[StBernard] Important Info for Everyone!!!!- WES and CRAIG need input ASAP!!!

Westley Annis westley at da-parish.com
Tue May 16 08:12:09 EDT 2006



Hi All,

First of all, I am currently in this Northeast torrential rain, and
trust me, they have no idea of what real "flooding" is. Do you know they
actually close roads that have water on them and declare them "washed out"-
who knew!!!! We just keep driving, especially if you can still see the
stripes on the road, and they think we're nuts up here- hahaha!!! Is there
no place dry, I mean I am up 972 ft.!!!! All I can say, is I hope they have
flood insurance- LOL.

Seriously, this just came up in the last week. As many of you know, we
face a huge deadline- August 28th. This deadline isn't only for just filing
suit against insurance companies, but also in order to recover
"depreciation" as you make repairs to your home. In many cases it could mean
thousands of dollars to homeowners. My question is to Craig, because of the
total and complete devestation in St. Bernard, faced by no other parish, can
the parish pass an ordinance that extends this "one year rule" for
recovering these funds? Jefferson, Plaquimines, Orleans, etc. faced HUGE
damages, however, none were so extenuating as those in St. Bernard. Many
people may not also realize that they can claim this "depreciation" once the
repairs are made. St. Bernard faced the most unprecedented challenges ever
seen to and entire parish/county. It took months to just get the EPA to
declare things safe and very basic services into the parish in order for
contractors and help for the homeowners to begin recovery. That doesn't even
include those still fighting insurance companies. There has to be a case
for this, or does this need to be addressed by the legislature? AND, if so,
Craig, are you in a position to recommend to Nita and Walter that a joint
proposal be done, or can it be passed to the Governor for an "Executive
Order?"
AN example, if a person had a roof damaged and it was depreciated
(because it was say 3 years old) 20% (about $2500) as a result of wind,
because the roof was breached, furnishings would be depreciated 5%-20% per
year owned (regardless of shape before the storm), we'll say $50,000 in
content depreciated 25% or $12,500, external building, depreciated another
$4000 of the $12,000 sought- GRAND TOTAL- $19,000. This is a lot of money.
Will this happen for everyone, of course not. However, after the way the
insurance industry has treated us in this disaster, if they owe us 1 penny,
we deserve it. In my case, I could be looking at about $3000, that's all my
appliances or sheetrock's for my entire house. In any case, it's a lot of
money to anyone who has lost everything.
Second, Craig while I am very aware of the deadline for signing up for
demolition, is there anyway for someone to apply for an extension. The case
I have is extenuating in that there was a fire following the hurricane in a
friend's home. They have only been there once since, and only for a few
hours, do to financial burdens. Because they have only been home once, there
has been no real assessment of the damages and whether it would be better to
demolish or save. They are coming in the first week of June and bringing
someone to help assess the full extent of the damages more professionally.
In all honesty, the decision would be made by about the 8th of June. I know
they can do whatever with their property, however, the additional costs of
razing may be hard to absorb if they have to totally rebuild. Is there
anything you can do to help with this?
Thanks as always for everyone's help and input- stay dry, I'm treading
water!!!


Wendy Hall





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