Oklahoma tornado victims battling FEMA guidelines to rebuild homes
Should the tornado victim be “allowed” to re-build their home in an area deemed dangerous by the flood and tornado analysts of FEMA?
Some tornado victims, who lost their homes, fear that they may not be able to re-build. Rhonda Northcutt told KFOR she is unable to get a building permit from the city because of where her home was located before it was destroyed.
Where to rebuild?
A nurse walks past the devastation, what is left of the Moore Hospital after Oklahoma tornado
“It is just unimaginable that I have to go to bed at night thinking that I even have to deal with this,” Northcutt said.
According to the city, there are homes in the neighborhood that are located in an area designated as a flood way. The city said it is unable to give permits to build new homes in these types of areas because of FEMA requirements. Even though their homes were there before the storm, Jennifer Wisooker and Northcutt might not be able to re-build.
“For 29 years that’s been my home and that sense of home I’ll never have again; that sense of familiarity it is just gone,” Wisooker said.
FEMA guidelines are extensive. More here
“Hazard Mitigation is the effort to reduce loss of life and property by lessening the impact of future disasters by taking action now—before the next disaster—to reduce human and financial consequences later (analyzing risk, reducing risk, insuring against risk).”
Reading on, “FEMA’s mitigation programs help reduce the impact of events—and our dependence on taxpayers and the Treasury for disaster relief.”
“I don’t need them to decide whether I’ll be safe or not on my own land,” Wisooker added.
