Dr. Nufrio chaired a national panel on “Lessons Learned” from the Storm Recoveries of Superstorm Sandy and the 2016 Baton Rouge Flood. Directly below is the full video. The conference is part of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) National conference in Atlanta, GA. It was held on Sunday, March 19, 2017.
Below are clips of key points of the conference.
10:40 Congressman Graves “If 8 Billion Mitigation Dollars were spent before Katrina, 90% of the lives and $135 Billion Dollars would have been saved.”
40:23 George Kasimos – 4.5 years and Superstorm Sandy Survivors are still waiting to get paid on their claims.
41:07 George Kasimos – Louisiana Still has not received the 1.2 Billion in Funds to rebuild. (7 months after the storm)
48:10 Dr. Nufrio – Deregulation of the Stafford Act requirements. Flood Survivors are “further victimized by the government having to deal with the bureaucracy”.
48:35 George Kasimos – “Why do we have to fill out the same paperwork for FEMA, Red Cross, Catholic Charities, LTRG, Rental Assistance, Grant Programs, etc…? We should only have to apply one time”
49:25 George Kasimos – “Lost Paperwork, Repeatedly Submitted”. Not allowed to fax over paperwork. Had to drive it to the program location.
52:00 George Kasimos – Before rebuilding homeowners need to know what their flood insurance premium will rising to in the next few years. IS IT EVEN WORTH IT TO REBUILD IF YOU CAN’T AFFORD THE FLOOD INSURANCE PREMIUMS? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHcjaSXBInE&feature=youtu.be&t=52m1s
54:30 Congressman Graves – There are mitigation projects from dozens of Federal agencies, we need to stop that. (they need to be better coordinated). “Some Mitigation projects are 40 years old, if it makes sense to build it, it makes sense to build it now” https://youtu.be/mHcjaSXBInE?t=54m36s
55:40 Congressman Graves – Mitigation projects need to be considered more holistically – on a community basis. Not individual house raising.
56:20 Congressman Graves – HUD plays a big role in recovery. “Time Costs Money”. Because of delays, I have relatives that sold their homes for $30,000. “There are new rules for every disaster”. https://youtu.be/mHcjaSXBInE?t=56m20s
1:09:40 Congressman Graves / Senator Brodie – The Sheriff’s department was ignored when it asked FEMA for funds to buy trailers for their officers. The Sheriff’s department could have purchased 6 Trailers for every trailer FEMA purchased. Congressman graves stated that the Sheriff’s office could purchase a trailer for $37,000 installed and the dealer would buy it back for $8,000 = $25,000 per trailer. FEMA is paying $150,000 for a similar trailer. The Sheriff’s Department was denied even though they are 600% cheaper! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHcjaSXBInE&feature=youtu.be&t=1h9m38s
1:14:00 Congressman Graves discussing FEMA Communicating to flood survivors; Substantially Damaged, Licensed Contractors, Programs for assistance
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