Average FEMA payout is $5,000 per household. Houston you are screwed.

[Cattledog]

Max payout capped at $30,000

[samnsara]

1. our house flooded in 1995....actually our bridge washed out and

...made it impossible to get to the house. Our County was declared a disaster. FEMA sent us a check for $9999.00 and we were forgiven income taxes for that year and we got a loan for 3% for other repairs. Its was pretty generous.

[elehhhhna]

7. Yeah the peaceful prosperous Bill Clinton years. I miss that.

[lpbk2713]

2. Duct tape and plastic sheeting.

That's as far as it goes.

[onecent]

3. Could you back this up with something you read?

[Cattledog]

4. Was just on CBS evening news.

Jim Axlerod report.

[onecent]

5. Ok, thanks.

[delisen]

6. Betsey DeVos , Erik Prince and billionaires need to step up

or shut up.

These right wing billionaires who think they are such brilliant entrepreneurs should be able to get Houston going again with their know-how and their own bucks

If not it is time for the 90% billionaire tax. As a country we can't afford the over supply of billionaires tying up capital in senseless schemes to use government to force the nearly poor to support the the incredibly poor.

[BainsBane]

8. The small business association used to make up for damage insurance didn't cover

or at least they were supposed to.

[lapfog_1]

9. looks like most homes had 4 to 8 feet of standing water

that's going to be about $50K min to maybe $80K

then there are all those cars and trucks and businesses

I think 175 billion is at the low end of "getting back"...

and, I think we shouldn't do it.

We should pay the victims one-time "relocation" fee plus pay to completely remove all of those homes and businesses and roads and sewers and pipes.

Return the entire region back to nature.

Same for much of the east coast and Florida.

Global Climate change is real and these sorts of events are going to keep happening... more frequently than now.

[Ilsa]

10. Build super trains from the new locations to

the downtown and port/refinery areas.

[maxsolomon]

12. build time travel machines

and elect Al Gore president

[lapfog_1]

13. The industrial site should have 30 feet high earthen berms

with water tight doors for cars and railroads... And be self sufficient for up to a month (their own generators, clean water storage, etc).

downtowns and the infrastructure that supports them... simply need to be torn down and build new ones on higher ground.

That is for (at least) Houston, New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Miami, and on up the east coast.

The West Coast is luckier... although there are parts of LA, SF, Oakland and Sacramento (and, yes, even where I live), that need to move or be abandoned.

It is going to cost trillions. But rebuilding in the same location will cost more in the long run.

[Squinch]

11. My whole apartment building got $10,000 after Sandy. The basement and garage flooded

which wrecked many cars, and we were in the middle of replacing our elevator so all the parts were staged there waiting to be installed. It was well over $200K in damage.

The FEMA money paid for cleaning the basement walls after we got the water out.

[roamer65]

14. A sizable portion who did not have flood insurance will declare bankruptcy.

They will declare it and walk away from the homes. They don't have much choice.

Many will end up being bulldozed.