Posted on 12/29/2005 7:16:21 AM PST by CajunConservative
The blue-tarp roof, a symbol of hurricane damage in south Louisiana and Mississippi as recognizable as curbside debris, may wind up as a post-Katrina emblem of government waste reminiscent of the Pentagon's fabled $435 hammers and $640 toilet seats.
Depending on the extent of damage and the size of the roof, the federal government is paying anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $5,000 to install a typical tarp. The cost to taxpayers to tack up a covering of blue vinyl is roughly the same, on a per-square-foot basis, as what a homeowner would pay to install a basic asphalt-shingle roof.
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
One reason the homeowners couldn't do it themselves was due to the mandatory evacuation and the near impossibility to get back to their homes. That is one big reason many refuse to leave.
I forgot to mention the cost involved in aifare, housing, and per diems.
It is insane. Also have you seen the FEMA trailers? People could build a Habitat House for much less than what the government is paying for those poorly constructed homes. I know it's a mess but maybe when all is done some serious and very necessary changes can be made.
So true. No, I haven't seen a FEMA trailer, but suspect they depreciate as all trailers do.
The actual cost of a home built by Habitat in my neck of the woods averages $55,000 to build. They range from 1300-1900 in square footage and are quite nice. We have built many a Habitat home in a weekend and not one of over 80 partner families has defaulted on the arrangement. This is exactly what FEMA should be doing.
I know people who have made more money from Katrina than they did in Iraq.
I reckon that just about doubles it.
I forgot to add in another 5K to AUDIT that custom plastic-injection company to make sure they have enough wheelchair-bound Buddhist lesbians of color. Not to mention that their fire extinguishers are EXACTLY 23.715 cm off the ground.
Oh. . .and that 10K mold they make. . . they're required to destroy it when they're done. Otherwise, they'd have an unfair advantage, next time we put out a bid for ANOTHER 100 toilet seats, come 2025. . . . (evil grin)
The trailers aren't quite that much but by the time you figure in all of the other costs for temporary assistance it would be about the same. We have a very active HFH chapter here and they do some really good work.
I do understand that time is an issue. It's mind boggling when you look at all of the people needing shelter after this summer's storms but I do know that in days gone by the communities came together and helped each other out. In doing so you had stronger communities afterwards because people got to know each other.
Now there is a major battle going on in where to park all of those trailers. Homeowners don't trust FEMA for one moment in how the parks will be run and therefore are fighting the placement of those parks in their neighborhoods. Then people needing shelter are desperate to find somewhere to live temporarily because their home was destroyed. It's divisive instead of unifying.
When you read the in-house magazine interviews with some of these people you want to gag. All the comments say how they just wanted to help their fellow man. I might be a little too cynical, but drawing a triple paycheck seems more like helping oneself.
The real question is what happens to all the debris. New Orleans is surrounded by lakes and marshes. In the old days, they could have burned all of it but I'm sure the environmentalists and the EPA would have a cow about that today. So where is all that crap going? Nevada?
That's a good question. I know that around here the tree debris was unbelievable and that a lot of it is being burned. As to the other debris, I'm not real sure.
Most of it goes to collection sites where it is sorted through for recyclables and hazardous waste. A lot like most waste managment stations, but on a larger scale. For the long term they should build some waste/energy plants to deal with all the construction waste from the houses that will be demolished. They have one in Rochester, MA that handles most of Cape Cod and the regions trash.
Which, as long as we keep up this Blue State/Red State sniping BS, ain't ever going away.
Exactly.
"A hurricane creates a one year backlog at roofing companies"
LOLOLOL I can tell you from Florida that it will be YEARS before the roofs are fixed. Maybe decades!!!
There is an old rule the hurricane people forget. You can have it done cheap; you can have it done right; you can have it now. Pick two. When it comes to hurricanes you only get to pick one. Learn to live with it our you will blow your brains out.
Thanks for this post.
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