Is FEMA forcing people to buy flood insurance?
VIDEO - Is the agency trying to balance the books by soaking the public?...
It’s been a wet Winter in Los Angeles. Mudslides in hilly areas inundated streets. But this South LA neighborhood has none of that. So, imagine Isaac Robinson’s surprise and anger when he and his neighbors were included in a revised FEMA flood zone and told if they wanted to keep their homes, Congress mandates they’d have to purchase flood insurance.
WATCH NBC NIGHTLY NEWS REPORT ON FEMA ‘FLEECING AMERICA’ HERE:
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After studying the maps for months and grilling federal officials, Robinson says the maps are filled with errors. Then, local public TV station KCET actually got a FEMA engineer to admit the maps were faulty.
NBC News has found 24 states where citizens have complained about the accuracy of FEMA’s flood maps. After Katrina, FEMA’s flood insurance fund went $17 billion in the hole. Raising the question, is the agency trying to balance the books by soaking the public?
WATCH MORE ON THIS STORY FROM THE NIGHTLY NEWS HERE:
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The FEMA flood insurance program takes in $2.3 billion a year. After protesting, Isaac Robinson and his neighbors finally got removed from the flood zone and won’t need flood insurance. They can still protect their homes from flood damage by investing in professional waterproofing services.
In a statement, FEMA said, “We will work closely with local communities to ensure that any verifiable data that will strengthen the flood maps is included and incorporated. Many of those communities wonder why FEMA couldn’t work with them before forcing people to buy food insurance.
