Rebuilding After Katrina

Natural disasters are not unusual in the United States. In any location a wide variety of natural disasters can ocur and as is the way in this great nation, the taxpayers will step up to the plate to provide immediate relief to those in need and to provide long term recovery options to rebuild after the disaster is over.

I have no problem with that. However, once a person or business takes federal funds to rebuild, if they rebuild in the same location, they should never again be eligable for federal relief for the same kind of disaster.

I say this because now they know that they live in an area subject to fires or floods or tornados or hurricanes or earthquakes. if they rebuild in the same location they do so knowing and accepting the risks. As far as relief goes, once they have been through such a situation, they should be prepared with the supplies and equipment necessary to survive without aid and they should have a plan as to where to go and how to get there. If they don't, why should I and other tax payers, who work hard for our money, have to pay for their stupidity.

A much better solution is to provide relief and money to rebuild with strings attached. Those strings would require that any new structure erected in place of a destroyed structure (or repairs to a damaged structure) must be such as to assure the new or rebuilt structure will survive under a similar disaster in the future.

In the case of homes and businesses located in a flood plain or in an area such as New Orleans which is below the surrounding water level, no new building could be built with federal funds that is not above the flood level. No building could be repaired unless it is first raised above the flood level.

This could be accomplished by bringing in fill dirt and raising the ground level or by building the new structure up on some sort of base (legs, stilts whatever) capable of withstanding 200 mile per hour winds and 100 year floods.

Recipients would be required to show that the new home or business is equipped to allow survival without assistance for the maximum number of people the facility is designed for for at least one week. Water, food, first aid and power would all be required and would be subject to inspection. If found wanting for any of these, the person owning the structure would be required to repay all funds recieved with interest calculated to reflect what a commercial loan would have cost.

Expensive? Yes, but cheaper than rebuilding a city like New Orleans every decade or so.