Yes it is true on flood insurance - there is only one source of flood insurance and that is the Federal Government - it is not cheap and those residential properties that are within a 100 year flood plain are required to carry flood insurance - the Army Corp of Engineers are the ones who yearly update the maps noting the flood plain - problem comes in when folks have land since a good piece of land will have a creek but the way they demand you carry flood insurance is if you are carrying a mortgage and if a piece of any structure is built, even a corner of it, in the flood plain.
If your home is not in a flood plain it is very difficult to even obtain flood insurance and again, it is very very costly especially for the average middle class family to add that insurance to their monthly budget - then it gets even more sticky because after, I think it was Carla or maybe Beulah in the 1960s, they separated the flood insurance from wind damage - so the issue gets to be a second policy to cover wind damage and then the huge fight over if the damage is from the wind or the water.
Then in the 80s we have the monster change if you report water damage on any home insurance that report stays on record with the property and the next buyer cannot get any insurance except from a very few insurers who of course charge huge premiums. Followed by no insurers wanting to cover mold damage - so again, no real coverage and best not report it.
So with all those restrictions and costs the idea that 80% will not have flood or wind damage and their regular house insurance will not be offering them help is the way of things. Governor Abbot doing everything to impress Trump in order to get the cooperation of FEMA is making him a silent hero even if some of his initiatives leave us with a bad taste in our mouths.
And then wait and see - there will be social engineering in Houston just as there was in New Orleans - with a clean slate there will be lots of changes that will affect where folks can afford to live and the integrity of the neighborhoods that return to their post Harvey status - the damage that for sure in our heat will quickly become an issue of mold (we are still on a normal day in the high 90s) re-building will allow all kinds of charter and private schools to replace public schools with the current push for vouchers making it all happen. Shock Doctrine will bring the big for profit investors.
The news cannot show everything - the average person in Texas is about taking care of each other so the concept of being a hero is foreign - young boys growing up learn 3 basic things - do not leave the house without your hat, say yes ma'am/sir and no ma'am/sir and offer to help everyone - boys take a pride that is not prideful but an expectation for helping especially, if there is some physical requirement - they tend to buy pickups with four wheel drives so they can pull other vehicles out of the mud - they help wildlife that is caught in some entanglement and they help neighbors especially those who live alone - it is how they see themselves in life, to be competent and help others.
This was the biggest issue during Katrina - the national guard came in and stopped so much volunteer help - for instance the huge convoy of eighteen wheeler's that our Texas Grocery Chain, HEB deploys was stopped - this convoy of trucks set up food kitchens that feed 4000 and 5000 a day as well as they bring all sorts of supplies that the media did not photo but was in both Corpus and Rockport and then they were in Sugarland, now part of Houston -
This service from HEB was not allowed into New Orleans - they were stopped and all their volunteers and donations were stuck for days in this line of vehicles bringing help so that anything that was perishable had to be trashed as well as they had to turn around and go back. That was not just a waste but a blow to the heart of the people in this area - it was against their character and so, if you notice at first it was only the Texas National Guard, the local police and a mass of volunteers - then, as more from out of state joined the effort, there were no guardsmen or police pointing weapons as they did during Katrina - since no volunteer was stopped, the upshot, some shelters had too many volunteers. Again, Greg Abbot and Sylvester Turner, the mayor of Houston, know their people.
I'm still picking up ball moss and I need to get someone to power wash my front porch - there is the black mark on the brick where it came up a couple of inches - may need to replace the plate at the front door because the wood under it was soaked and it may need to be replaced. the back of the house is a step up from the back patio where as the front is just a few inches from the concrete porch.
The only tree I have to worry about since we have more rain coming is a huge Ash located half way down the back - although a shallow rooted tree the roots are all over the yard and so it may be the roots are so spread the 50 year old tree would not easily tip over - the rest are all live oak which have deep deep roots that go through the limestone the house sits on and in the far back near the back fence, I have some Chinaberries and a couple of Hackberries that the bird brought in 40 years ago that can easily be replaced with better trees although, I like the blossoms and berries on the Chinaberry trees, they are a natural pesticides. There was a myth that planting Chinaberries near a house kept away malaria and TB.
Lots of folks in the area are taking in displaced families - thought about it but I just cannot so I'm donating what I can that is needed - I am so ready for the fall activities - another week and we start - the temps will still be high and feel like summer and we will still be cleaning up damage but there will be football and the fall holidays to change our feeling of gratitude - life is good...
And yes, I am looking forward to our group discussing The Warden - it will be nice to mentally go back to the ironies of life during Victorian England - so glad that Pat you have read the book and will join us - and Jonathan with your wit - love it - and what fun that Frybabe will join us - and Bellamarie who we can depend upon to see things we often miss and make dead on comparisons to other events. I'm loving this for the fall - Later in September we may do a pre-discussion with this one - let's look at the last weekend in September so that the history of what was happening at that time both in England and here to sorta center us and any tidbits about the author - yes, let's plan on a pre-discussion starting say about Sunday the 27th and then we will start the actually read on October 4.
Ok back to picking up ball moss...
