Bay St Louis, MS since Katrina; CNN Special Report

[Glenn9643]

Last night I happened onto a special program on CNN about Bay St Louis since Katrina. The reporter was a native of the area and the report was focused on the people and real issues, such as insurance not paying, arbitrary decisions in granting relief by FEMA, etc. They said something about it being shown tonight and Sunday night at 9 CST but I couldn't find anything on CNN's website so I don't know if that will be a rebroadcast or a continuation. If you're where you can watch it was unusually well prepared and presented.
Most of us go through life paying our insurance premiums and feeling relatively secure in that respect... if anything happens we're covered. Many of these people have had claims denied by insurance companies who took the line that the damage was from water damage and thus they refused to pay. US Congressman Gene Taylor was denied such a claim. On the program he indicated I believe that metal from his roof was found 28' high up in the trees twisted by the wind, which indicated wind damage prior to the water. I used him as an example, because most would expect more influential people to have fewer problems with the "system".
Again, a highly recommended program in my estimation; quite unusual for me to enjoy this type of programming on CNN.

 

[Tdog]

Glenn,
That program is featured in today's NO Times Picayune. The reviewer also said it was well done. It's on tonight at 7 Central on CNN.
I feel for those people. Our insurance has been on the up & up so far, but we don't have the flooding problem here. I lost my roof & they've paid OK [so far] for replacement & water damage. We've been in a trailer a month tomorrow - - covered by insurance, not FEMA. We are really lucky - - we had a new roof before most people got a blue tarp. I think we'll be back in our house in another month.

 

[MLinOleMiss]

Glen,
The really sad part of this is that almost all of the effected homeowners had hurricane endorsements on their policies. U.S. Senator Trent Lott also lost his beachfront home and is being denied a settlement from his insurance company, as well. FEMA is the newest four letter word in this area now, there are still folks living in tents and FEMA has approximately 10,000 trailers sitting in Arkansas that they will not deliver because it is against FEMA Guideline's to put trailers in coastal flood zones. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I was lucky, less than 1500.00 in damage, all from wind. Anyone who is interested can see pics at www.sunherald.com. Also, there is a monumental fight between the MDOT and the shipbuilding industry over rebuilding the Biloxi Bay Bridge. Shipbuilders want it to be a drawbridge to accomodate growing ship heights and MDOT says that they cannot build according to what might happen but they are going to build to meet future traffic projections. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Anyway it looks like a moot point because no companies submitted bids for the project.

 

[Glenn9643]

I'm aware of a lawsuit filed by MS Atty General against several insurance companies (if not all) doing business in MS since Katrina, but it seems to me that many individuals will have to do so if they're to be made whole. I was aware of Sen Lott's situation, but didn't mention it above because I was referring to a program about Bay St Louis; should have because the whole coastline is suffering from the same problems. Seems that in many cases adjusters weren't even sent to the site to survey damages because the flood surge surpassed that elevation according to topo maps. At least one instance was discussed on the CNN program where witnesses stated a building was blown down by the winds prior to the storm surge and insurance still refused to pay, claiming the damages were from water. Lawyers have been getting a bad rap for several years, but I'd be looking for one if I was in that situation. There's not a jury in the country that would go along with what's being done by the insurance companies.

 

[MLinOleMiss]

Senator Lott is not including himself with the Attorney General, he is using his brother-in-law, Dickie Scruggs, who successfully sued the tobacco companies several years ago. You are dead-on with the insurance companies not even showing up at some sites. My homeowners insurance renewed in December and it increased 41% from the previous year.