Louisiana Officials Educate Feds About Flood Insurance Premiums

Rep. Maxine Waters, one of the authors of the Biggert-Waters Act said that she never intended the bill to have such far-reaching and catastrophic consequences for residents who live outside federal levee protection, especially in South Louisiana.  It actually seems that no one checked to see how the elimination of federal subsidies and the reorganization of the Flood Elevation Maps to redefine flood-prone areas would affect the “real-time” flood insurance rates.

As an example of such a serious oversight by members of Congress, one Plaquemines Parish resident who currently pays $638/year in flood insurance, according to the parameters of the new flood maps and non-existent subsidies, will now pay $28,000/year.  That’s an almost 44% increase in the resident’s flood insurance rate, not to mention the price of a new car or a down payment on a new house.  Oh, and even though the house is outside the federal levee system, it’s never been flooded – not in Hurricanes Isaac or Katrina.

With these statistics in hand, 14 parish leaders from Louisiana traveled to Washington D.C. to meet with the House Financial Services Committee and FEMA to “give them a head’s up” as to the real implications of the Biggert-Waters Act according to Jefferson Parish President John Young.  In this meeting, Louisiana officials were informed by congressional and federal officials that they were completely unaware of THIS effect of the legislation.

“They were very surprised and shocked at the consequences,” Young said, adding the Louisiana officials were the first “to advise them of the unintended consequences. They really had no clue of the consequences of this legislation.”

Meanwhile, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu with the support of legislative officials from New York and New Jersey which were also enormously impacted by the Biggert-Waters Act is now on her second bill to get the flood insurances premium increases delayed until a solution can be found.  Her first bill was blocked by Sen. Patrick Toomey from Pennsylvania because of other aspects of the bill not addressing the Biggert-Waters Act Amendment.

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Army Corps of Engineers Awards Contract for Plaquemines Parish Levee

The Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a $41.6 million levee enlargement contract for the west bank of Plaquemines Parish that will raise a section from Oakville to La Reussite to create protection from a so-called 50-year storm. It will be built to protect against storm surge created by a hurricane with a 2-percent chance of occurring each year.

The proposed new flood maps – expected to be approved by the parish this year or early next – only count so-called 100-year levees in their flood models. So, anything below that 100-year protection (a 1-percent chance of occurring each year) counts as no protection at all in terms of those flood maps and the subsequently skyrocketing insurance rates.

That’s because the federal government is basing its calculation for the new maps on a 100-year storm event that would overtop  smaller levees.

In its announcement of the contract award to Nevada-based Target Construction on Monday afternoon, the corps stated that the Plaquemines 12655128-largeproject will be the fourth of 17 New Orleans to Venice non-federal levee projects.

The 30-month contract with Target Construction includes raising 8.2 miles of earthen levee between Oakville and La Reussite to an elevation between 7.5 and 9 feet, according to the corps.

The upgraded levees will tie into the Ollie Pump Station Fronting Protection project, which currently is under construction. Once completed, both features will provide a continuous line of risk reduction from storm surge from Barataria Bay to the Jesuit Bend community, according to the corps.

Construction is expected to be complete in late 2015.

The New Orleans to Venice project includes about 37 miles of back levee modifications, fronting protection and two sector gates on the west bank. It also includes floodwall fronting protection at two locations on the east bank. The non-federal levee project only is located on the west bank and ends in Oakville. In total, that non-federal west bank project includes about 20 miles of back levee replacements or modifications and a tie-in to the Mississippi River levees.

 

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Sheriff Requests Deferral of Action on Traffic Cameras for Plaquemines Parish

Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Lonnie Greco has asked the Parish Council to defer action on his proposal to install photo traffic cameras. Greco said Thursday that he wants to discuss the issue during a series of town hall meetings with the public in May.

12631084-smallThe sheriff said in a news release he wants to address misinformation about the cameras “in an effort to increase public awareness.” The cameras are portable and can be placed relocated to address problem areas, Greco said Thursday.

Greco said he sought the program with Redflex to decrease speeding and to supplement his patrol staff, which is stretched thin for a wide area. The parish and sheriff’s department would not incur any cost, Greco said.

The Parish Council introduced the ordinance at its April 11 meeting and could have taken action on Thursday.

The sheriff’s town hall meetings begin May 13 at 7 p.m. at Buras Auditorium.
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P.V. Griffin Addresses Bigger-Waters Act Concerns in D.C.

District 1 Councilman P.V. Griffin met with several congressional members in Washington D.C. earlier this month to discuss the growing list of issues Plaquemines Parish residents are struggling with.p-v-griffin

Among the representatives Griffin met with was Congresswoman Maxine Waters, D-CA, co-sponsor of the Biggert- Waters Reform Act.

“I told her about the problems this legislation was causing for the people of this parish, and I told her it was going to kill my district,” said Griffin.

Griffin says he proposed a two-year compliance waiver, that would allow the parish
more time to complete their levee system and get it federalized, which could in turn lower the assessed base flood elevations.

“I think a two-year waiver on the elevation requirements will allow us to build our levees up, so hopefully instead of 21 feet we can get down to at least 8 or 12 feet,” said Griffin.

As far as making the case compelling for federal representatives who have several other things to tackle, he says that reminding elected officials unfamiliar with the small parish’s mighty contribution to the national economy, is crucial to getting their attention.

“I told them that we are a huge supplier of the country’s oil and gas, and a third of the country’s seafood but we’re being treated like step-children,” he said.

In addition to Waters, Griffin met with Louisiana Congressmen Steve Scalise and Cedric Richmond. As well as Congressman and Chairman of the Black Caucus Emanuel Cleaver, D-MO, and the staff of Louisiana Senators Mary Landrieu and David Vitter.

“I invited them all to come down and talk to the people to see how the decisions they make in Washington are affecting real lives,” Griffin said.

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Plaquemines Parish Receives Hurricane Isaac FEMA Grant to Repair Damaged Roads

Helping with its continuing Hurricane Isaac recovery efforts, Plaquemines Parish will receive a $1.28 million FEMA grant to repair roads damaged from the storm, FEMA announced on Monday. Between Aug. 26 and Sept. 10, Hurricane Isaac produced high winds, rain and flooding that hit Plaquemines particularly hard.

“Severe, slow-moving storms like Hurricane Isaac not only can cause tremendous damage to people’s homes and businesses, they can affect the infrastructure people depend on every day,” said FEMA coordinating officer Gerard M. Stolar. “Reimbursing the repair of the levee road puts the parish one step closer to normalcy after Hurricane Isaac.”

FEMA states that the elevated roadway on the parish’s secondary levee required repairs after the water receded, and that the FEMA Public Assistance grant, totaling $1,280,209, helps reimburse those repair costs.

The newly obligated funds are a portion of the $195.5 million in total public assistance recovery dollars approved for the state since the Aug. 29 federal disaster declaration for Isaac, FEMA announced on Monday. Plaquemines has received about $75 million.

Once FEMA reimburses the state of Louisiana it is the state’s responsibility to manage the funds, which includes making disbursements to local jurisdictions and organizations that incurred costs.
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