News

Homeowners Hit By Hurricane Helene Face The Grim Task Of Rebuilding Without Flood Insurance

Published

3 months ago

2024-10-05

Kiara Grace

A week after Hurricane Helene devastated the Southeastern United States, residents in the hardest damaged areas are wondering how they will pay for the water damage caused by one of the deadliest storms to hit the mainland in recent history.

The Category 4 storm that hit Florida’s Gulf Coast on September 26 has dropped trillions of gallons of water across numerous states, leaving a devastation trail that stretches hundreds of miles inland. According to the National Hurricane Center, more than 200 people have died in what is now the deadliest hurricane to strike the continental United States since Katrina.

Western North Carolina and the Asheville area were particularly heavily struck, with water destroying buildings, roads, utilities, and property in ways that no one expected, let alone prepared for. Inland areas in Georgia and Tennessee were also flooded out.

The Oak Forest neighborhood in south Asheville stands up to its name, with trees towering over 1960s ranch-style houses on spacious lots. But on September 27, as Helene’s leftovers passed across western North Carolina, many of those trees fell, occasionally hitting houses.

Julianne Johnson said she was walking upstairs from the basement to help her 5-year-old son pick out clothes when her husband started yelling about a massive tree falling crosswise across the yard. The tree mostly avoided the house, although it did crush a portion of a metal porch and damage the roof. Then, Johnson claimed, her basement flooded.

Homeowners Hit By Hurricane Helene Face The Grim Task Of Rebuilding Without Flood Insurance

On Friday, a blue tarp was secured to the roof with a brick. The sodden carpet that the family had taken out sat on the side of the house, awaiting disposal. Johnson stated that she was unable to file a house insurance claim until four days after the storm due to a lack of cell phone connection and internet.

“It took me a while to make that call,” she explained. “I don’t have an adjuster yet.”

Roof and tree damage are typically covered by the average house insurance policy. Johnson, like many homes, does not have flood insurance, and she is unsure how she would pay for that portion of the damage.

Those recovering from the storm may be startled to hear that water damage is a separate issue. Insurance professionals and experts have long warned that home insurance often does not cover flood damage to a home, even though flooding can occur anyplace it rains. Flooding is caused by more than just seawater seeping into the land; it also includes water from banks, mudflows, and excessive rainfall.

However, most private insurance firms do not offer flood insurance, making the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Flood Insurance Program the principal supplier of coverage for residential homes. Congress established the government flood insurance program more than 50 years ago after many private insurers discontinued issuing policies in high-risk areas.

According to FEMA’s most recent data, North Carolina has 129,933 such policies in place, however, the majority of that protection will likely be located on the coast rather than in the Blue Ridge Mountains, where Helene inflicted the most damage. In comparison, Florida has over 1.7 million flood policies in place across the state.

Charlotte Hicks, a flood insurance expert in North Carolina who has led flood risk training and educational outreach for the state’s Department of Insurance, believes that many Helene survivors will never be fully compensated. Without flood insurance, some people may be able to rebuild with the assistance of charitable organizations, but the majority would be left to fend for themselves.

“There will absolutely be people who will be financially devasted by this event,” Hicks said to the audience. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Some may face foreclosure or bankruptcy. Entire neighborhoods will most likely never be restored. According to Hicks, there has been widespread water damage, and for others, mudslides have even stolen the land where their house once stood.

Meanwhile, Helene is proving to be a more manageable disaster for the private home insurance market, as those policies typically only cover wind damage from storms.

This is a relief for the sector, which has been under increasing pressure from other worsening climate disasters like wildfires and tornadoes. Nowhere is the declining private market due to climate instability more visible than in Florida, where many companies have already stopped offering coverage, leaving the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corporation as the state’s largest insurer.

According to Mark Friedlander, a representative for the Insurance Information Institute, Helene is a “very manageable loss event,” with insurer losses estimated to be between $5 billion and $8 billion. This is in comparison to the insured losses from Category 4 Hurricane Ian in September 2022, which were anticipated to cost more than $50 billion.

According to Friedlander and other experts, less than 1% of the inland communities that saw the most catastrophic flood devastation have flood insurance coverage.

“This is very common in inland communities across the country,” Friedlander explained. “Lack of flood insurance is a major insurance gap in the U.S., as only about 6% of homeowners carry the coverage, mostly in coastal counties.”

Amy Bach, executive director of the consumer advocacy group United Policyholders, said the photos of flood destruction in North Carolina horrified her, despite decades of witnessing the difficult recovery journeys of natural disaster survivors.

“This is a significant situation in terms of people being disappointed. They will be disappointed in their insurers as well as FEMA,” Bach stated. “FEMA cannot match the kind of dollars private insurers are supposed to be contributing to the recovery.”

Homeowners Hit By Hurricane Helene Face The Grim Task Of Rebuilding Without Flood Insurance

This Monday, FEMA said that it could handle Helene’s urgent needs, but warned that it does not have enough resources to last through the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30, despite the fact that most hurricanes occur in September and October.

Even if a homeowner has it, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program only provides up to $250,000 for single-family houses and $100,000 for possessions.

Bach stated that in addition to homeowners educating themselves on what their policies cover and do not cover, the solution is a national catastrophe insurance program that functions similarly to the Affordable Care Act for health insurance.

Following Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the state of North Carolina began requiring insurance agents to take a flood insurance class so that they could appropriately advise their clients on the risk and available policies, according to Hicks. The state also requires home insurance policies to clearly mention that they do not cover floods.

“You can’t stop nature from doing what nature is going to do,” Hicks pointed out. “To believe that things will never be this awful again is a hazardous assumption. Many people underestimate their risk of flooding.

SOURCE | AP

News

Cases Of The US Flu Season Are Rising, While Vaccinations Are Behind Schedule.

Published

9 hours ago

2024-12-21

Salman Ahmad

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

(VOR News) – The U.S. flu season has begun, according to health experts, who also noted a sharp rise in cases countrywide on Friday.

Significant increases were noted by the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in a number of indicators, such as laboratory tests and ED visits. “For the past few weeks, it has been increasing steadily.” “Yes, we are in flu season right now,” CDC’s Alicia Budd said.

Last week, flu-like sickness was reported at elevated or very elevated levels in 13 states, roughly twice as many as the week before. Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, says Tennessee is seeing a spike in sickness in the Nashville area.

Schaffner said, “Influenza cases have been increasing, but they have increased significantly in the last week.” He noted that up to 25% of patients in a nearby clinic, which is a gauge of illness trends, have flu-like symptoms.

An early focal point was Louisiana.

Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Centre, the largest private hospital in the state, in Baton Rouge, has infectious diseases specialist Dr. Catherine O’Neal, who said, “This week is a significant turning point as individuals are affected by the flu.” “Parents frequently say, ‘I have the flu and can’t go to work,’ and ‘Where can I get a flu test?'”

Fever, cough, sore throat, and other influenza-like symptoms are caused by a variety of viruses. COVID-19 is one of them. Another flu season common disease that causes cold-like symptoms but poses serious hazards to infants and the elderly is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Recent CDC numbers indicate a decline in COVID-19 hospitalisations since the summer. According to CDC wastewater data, COVID-19 activity is modest nationwide but elevated in the Midwest.

Although RSV hospitalisations are still marginally more common than flu admissions, they started to rise before flu season cases and currently show signs of perhaps stabilising. RSV activity is low nationwide, but wastewater data shows that it is high in the South.

Based on a number of indicators, such as laboratory results from hospitalised patients and outpatient clinics, as well as the percentage of ED visits that resulted in an influenza diagnosis at discharge, the CDC declared the start of the flu season.

According to Budd, it is too early in the season to determine the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine, and no type of virus seems to be more common.

The flu season last winter was classified as “moderate” overall, but it continued for 21 weeks, and the CDC estimates that 28,000 people died from the virus. With 205 paediatric deaths reported, the situation was particularly dangerous for kids. It was the largest number ever recorded for a conventional influenza season.

The prolonged flu season was probably one of the reasons, Budd added.

The lack of influenza vaccinations was one of the contributing factors. The CDC reports that 80% of children who passed away and had verified vaccination status and were of the right age for flu shots were not completely immunised.

Children’s immunisation rates are drastically lower this year. About 41% of people had a flu shot as of December 7, which is similar to the percentage at the same time last year. For youngsters, the figure is steady, although it is lower than in the previous year, when 44% received an influenza vaccination, according to CDC data.

About 21% of adults and 11% of children are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, which is still a poor vaccination rate.

Influenza experts advise everyone to get vaccinated, especially as people get ready for holiday gatherings where respiratory diseases could spread widely.

“This virus also has the potential to spread from person to person at all those happy, pleasant, and heartwarming events,” Schaffner said. “flu season Vaccination remains a viable option.”

However, Louisiana’s health department announced on Friday that it was rescinding its COVID-19 and flu vaccination recommendations. According to an official, the department’s current position is that people should speak with their doctors about whether the immunisations are suitable for their situation.

The department’s spokesperson, Emma Herrock, did not respond to follow-up questions regarding the policy. Dr. Ralph Abraham, the state’s surgeon general, has expressed concerns in the past regarding the COVID-19 vaccine’s effectiveness and safety.

SOURCE: AP

News

Social Security Change Approved By Senate Despite Fiscal Concerns

Published

13 hours ago

2024-12-21

Salman Ahmad

(VOR News) – On Saturday, the U.S. Congress passed a plan to increase Social Security retirement payouts for some retirees who receive public pensions, a move that critics say will further erode the program’s financial stability. Among these pensioners are former firefighters and police officers.

The Social Security Fairness Act was passed by the Senate on a bipartisan vote of 76-20 just after midnight. The act may lower payments for those receiving pensions and aims to repeal provisions that have existed for 20 years.

The House of Representatives passed the bill last month by a vote of 327-75, meaning that if the Senate also approves it, it would be delivered to Democratic President Joe Biden to become law.

The White House dodged enquiries regarding Social Security’s objectives.

In order to limit government benefits for certain higher-paid employees who are also getting pensions, the measure will reverse a long-standing change to the program. It has become increasingly common in recent years for municipal employees, such as postal workers and firefighters, to face pay limitations.

The vast majority of Americans do not take part in pension plans that provide a fixed return on investment, instead relying on their own savings and Social Security. According to data from the Department of Labour, only 10% of private sector employees in the US are covered by pension plans.

The new rules apply to about 3 percent of Social Security users, or more than 2.5 million people in the United States. Legislators are heavily influenced by the workers and retirees impacted by these rules, and the powerful advocacy organisations that speak for them have been using the legislative process to push for a legislative cure.

According to retirement experts, some retirees may be able to earn hundreds of dollars more in government benefits each month as a result of the move.

According to a Congressional Budget Office analysis, the bill is expected to cost approximately $196 billion over the next 10 years. As a result, federal budget experts are worried that the change could negatively affect the program’s already fragile financial status.

In an interview with the Bipartisan Policy Centre, Emerson Sprick, associate director of economic policy, said he was frustrated by “the overwhelming support in Congress for the contrary of what policy researchers concur on is quite frustrating.”

Instead of eliminating current formulas, we could improve them.

Among these changes is the Social Security Administration’s increased disclosure of the anticipated monetary benefits for these public sector workers.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan fiscal think tank, has voiced concerns that the additional cost will impact the program’s ability to continue.

Maya MacGuineas, the organization’s leader, made the declaration, saying, “We are hastening towards our own fiscal ruin.”

“It is noteworthy that lawmakers are in a position to shorten the timeframe by six months, as there are just nine years left before the trust fund for the biggest program in the country runs out.”

Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, said on the Senate floor on Wednesday that the bill in its current form would “throw granny over the cliff.”

According to what he stated, “every senator who votes to impose a burden of $200 billion on the Social Security Trust Fund is opting to put the interests of senior citizens who have contributed to Social Security and earned those benefits in jeopardy.”

Those who favoured the legislation said that the question of what would happen to Social Security could be settled later.

“Those are significantly longer-term concerns that we must collaboratively address,” a supporter of the idea Senator Michael Bennett told Reuters when asked if the move would affect the government’s capacity to be viable.

SOURCE: BR

News

King Charles Could Millions Annually from Renting His Properties

Published

1 day ago

2024-12-21

Geoff Brown

Estimated Annual Rental Income of £1.4 Million

A recent analysis suggests that King Charles might earn over £1 million each year by renting out royal properties to holidaymakers.

The Royal Family’s historic houses and mansions are popular holiday rentals, contributing significantly to the Palace’s revenue.

Pikl Insurance estimates that the royals may earn up to £118,775.85 per month, or around £1,425,310.20 per year, from their holiday rental portfolio. Even after accounting for cancellations, the monarchy is anticipated to generate a net annual income of somewhat more over £1.4 million.

Estimated Annual Rental Income of £1.4 Million

The four primary royal properties accepting public bookings are Balmoral Castle, Castle of Mey’s Captain House, Restormel Manor, and Dumfries House, according to Express.co.uk. Cottages at Balmoral Castle in Scotland are expected to generate £36,798.30 per month after accounting for cancellations.

According to the numbers, the 500-year-old Restormel Manor in Cornwall is the most profitable of them all, earning a solid £47,082 every month. The resort, located in the Fowey Valley, has four booking spaces and six converted barns.

Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland, adds an estimated £31,185.63 and offers 25 rooms for booking. The Castle of Mey’s Captain House in the Scottish Highlands is estimated to generate a more modest £3,709.92 per month, despite the fact that the entire property is available for booking.

The analysts stated, “While the Royal Family’s primary role is undoubtedly to serve the nation, it is clear that their properties are also a valuable asset.” These estimates highlight the royal estate’s considerable financial potential and provide an intriguing peek into the monarchy’s corporate operations.”

Royal Family received £86.3 million from the taxpayer-funded Sovereign Grant in the previous fiscal year, according to official numbers released in July.

All revenues from the Crown Estate, which includes royal households, forestry, agriculture, and offshore wind, are paid directly to the Treasury, with a portion of this money, now 12%, returned to the Royal Family to finance their tasks.

The records also cover a period of jubilation, including the coronation and festivities surrounding the King and Queen’s crowning in May of last year.