Harvey households withFEMA group flood insurance policies must buy standard policy by Oct. 24. Lack of coverage may affect eligibility for future disaster assistance.
Flooded Street during Harvey by Julie Yandell.
Three-Year Policies End in October
Approximately 6,690 Hurricane Harvey survivors have been notified that their Group Flood Insurance Policy (GFIP) will expire Oct. 24. These three-year policies end soon, so policyholders must plan now to switch to a standard flood insurance policy to ensure continuous flood insurance coverage.
Insurance a Condition for Future Disaster Assistance
Following the devastating disasters and hurricane season of 2017, FEMA purchased GFIP policies for thousands of disaster survivors whose homes were flooded. Part of the eligibility of receiving future financial assistance after a flood is that a homeowner or renter must obtain and maintain flood insurance to ensure that there is no lapse in coverage. If a property affected by a flood is sold, the new owners are required to have flood insurance for the property as well.
This means Harvey households who received a group policy need to purchase a new, standard flood insurance policy. Alternatively, they may obtain other flood insurance for at least the amount of assistance that they received for repairs and replacement of property. This keeps them eligible for future FEMA assistance.
Those who received a GFIP policy as part of their FEMA disaster assistance after Harvey but don’t buy a standard flood insurance policy will likely not receive federal disaster assistance for home repairs if they experience another flood event.
Flood Insurance Can Be Key to Recovery
Flood insurance policies are crucial to recover quickly following a flood event as homeowners and renters’ policies do not typically cover flood damage.
Additionally, flood insurance will pay claims regardless of whether there is a major disaster declaration. Flood insurance claims can be paid for such events as flash flooding, storm sewer backup, river overflow, storm surge, mudslides or tropical systems.
$69 Billion Paid by FEMA through NFIP
Since its inception in 1968, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program has paid more than $69 billion in flood claims to help survivors rebuild their lives following flood events.
How to Learn Your Status and Find an Agent
To find an insurance carrier or agent, visit FloodSmart.gov, or call FEMA NFIP Direct toll-free, (800) 638-6620, option 2.
For more information about the National Flood Insurance Program and or insurance, call the National Flood Insurance General Call Center at 800-427-4661.
If you have questions about your Group Flood Insurance Policy call the National Flood Insurance Direct Call Center at 800-638-6620.
To find out if you have a flood insurance requirement:
Call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-3362 (voice, 711/VRS – Video Relay Service) (TTY: 800-462-7585).
Multilingual operators are available (press 2 for Spanish).
The Texas Recovery Office GFIP Help Desk phone number is 877-503-6053.
If It Rains Where You Live, It Can Flood
Harvey impacted 41,500 square miles of Texas. If it rains, it can flood, which means all Texans should purchase or renew flood insurance policies. The 2020 hurricane season began June 1 and ends on November 30, but a policy protects you from financial losses from other flood events all year. Just 1 inch of water can cause $25,000 of damage to a home.
For additional information about Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks for the reminder to Congressman Dan Crenshaw
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/IMG_0048-1-e1646428414628.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=11200900adminadmin2020-09-28 15:36:572020-09-28 15:38:39FEMA Group Flood Insurance from Harvey Expiring October 24
This is a off-topic, but it affects most of this website’s readers in Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble. Houston Public Works will start replacing nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway beginning Thursday, October 1. All are on north bound lanes between Life Storage and the Lake Houston YMCA. Weather permitting, Public Works should complete the work by October 22.
From October 1-22,Houston Public Works will replace nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway in the area between the two red lines.
Time of Day for Construction
Construction activities will take place Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Flagmen and orange traffic cones will help with traffic flow through the construction zones. The project will require one lane closure. Two-way traffic will remain at all times.
Businesses and residents will have access to driveways and sidewalks at all times, but may experience an increase in noise levels due to trucks and equipment.
For More Information
The cost of the project: $38,605. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s Council District Service Funds will pay for the improvements.
For more information, please contact Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Work-Area-e1601309528684.jpg?fit=1200%2C877&ssl=18771200adminadmin2020-09-28 11:15:102020-09-28 11:19:45West Lake Houston Parkway Repaving Starts October 1
Bob Henson, a meteorologist and journalist based in Boulder, Colorado, published a fascinating a story in The Washington Post on September 26, 2020. It makes good weekend reading. The story is about a 17-year old boy named Alexander Hamilton, living on the island of St. Croix, when a hurricane struck it on August 31, 1772.
Hurricane Article Establishes Hamilton’s Creds as Writer
Says Henson, “The hurricane — probably at least a Category 3 in St. Croix, according to a leading weather historian — prompted a teenage Alexander Hamilton to write an evocative description of the storm published in a local newspaper. Impressed by his essay, leaders of the Caribbean island took up a collection to send him to the American Colonies for formal education. The rest is history…”
Hamilton literally wrote his way off the island.
Bob Henson in The Washington Post
Hamilton’s Account of the Storm
Hamilton wrote: “It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country.”
Busiest Hurricane Season in History
Michael Chenoweth, a climate historian quoted in the article, believes that the storm grew into a Category 4 hurricane and may have been one of the five strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic before 1900. Chenoweth also believes that the decade of that storm ties for the busiest in history.
Reading Henson’s article I felt compelled to dig more into the history of Hamilton and St. Croix.
History of St. Croix
St. Croix has been a territory of the United States since 1917. Columbus discovered the island in 1493, but the Spanish never colonized the island. Denmark, England, Norway and France jostled for possession of the island in the 1600s. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. The cost: US$25 million in gold.
Hamilton’s Contributions
Hamilton’s ideas are credited with laying the foundation for American government and finance. He was:
An American statesman, politician, legal scholar, military commander, lawyer, banker, and economist.
Active in ending the legality of the international slave trade
Reshaping History
Hamilton campaigned against Aaron Burr, whom he felt was unprincipled. Hamilton died in a duel with Burr in New Jersey in 1804, but not before shaping the nation that would shape world history.
Had it not been for that hurricane in 1772, he might have died an orphan on St. Croix. And who knows how different history might have been?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/2020
1125 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/440px-Alexander_Hamilton_portrait_by_John_Trumbull_1806.jpg?fit=440%2C521&ssl=1521440adminadmin2020-09-27 11:24:442020-09-28 10:32:38How a Hurricane Shaped World History
FEMA Group Flood Insurance from Harvey Expiring October 24
Harvey households with FEMA group flood insurance policies must buy standard policy by Oct. 24. Lack of coverage may affect eligibility for future disaster assistance.
Three-Year Policies End in October
Approximately 6,690 Hurricane Harvey survivors have been notified that their Group Flood Insurance Policy (GFIP) will expire Oct. 24. These three-year policies end soon, so policyholders must plan now to switch to a standard flood insurance policy to ensure continuous flood insurance coverage.
Insurance a Condition for Future Disaster Assistance
Following the devastating disasters and hurricane season of 2017, FEMA purchased GFIP policies for thousands of disaster survivors whose homes were flooded. Part of the eligibility of receiving future financial assistance after a flood is that a homeowner or renter must obtain and maintain flood insurance to ensure that there is no lapse in coverage. If a property affected by a flood is sold, the new owners are required to have flood insurance for the property as well.
This means Harvey households who received a group policy need to purchase a new, standard flood insurance policy. Alternatively, they may obtain other flood insurance for at least the amount of assistance that they received for repairs and replacement of property. This keeps them eligible for future FEMA assistance.
Those who received a GFIP policy as part of their FEMA disaster assistance after Harvey but don’t buy a standard flood insurance policy will likely not receive federal disaster assistance for home repairs if they experience another flood event.
Flood Insurance Can Be Key to Recovery
Flood insurance policies are crucial to recover quickly following a flood event as homeowners and renters’ policies do not typically cover flood damage.
Additionally, flood insurance will pay claims regardless of whether there is a major disaster declaration. Flood insurance claims can be paid for such events as flash flooding, storm sewer backup, river overflow, storm surge, mudslides or tropical systems.
$69 Billion Paid by FEMA through NFIP
Since its inception in 1968, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program has paid more than $69 billion in flood claims to help survivors rebuild their lives following flood events.
How to Learn Your Status and Find an Agent
To find out if you have a flood insurance requirement:
If It Rains Where You Live, It Can Flood
Harvey impacted 41,500 square miles of Texas. If it rains, it can flood, which means all Texans should purchase or renew flood insurance policies. The 2020 hurricane season began June 1 and ends on November 30, but a policy protects you from financial losses from other flood events all year. Just 1 inch of water can cause $25,000 of damage to a home.
For additional information about Hurricane Harvey and Texas recovery, visit the:
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks for the reminder to Congressman Dan Crenshaw
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
West Lake Houston Parkway Repaving Starts October 1
This is a off-topic, but it affects most of this website’s readers in Kingwood, Atascocita and Humble. Houston Public Works will start replacing nine concrete panels on West Lake Houston Parkway beginning Thursday, October 1. All are on north bound lanes between Life Storage and the Lake Houston YMCA. Weather permitting, Public Works should complete the work by October 22.
Time of Day for Construction
Flagmen and orange traffic cones will help with traffic flow through the construction zones. The project will require one lane closure. Two-way traffic will remain at all times.
Businesses and residents will have access to driveways and sidewalks at all times, but may experience an increase in noise levels due to trucks and equipment.
For More Information
The cost of the project: $38,605. Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s Council District Service Funds will pay for the improvements.
For more information, please contact Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin’s office at (832) 393-3008 or districte@houstontx.gov.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/28/2020 with thanks to Mayor Pro Tem Dave Martin
1126 Days after Hurricane Harvey
How a Hurricane Shaped World History
Bob Henson, a meteorologist and journalist based in Boulder, Colorado, published a fascinating a story in The Washington Post on September 26, 2020. It makes good weekend reading. The story is about a 17-year old boy named Alexander Hamilton, living on the island of St. Croix, when a hurricane struck it on August 31, 1772.
Hurricane Article Establishes Hamilton’s Creds as Writer
Says Henson, “The hurricane — probably at least a Category 3 in St. Croix, according to a leading weather historian — prompted a teenage Alexander Hamilton to write an evocative description of the storm published in a local newspaper. Impressed by his essay, leaders of the Caribbean island took up a collection to send him to the American Colonies for formal education. The rest is history…”
Hamilton’s Account of the Storm
Hamilton wrote: “It seemed as if a total dissolution of nature was taking place. The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about it in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the falling houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels. A great part of the buildings throughout the Island are levelled to the ground, almost all the rest very much shattered; several persons killed and numbers utterly ruined; whole families running about the streets, unknowing where to find a place of shelter; the sick exposed to the keeness of water and air without a bed to lie upon, or a dry covering to their bodies; and our harbours entirely bare. In a word, misery, in all its most hideous shapes, spread over the whole face of the country.”
Busiest Hurricane Season in History
Michael Chenoweth, a climate historian quoted in the article, believes that the storm grew into a Category 4 hurricane and may have been one of the five strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic before 1900. Chenoweth also believes that the decade of that storm ties for the busiest in history.
Reading Henson’s article I felt compelled to dig more into the history of Hamilton and St. Croix.
History of St. Croix
St. Croix has been a territory of the United States since 1917. Columbus discovered the island in 1493, but the Spanish never colonized the island. Denmark, England, Norway and France jostled for possession of the island in the 1600s. For nearly 200 years, Saint Croix, St. Thomas and St. John were known as the Danish West Indies. In 1916, Denmark sold Saint Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John to the United States in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. The cost: US$25 million in gold.
Hamilton’s Contributions
Hamilton’s ideas are credited with laying the foundation for American government and finance. He was:
Reshaping History
Hamilton campaigned against Aaron Burr, whom he felt was unprincipled. Hamilton died in a duel with Burr in New Jersey in 1804, but not before shaping the nation that would shape world history.
Had it not been for that hurricane in 1772, he might have died an orphan on St. Croix. And who knows how different history might have been?
Posted by Bob Rehak on 9/27/2020
1125 Days since Hurricane Harvey