So let me get this straight. The people who didn't have insurance will get a GRANT for $150,000 but the people who HAD insurance will get a SBA LOAN for about the same amount???? Someone really needs to explain this to me. I am not saying the people without insurance should not be helped but the people WITH insurance should not be PUNISHED either. My insurance didn't allow me enough to rebuild or replace completely(Made Whole) after all was said and done.

if my tax dollar helps these folks out ....i'm proud to pay it.

Charlles has an abslouely valid point. Those with flood insurance have a $250,000 cap and paid the premiums. SBA loans are avilable for those who qualify based upon income, credit scores and assets. Those without flood insurance (despite all that water around the penninsula) are to be GIVEN $150,000? Sorry - that should be as a loan with no qualifying criteria with a repayment schedule done as a percentage of income. Flood insurance down there was about $300 a year or so I'm told by a Biloxi resident who had it even though not living in a flood zone as designated on the maps. Right - have an expensive in-ground swiming pool (see the picture), don't spend $300 a year on flood insurance since the maps only predict but don't guarantee, get hit by a hurricane (hardly unusual), it floods (well there is all that water in the Gulf so it is not completely impossible that it oculd flood) and be GIVEN $150,000! _

That is just not rational. Rewarding people for being oblivious to all the water and statistical possiblites and just shrugging it off while others paid their flood insurance even if they weren't in a flood zone???? Help - yes. Loan - Yes. Grant - NO!

Wasn't there another hurricane called Rita also?

This is good news no matter who's to benefit. It's a step in the right direction. I might add it's the first step in the right direction. No the insured people shouldn't get punished, but maybe they have another road to take with their insurance companies. Anybody hear of a class action lawsuit before?? I wonder what the record for class action pay off is and wonder if it can be beaten..(Just might be the suit again big tobacco). Hang in there Charles, it will get better. I don't know when, but it will. Good luck and the rest of the country is pulling for you folks.

You don't have it straight. You must have some type of insurance in order to qualify for the grant. Hurricane, wind, rain...it's the storm surge caused by the wind that is allowing some but not all to qualify for a grant. Remember these are very valuable homes in historic areas, 150,000 is just a drop in the bucket. I thought my settlment was great, but let me tell you, it goes faster than you think, especially with the high prices these out of town contractors are charging. Insurance is not to upgrade what you had but only to replace what was damaged.

Seems like if you are paying your taxes and insurance
that you are now second class Americans.Insurance, mortgage and goverment gets our equity. Property values have increased 30% and we get to rebuild with nothing.. That is not what this counrty is about, have a good vacation congress.

In what way is this an everybody wins scenario? Homeowners get a government "bailout", insurers avoid huge payouts. To all the owners of the "expensive historic homes and businesses" who didn't use their heads and insure themselves adequately, just who do you think will foot the bill for all these grants? That's right: good old U.S. taxpayers. And thanks a lot for increasing insurance premiums across the board for each and every other homeowner across the nation. Need a loan? You bet. Want a bailout? No way!

Wouldn't it be great in this materialistic season to remember what the holiday is all about? If everyone gave up the cost of a gift or two, and donated it to a hurricane disaster relief fund, think of what we could accomplish for our fellow Americans in need.No gift is too small!

I hope people don't rebuild the same types of homes that were knocked down. Concrete homes are more likely to withstand hurricane force winds and the kind of "rising water" that knocks your house down (that's quite a "flood", eh?). Jamaica gets hit by hurricanes all the time and they don't go through this every year because they learned to build concrete homes long ago. What's always remaining after a hurricane? Anything made of concrete: steps, porches, slabs, and some houses (go see the hurricane house on Hayden & 90 in Pass Christian, MS; it's still structurally sound though all the brick homes for a block around it are completely gone).

Sorry Melissa, I thought that most people had insurance, just not the right kind for their area. I was in Long Beach helping out around Thankgiving and saw the storm surges affects. Not very pretty. Down right deadly around the Walmart there. No one feels worse than I do outside of the affected area about what happened and hope the people in that area get what they want.

To me this isn't fair. I know that there were a lot of people who did not go out and buy flood insurance because they didn't live in a flood plain. Many of my friends and my in-laws fall under that category. My husband and I didn't live in a flood plain either, but I knew that if a Cat 5 storm came through everybody lived in a flood plain- we only lived on a coastline and all flood policies clearly state that they cover all rising water including storm surge. So I bought the extra flood insurance, which was the best $230 I've ever spent, and now I see that Congress is going to bail everyone out. Bail out the people who did not have the same foresight as me. All of a sudden I don't seem or feel so smart about buying the flood policy. I feel like I'm being punished for it.

Where is the humanity in some of these comments? People need to see beyond the $$$ signs and find the compassion in their hearts for those people who lost so much of their lives...insured, uninsured, we are all PEOPLE and that is the most important thing.

I would prefer my tax money went to helping those at home in need who weren't insured than to funding some BS war overseas...

This GOP administration is more concern about democracy in Iraq than the current needs of it's own taxpaying citizens. Iraq is starting to look like a money laundry for the GOP Special interest. It also appears that the lack of quality assistance for the people who suffered losses from Katrina may create new terrorists from the pool of unhappy hurricane victims.

These people need to take some responsibility for their past decisions. If I build a home in the forest, with no fire insurance, do I expect the government to bail me out? No. I purchase fire insurance. And if I can't get fire insurance then I won't build my home in the forest. How many times is Waveland going to be rebuilt? How many times are taxpayers and insurance companies going to bail out Waveland? It's not a logical place to site homes and businesses. Any bailout to Waveland should be under the requirement that no structure is ever rebuilt on property in question.

WOW! My tax dollars are rebuilding a person's POOL too? That is absurd! I pay taxes and I am responsible enought to have insurance. However, I do not carry flood insurance since I do not live near the water but if my house flooded the government wouldn't come to my rescue. It is amazing how people can either be so cheap or irresponsible to not get flood insurance when they live near a coast where Hurricanes hit..... but then again maybe they are smart enough to know that it would be a waste of money since the tax payers will bail them out.

I live in CA but I am a New Orleans native and my daughter passed away due to Katrina wrath on SWA airlines coming home to me here in CA. My parents lost their home and the insurance company only paid for flood damage and not the home owner insurance they have paid on most their lives, a huge hole was left on the side of the house what can we do about this??? the insurance companies are ripping off these poor displaced people who do not have enough money to buy another house.Bush, congress or someone should be doing something about this what about the insurance comissioner of LA??????

Vicki of Billings expresses the hope that the residents in the areas detroyed won't build the same type of houses and will change the design to better withstand a hurricane. She must have missed the article in the NY Times last week about the rebuilding plans of people in th Biloxi-Gulfport area. Prominently featured was a photo of a retired teacher standing on the slab of her house with the water clearly visible. The text reported that woman said she had did not want to raise the new house's foundaion to avoid potential flooding, planned to rebuild just as it had been because she wanted to be able to walk in at ground level.
The same article went on to quote the mayor of the town complaining that if flood maps were adjusted to show where the flooding had hit, then large parts of the town would be in a flood zone thus requiring flood insurance and upsetting the residents by labelling their neighborhoods that flooded as flood zones.
And few days later, the Biloxi newspaper editorial complained about a lack of sympathy and help for those faced with rebuilding and wondered what it would take to get help. HOW ABOUT MAKE THE RESIDENTS BUILD TO AVOID FLOOD AND STORM DAMAGE; AND TELL THE MAYOR TO GET A GRIP ON REALITY - AREAS THAT FLOODED ARE PROPERLY CALLED "FLOOD ZONE" BECAUSE THEY ARE AT RISK OF FLOODING!

To all of you poor slobs in the North East that are getting help with your heating bills shame On You that is my tax dollars and i don't want them spent like that.Go cold or chop some wood.

My mother paid $77 a month for flood insurance for 24(!) years on her house in Waveland. Seventy-seven dollars a month is a lot for someone on a fixed income. That house was beyond the famous railroad tracks and was MILES from the beach. We are not talking about a beach front mansion here. Her mortgage company informed her that she did not need to carry flood insurance since she was not in a flood plain. She dropped her flood insurance in January of 2004. On August 29th, a storm surge of what has been reported as 17 feet high inundated her neighborhood, destroying her home. Here's someone who has paid her taxes, some of which were used to help rebuild homes and businesses in flood plains in the Midwest and restore electricity in Baghdad. The bottom line is that many, many people in Waveland are just like you...they pay their bills and follow the rules. They paid for all of the insurance they thought they needed. And now they are living off of the kindness of strangers (and family). And people are going to pass judgement and rant about how stupid and cheap they are? How DARE you!

For those that had Flood Insurance - isn't the fact that you are eligible for up to $250,000 a start? Many people were not in flood plains - (I can attest to that being in Diamondhead on the North side of I-10) - they had hurricane insurance period. Why would you not want your fellow neighbors to have something - when right now they have nothing? I don't understand the anger. I guarantee you that many of the people I know would have purchased flood insurance - IF they were in any sort of area had every flooded, OR were offered it by their insurance companies. I know that $250,00 won't rebuild everything for those that had the flood insurance but it is something. If this program has a 10 year buyout (like Gene Taylors plan) where the recipients have to pay for Flood Insurance that would be fine with many of them. Let's keep pulling together like the class acts that we in MS have been. I'm thrilled that this might happen - my 70 plus year old parents lost their home and I will pray this works out for everyone!

For those folks without flood insurance, too bad; you gambled and lost. Fact the facts. The federal government is not responsible for your bad decisions, and I resent my tax dollars being used to bail out stupid folks. If anything could be provided perhaps low intrest loans, but grantees should be made to repay the loan.
Everyone, everywhere, should be thinking about taking personal responsibility for your lives, and making decisions accordingly; not looking for free handouts from local, state and federal agencies.

Yes David there was another hurricane named Rita, however some bloggers are getting this web site confused. It is about Bay St, Louis/Waveland.

It's simple, the locaL BUILDING CODES NEED TO BE CHANGED and congrss needs to pass a bill to put as much money as they have into rebuilding Iraq into rebuilding the Gulf after the recent hurricanes. Tax money better spent.

thank you, Missy.....well said

Anna from Dallas: People were told they didn't need flood insurance. If you were told that, I'm sure you wouldn't have paid for it either. The insurance companies are sharks - period.

Do you think the people along the coast do not pay taxes? I can assure you I pay my fair share and I can also assure you that some of the taxes I pay go for things I may not feel they should, but I still pay. If the communities here along the coast are going to survive, they need people to live here, and if the people are going to live here, we need help to get our homes back. The people here that are so quick to be critical, have you never made a mistake in your life. Well, alot of people can see now that it was a mistake not to have flood insurance. These are not people that are new to the area, these are people whose families have lived here for generations and NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS EVER HAPPENED HERE BEFORE. But without some help from the government alot of people don't know what they are going to do. What do you think will happen if alot of these people go bankrupt? The banks foreclose on their houses? Do you not think this will be felt throughout the nation also?

To SouthernPride in MS: You should be ashamed of yourself. Those of us up north do not begrudge the people who have suffered from these hurricanes assistance from the government. Personally, I would rather our taxes go to help people in this country than to pay the bill to get our young people and many other innocent people killed over in Iraq. As far as help with heating bills goes - a person has to be extremely poor to even qualify for heating assistance. I have to watch the pennies in order to pay my bills and I cannot qualify for heating assistance and I know there are many people who make a lot less than I do that don't qualify either. I think you should get your facts straight before you start making hateful remarks. And, furthermore, the gas prices have risen because of the storms down your way, so those who are receiving assistance with their heat bill are victims the same as you.

Sorry SouthernPride. I wasn't aware that the citizens of the NE were responsible for the energy bill that was passed. You know, the one that grants a $25 break to families making less than 25k per year. Your tax dollars as well as mine would be better spent to rebuild a senator's pool near the coast. Place the shame where it makes sense.

It does seem to me that when people in this country are responsible enough to plan ahead and insure their property and family adequately they ARE penalized. In this situation those with insurance are subject to a cap with a loan and those without will get a "bailout". It is kind of like the Sept 11th situation - all families received a "cash reward" and those with life insurance policies had the amount they received from insurance proceeds deducted from their "cash reward". Folks something is really wrong with this picture! When those of us who properly insure and don't think - its OK, the government will bail us out get penalized, that is just WRONG! And I agree the real winner in the Katrina situation is the insurance companies because if the government bails people out they are off the hook!

Hello, Lee in Virginia. I have taken nothing but two bags of ice since day ONE. Don't you dare tell me how stupid we are about not having flood insurance on a house that was NOT in flood zone. Do you have earthquake coverage? Live here, have your whole life turned upside down and then maybe you are qualified to express how we should live.

All of you people in other states that keep saying that we should not be living here or rebuilding here - you aren't living in the perfect place either. I am just sick to death of hearing this garbage about "don't build back", where the heck do you think we should go? Please give me a clue, OK send me your home town, make sure I have a job, family,friends, roots that go deep! I'm waiting for your answer ---------

As a north Mississippi resident, I can see valid points on all sides. To those bashing the residents without insurance, I would first note that Hurricane Camille was known for decades as the worst storm EVER to hit America. And the fact is that the storm surge from Katrina was several FEET higher than that from Camille. I can see how many of the residents didn't have flood insurance- it was simply unimaginable that a hurricane would hit the same place and produce surges worse than those under Camille.

I can also understand those who don't want their tax dollars to bail out those with insurance. But it's a done deal now- you can thank Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committe for that. If not for his power, this bailout would have never occurred. That's the way power works in this country.

I do admit I was shocked by the comments of Jen from Waveland/Houston. She is outraged that her former neighbors are being given a lifeline because it means she paid insurance premiums for nothing. Well, sorry you got that piece of coal in your stocking, Jen! I can sort of understand non-Mississippian feeling that way, but for a former Waveland resident to be upset because her neighbors are being helped is beyond the pale.

We on the Coast have all met a monster none of us ever contemplated. The losses are far beyond what any photo can depict. You have to see it to understand. What the government is doing to help us is received with a grateful heart. Let's quit the hurtful criticism of that effort. It is truly SMALL in comparasion to the TRILLIONS of dollars spent. The AMERICAN people of the Gulf Coast are suffering and we need you prayers and even greater help than we have received thus far to live NORMAL lives. Believe me, life is tough here and everyday needs the strength of our gracious Lord to surive.

To linda of WI it wasn't Katrina that raised the gas prices. It was the greed of the oil companies that used Katrina as an excuse to raise the prices. They will use any excuse to raise prices.

I live in Long Beach, MS and yes my house was completly destroyed. Now some are saying that i shouldn't rebuild here. Lets see where should i move to that i don't have to worry about anything destroying my house again? How about CA. NO can't go there the ground shakes there. How about the Pacfic Northwest. Nope can't go there mountians blowup there. How about the Midwest. Nope thats out because of twisters and that funny white stuff that falls out of the sky in the winter and personaly these old bones can't handle the cold anymore. I guess that leaves out the Northeast as well so i will just stay here and rebuild.

You know, i think we'd all be a lot better off as a country if we stopped this regionalistic bickering and took the Founders' statement of "one nation" seriously. We are bound together through for better and for worse, and to begrudge one region help when it is needed or to hide behind regionalistic chauvinism seems counter-productive. We definitely need to be realistic and creative in solving problems, but we can do that without insulting people whose entire lives got washed away. I live in Louisiana and if there is a blizzard in the Northeast or, heaven help us, another terrorist attack or earthquake, i will send money to the Red Cross and not snipe about the insurance that is paid out.

I think if you copy and paste the address below you will have access to my online (Yahoo) photo album of Bay St. Louis (titled: SAR team photos). There is another album titled "Katrina's Ground Zero" of aerial photos of Bay St. Louis/Waveland & Pass Christian, MS. These photos are very representative of street after street, home after home in our 3 cities. Please take a long look, then give us your comments. (If unable to view, please feel free to email me for an "invitation" to view these pictures - put "katrina photos" in the subject line). http://photos.yahoo.com/pamf4

I just love the way that you people who are not from down here can run your mouths as if you actually have a clue. My husband and I lived at least 3 miles inland. We were no where near a flood zone, or water. In Dec. 2004, we refinanced our home and re-did our homeowner's insurance. Our insurance agent told us that we would be wasting our money on flood insurance. He told us that our money would be much better spent on our 4 children. He's the insurance expert, right? We followed his advice, and our home had 4 feet of water in it. We are by no means stupid people. We are both highly educated, with post-secondary degrees. We have paid more in taxes in the last 15 years than some of you have made in your entire lives. How dare you say that OUR tax dollars shouldn't be used to help us now. Get a clue.

I feel the goverment should be involved in rebuilding the infastructure, providing temp housing and food, and low intrest LOANS only. When the government gets involved giving free money to anyone for any reason someone will feel they did not get enough.
If you had insurance or did not, if you were smart or were not, it is not uncle sams business to rebuild your life, that is your responibility.If your insurance company has screwed you, i'm sorry you have options, USE THEM, don't expect the government to get involved in a business transaction.
As far as rebuilding, local AHJ should decide what gets rebuilt and how, not the feds or homeowners and they should also update all flood maps to above recent high water levels.
And to the person who commented about free oil in the northeast, you were way out of line. VERY I repeat VERY few people have access to it

Pam, wow, thanks for sharing the photos. I think it is right to expect folks to be responsible for their actions and choices. However, it is human for us to desire to help those that cannot help themselves. Perhaps it isn't the federal government's responsibility to pay everyone's way and cover for our mistakes. Perhaps the feds should hold the insurance companies accountable for what they can pay. But let's not lose our humanness and compassion for hurting folks. God bless you all in the various hurricane regions. And continue to pray for the safety of those in the "wildfire zones". Yes, we have fire insurance, but I wouldn't want to face the daunting task of rebuilding my entire life were I to lose my home in a fire. My heart goes out to you all.

It shames to read what some of these people have to say. God for bid that one day they will need help from someone. And that someone come off on them as they came off on these people, which were hit in the flood. They sound like cheap republican. What happen to the people in New Orleans, and gulf of Mississippi wasn’t their fault. What we should be doing is looking at our president. Why is it so important to send money Israel? Billion of dollar that is sent. And why do we help other country and can’t help our own country. Why do we hate each other? The person that calls the flood victims stupid is a cold hearted republican.

It's too easy to sit in another area of this great country and decide that people shouldn't rebuild along the coast. What people need to remember is that Katrina (and other storms, floods, earthquakes, eruptions, etc.) are natural disasters, acts of God. Where you live only determines, for the most part, the kind of natural disaster you are suceptible to, not that you'll never experience one. Should people in CA leave because of earthquakes, mudslides, floods? Should people vacate the midwest because of tornadoes and snow storms? What about the east coast? There are hurricanes, northeasters, etc. there. Just where is the "perfect" place to live? These are NATURAL disasters that happened to American people. Those who have never been affected by a natural disaster should drop to their knees and thank the heavens. Then get up and offer to help instead of criticize.

Pointing the blame on anyone who is a victim of a natural disaster is very counter productive! I come from a small coal mining village, Dunlo, PA. It is nearly the third highest point in Pa., yet on July 20,1977, two people were killed by flood waters just 200 feet from my house, which is more than 1,100 feet in altitude above Johnstown, PA. where 78 people perished that day. This third Great Johnstown Flood (1889, 1936 before)occcured when a freak thunderstorm dumped 16" on the area in just 12 hours. My point is that disasters can and do happen anywhere and the victim's are not to blame. Rather than pointing fingers we all need to pitch in and help the victims. That is why our town, Dunlo, is hosting a "Baby Boomer's Birthday Bash for Katrina Relief" on Saturday January 7, 2006. A dinner, fireworks and a dance will celebrate the fact that the first wave of us "Baby Boomers" are turning 60 this year. The entire proceeds from the event will be coming South to help some people in a small town there in Mississippi that is not getting aid from the gov. I am looking for a town to help. My wife and I plan to come South the first week in February with a check and at least two pairs of hands to help rebuild
what nature has destroyed. I urge all you other Baby Boomer's out there to consider doing the same thing. Have a birthday party, have some fun, celebrate that we have survived for 60 years, and raise some money instead of jeers to give a helping hand! Imagine, 52 weeks, fifty two parties, in just 1,000 towns across the US, raising just $1,000 per party! That's 52 million bucks of aid, and we will have had a blast doing it, without government help!

Thank you Stanley and your wife and friends!
True Renaissance Compassion Heroes in my book. May God bless you with great joy as you give of your time and gifts to our fellow coastians.
We are eternally thankful for you and Dunlo!

I am a 41 year resident of Pass Christian, MS who was 6 in Hurricane Camille one block off the beach. Our house was fine and no water.
The damage from Camille was not as wide and deep inland as Katrina by a factor of about 3x.
During Katrina, we lived in a CONCRETE and Naval I-beam steel condo off the beach just west of the Walmart mentioned above. 2/3's of it was crushed and destroyed. All our contents were blasted out. It has been ascertained that a tornado went right through the condos as well. Concrete is not a stopper.
(And hurricane coverage was useless. We were told we wouldn't need flood.)

We are building a new house 2 miles north of the beach in "The Pass" so we can be close to helping our community through our church.

Hope your party was a great one! May the Lord bless you all!

People, wake up!!! This erratic weather our country has been experiencing is a sign that we are going away from God's favor. This country was originally created for religious freedom, to express our belief in God, not Buddism, not Hinduism, not Islamism all of which are beliefs in other types of man made gods. We are taking God out of schools, guns have come in, parents are not teaching their children about God, the children are killing parents, etc. People want to continue to play ostrich and try to blame all of this erratic weather on theories made by man.... global warming, the thinning of the ozone layer, etc. People should wake up and return to God because like the Egyptians in Moses times, I would hate to be against God and face any of his wrath!!! He created us all as well as all of the things in this world that can bring destruction & he will use it against those who turn away from him (i.e. tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes). Believe it or not, God is in ultimate control, not the U.S. Government, or the weather channel either - with all of its weather excuses to keep the masses of people calm. When you think of all that went on in New Orleans, think of the story Saddam & Gommorah!!