time, with me at other times. I can hardly remember our lives before this at this point. So settle in Houston, I hate to say it but the 1 year anniversary probably is just the beginning of many.
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To: Dan88 in Long Island, NJ
Sir, thank you for telling it how it really is and goes. Hopefully the rebuild nightmare will end soon for your girlfriend and you.
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@Dan88
I am sure with all the natural disasters happening throughout the country we will be seeing more stories like yours, in fact there probably are hundreds more like yours, we just don't hear about them. Can only imagine how much worse it is going to get.
1
In a society where money is the only measure of value the lives of the poor are severely discounted.
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@Thomas Tillman, Capitalism was America’s choice, so what’s your point?
Maybe Trump, with his benevolence towards others, particularly minorities, will appear, in between his golf outings, and throw those affected the most, some paper towels.
I can remember the "doing a heckuva job, Brownie" and the debacle that ensued.
It would appear that our great leader would at least offer something, anything, to help these people. But then, that would be "socialism" that the Trump supporters decry-until they are in need.
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