Bryce Gray / St. Louis Post - Dispatch
Director Jim Coker of the Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) said that they are currently working on how many homes, cars, and businesses were damages during the flooding. This will help to determine which areas need financial assistance but areas eligible have to meet a certain dollar amount of damaged property within that area. Once damage totals have been submitted, crews will assess the damage and take photographs.
Steve Fundaro / Wavy.com
In fall’s general election ballot, Virginia Beach will decide if they want to increase their property taxes in order to expedite the flood prevention building process. So far, the city has spent $4 million on flood prevention research. Because of rising sea levels; the main infrastructure needed is massive flood gates, new development guidelines, and green infrastructure improvements costing more than the city’s $2.2 billion annual budget.
If the city decides to vote yes on the matter, the city will borrow $567.5 million in order to start 21 flood protection projects that will be scheduled to be completed within seven years. The city property tax would need to be raised 4.3 and 6.4 cents for every $100 of a property’s assessed value. This would bring the cities property tax rate to approximately $1.05 per $100 of a property’s assessed value. This would likely be the property rate of the neighboring city, Chesapeake.
Kyle Haskins / Flicker
10 residents of Bloomington, Illinois, are demanding the city provide financial compensation to cover the damages endured by their properties when city sewage and storm water flooded their homes during the large rain fall that occurred between June 25th – 26th. The storm brought nearly a foot of rainfall and caused Bloomington’s combined sewer system to become overwhelmed, bringing raw sewage into the basements of several local residents.
However, these demands for $310,000 in financial compensation have been denied. The city is citing the Tort Immunity Act as to why the city is not responsible for the damages. While residents are claiming that the Trot Immunity Act does not prevent the city from being at fault when damages are caused by city property.
Residents are also pointing out the city was aware that the sewar system could not withstand a flood based off a 2014 sanity and sewar master plan that concluded “some of the infrastructure installed as part of the (city’s) expansion is deteriorating to a point where it is not providing an adequate Level of Service.”
Jalen Small / NewsWeek
New Orleans, the city that has faced the front lines of two major hurricanes within the last two decades. Several residents stayed with there properties throughout the flooding just as they had done in 2005 with Hurricane Katrina. Of those people, 26 of them were killed during the flooding. The city is longing for a way to preserve their cultural heritage while also maintaining a safe environment that may endure several natural disasters to come.
After Hurricane Ida passed, the community began planning a program called “We’re Fueling the City.” It is a week-long event where food and gasoline was handed out to local residents in need of assistance. Within a couple of days, the event had given away over 1,200 gallons of gas and served over 2,000 meals to people in need.
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
Hurricane Ida has gone through New York City which resulted in a city-wide rampage and has caused nearly $1 billion in damage and 16 people dead. New York had its first ever flash flood emergency warning from the national weather service on Wednesday night. Heavy winds and record-breaking rainfall caused several power outages, fallen trees and street flooding. The roof of Broadway street’s The Strand Smokehouse concaved in and several other properties close by suffered flooded basements.
Out of the 16 New York citizens that were killed during the flooding, 9 of those individuals died in their basement apartments where water levels rose and trapped residents inside. The basement flooding also posed a threat to residents who did not live in a basement apartment trying to escape their buildings during the flooding. Unless the cleanup process is done properly, flooding can create mold and poor air conditions that may cause other health concerns.
AP Photo / Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
A major disaster declaration has been expedited by president Biden provided financial relief for the local governments of New York to help with the damages that were caused by hurricane Ida. The counties of Bronx, Queens, Kings, Richmond and Westchester will be covered by the declaration of individual assistance.
For the time being, the county of New York is only eligible for public assistance. The major disaster declaration starts the process of allowing for financial assistance to be given from the federal government to New York citizens and business owners in order to allow New Yorkers to continue to regrow and rebuild after the damage that was caused by the flooding. FEMA will also be working with eligible homeowners and providing temporary housing, driveway repairs, crisis counseling, unemployment assistance, and legal services.
Alach11 | Taken at 9:10 AM on Monday, August 30, 2021. The image shows damage to buildings in Houma, Louisiana the morning after Hurricane Ida made landfall. House of Hope provides services for the homeless. | https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Damage_in_Houma_Following_Hurricane_Ida.jpg | Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en
Hurricane Ida has gone from New Orleans to New York, raising questions as to the potential economic damages that will be caused by the hurricane. AccuWeather is now projecting that the damages will total over $95 billion, potentially one of the costliest hurricanes since 2000. This estimate is higher by $20 to $30 billion from their initial projections when the hurricane had begun.
The forecasting company is predicting that the storm will come in seventh place in regard to the costliest hurricane to hit the United States. Hurricane Katrina is still expected to be the costliest hurricane to hit the United States with damages totaling at $320 billion. If hurricane Ida were to keep moving north, the total damage may increase and surpass hurricane Ivan and Hurricane Rita.
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Residents of Rock Springs effected by the recent flooding from July 28 through August 1, are curious about what lies ahead for the reconstruction of their city. 10 homes were destroyed, and hundreds sustained damage. While many residents shared their stories of how the flooding had affected their homes and families, others asked the city council to look for possible solution to prevent future flooding such as a drainage ditch or detention ponds.
A state of emergency has been declared. This action was claimed necessary in order to get the Federal Emergency Management Agency grant that could help pay for residential damages. Forms were distributed to residents to be filled out. Twenty-five of these forms are necessary to apply for the grant and fifty-nine forms were submitted from the residents. Although the grant has been applied for, residents fear that the financial help may never arrive due to the lack of funding given by this grant in the case of other flooding incidents that had a larger total damage.
Office: 33971 Selva Road, Suite 230, Dana Point, CA 92629
Phone: 949.497.7603 Fax: 949.497.7601
