Voluntary Home Buyout Program - Harris County Flood Control District (Houston: car insurance, neighborhoods)

[testmo]

Plenty of people who flooded also pay for flood insurance every year. and they pay a heck of a lot more than $450, even those that still have never flooded

[Celiene61]

Originally Posted by testmo

Plenty of people who flooded also pay for flood insurance every year. and they pay a heck of a lot more than $450, even those that still have never flooded

That's the average in Houston, per the nabe who is an insurance broker

I pay more than that...but am just stating the average
.
Realistically, you have three choices:

A) purchase a home, and buy the insurance..it floods here. It is what it is, and no amount of debate or conjecture will change it.

B) Rent...although you will still need renters insurance for your personal belongs, whatever they may be.

C) Move, do not live here...choose to live elsewhere.

You can get politically involved and try to change the problems...but it will be a long drawn out process...

[testmo]

450 is maybe average for homes not in a flood plain. People in the flood plain pay hundreds, thousand dollars more. Even if still never flooded but some suburb house not in a flood plain did. Where do people get off thinking flood insurance isnt a burden on homeowners in a flood plain. Its required for a mortgage but a home is about location. Many people choose to pay and take the risk.

Its also beneficial to cities to have some subsidy for insurance. Imagine houston demolishing every structure in a flood plain, a prior flooded building or residence that isnt elevated 3 feet. A quarter of houston would be debris

Edit: i can tell you im plenty pissed ive been paying $1700 a yr in flood insurance for a 60 yr old 2000sqft home and someone in kingwood without flood insurance got flooded and is getting FEMA money. It is what it is

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by testmo

450 is maybe average for homes not in a flood plain. People in the flood plain pay hundreds, thousand dollars more. Even if still never flooded but some suburb house not in a flood plain did. Where do people get off thinking flood insurance isnt a burden on homeowners in a flood plain. Its required for a mortgage but a home is about location. Many people choose to pay and take the risk.

Its also beneficial to cities to have some subsidy for insurance. Imagine houston demolishing every structure in a flood plain, a prior flooded building or residence that isnt elevated 3 feet. A quarter of houston would be debris

Edit: i can tell you im plenty pissed ive been paying $1700 a yr in flood insurance for a 60 yr old 2000sqft home and someone in kingwood without flood insurance got flooded and is getting FEMA money. It is what it is

The FEMA money isn't going to pay for anything more than getting the house into habitable(not even comfortable) condition. That means pulling out the carpets, removing the sheetrock and insulation, and maybe A/C repairs. That's it. They aren't going to get any money for rebuilding, or replacing belongings. When we flooded during Allison, before I knew anything about flood insurance, FEMA gave us $1300, which was enough to cover some fans and dehumidifiers and the removal of sheetrock and carpet.

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by WRM20

The FEMA money isn't going to pay for anything more than getting the house into habitable(not even comfortable) condition. That means pulling out the carpets, removing the sheetrock and insulation, and maybe A/C repairs. That's it. They aren't going to get any money for rebuilding, or replacing belongings. When we flooded during Allison, before I knew anything about flood insurance, FEMA gave us $1300, which was enough to cover some fans and dehumidifiers and the removal of sheetrock and carpet.

And so then why most people are trying to persuade others to pay for this scam if they are not in a flood plain?

[Lbjen]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

And so then why most people are trying to persuade others to pay for this scam if they are not in a flood plain?

They're talking about people who didn't get flood insurance, that are getting a bailout from FEMA.

[testmo]

I think its justified that folks without flood insurance dont get much assistance for rebuilding. Their advocates fight hard against us who pay high prices for flood insurance in a floodplain. Like they say, flood insurance is available and cheap if you are outside a flood plain. They should get it instead of my $1700 a year required insurance helping to bail em out. What happens next year? I owe $2000 in premiums and they are now required to buy the $450 price?

My annoyance is at the middle class upper middle class folks how could have should have got flood insurance but didnt. They get on news articles yelling about how my home should be demolished and they should get more money

[SpringBrancher]

Again, everyone in Houston needs flood insurance. Even if you're in a high rise, your fees need to be going to flood insurance for the ground floor.

Those without flood insurance really are free loading on those who have it. Lots of people whose house "never floods" are pulling up floorboards as we speak.

Maybe the city needs to tax people higher if they can't show proof of flood insurance - anything to get people incentivized to get covered. I know that's like Obama care but - at this point - **** it. They said only like 15% of the city has flood insurance. That's just a lot of ignorant risk taking going on. That's like driving drunk at 9am on Sunday right past the church.

[Dopo]

Now is my fault for not getting flood insurance,
Even though I made sure to buy a house that it's almost impossible to get flooded

Why don't you blame the government's socialist FEMA?
That takes our money and gives it to people that flooded and don't have insurance.

[Lowexpectations]

Originally Posted by Celiene61

This is not going to make me popular, but oh well...Houstonians should purchase flood insurance, the more people who purchase it, the cheaper it gets across the board.

I do not care if you have never, ever flooded, there is always a first.

I purchase and pay for flood insurance,I take on this responsibility as a homeowner in a Hurricane
Corridor. I am not happy having my tax rates and insurance premiums raised due to other homeowners not looking at the facts and acting responsibly. So now every tax payer in the city is, in essence, paying to rebuild your home...ridiculous.

Why purchase that average cost of 450.00 flood insurance? Oh Ho Hum.....

1) Gulf coast location, basically sea level in most places, or slightly higher.

2) In a Hurriance/ Tropical storm corridor.

3) City is over built in many locations. No where for the flood waters to go. Lack of green areas for storm water absorption.
A) Lack of flood plains and up-to-date Réservoirs. Houston seems incapable of successfully designing plans to deal with the inate problems facing the city regarding flooding.

4) Most homes in the greater Houston area(s) are not built to CAT storm specifications.

Buying back homes built in a known flood plain is a start...although the developers should have never been granted permission and the accompanying permits to build in such areas. Any Tom Foolary of this sort has to stop ! NOW, or homeowners should be able to litigate if there was no such disclosure in their purchase contract.

So, the citizens of Houston will have their taxes raised, their insurance costs will increase, and potentially the lowering of their home values due to bad planning by the city, and the community developers. Just peachy, really.....

Point four has nothing to do with flood insurance