Matt Van Swol
@matt_vanswol
FEMA seems to be very confused as to why people in #WNC are so upset about the "50% Rule" for disasters...
Let me explain:
a) You're living in your 150 year-old historic farmhouse with your kids in Asheville NC when Helene floods your home with 5 feet of water.
b) Now you're living in a camper outside your home, trying to shovel three feet of mud out of your basement.
c) You apply to FEMA like everyone else and get rejected 3 times, but decide to continue appealing.
d) After 2.5 months, you decide you can't wait any longer on FEMA and start rebuilding your home.
e) Randomly, a FEMA inspector shows up at your house a couple weeks later, totally unannounced.
f) You're thrilled to them, stoked that you may finally get some help rebuilding and some federal aid.
g) The inspector walks through your home and says, "Hey look, this is really bad. We think your home is gonna require $250,000 worth of repairs."
h) You reply, "I know it's bad, but we've done a lot of work ourselves and a non-profit has donated some materials, so all-in it's probably only $100k."
i) The FEMA inspector shrugs his shoulders and says "Ok, but my estimate is $250,000."
j) Again, you're thrilled. You think that because FEMA says the damage is a high-dollar value, you'll get MORE help from the federal government.
k) A few days go by and you're ready to apply for a permit to begin building your home.
l) But when you try... the county says, "Wait a minute, your home is only worth $400,000 and the FEMA inspector said your damage is $250,000. That exceeds the 50% rule."
m) You ask, "What is the 50% rule? I've never heard of it."
n) The county explains that if the cost of a repair for your home exceeds 50% of the VALUE of your home, you cannot rebuild.
o) You have 3 options: you either have to elevate your entire home, demolish it, or relocate it. The choice is yours.
p) You're in shock, you say, "I don't have the money to elevate my 150 year-old farmhouse 5 feet in the air... and I can't relocate it, and I don't want to demolish it, what can I do?"
q) The county says, "Tough luck, you can submit an appeal to FEMA, but until they grant you a reappraisal and an appeal, you CANNOT rebuild your home."
r) You call your friend who is contractor and he says, "Hey, I'm so sorry, there's literally no way to elevate your historic home, it's not possible."
Your only options left are to demolish your home and start over or pray that FEMA comes back and reappraises the damage at an unknown time while you live with your kids in a camper indefinitely.
That's why people are upset.
3:20 PM · Dec 22, 2024
@matt_vanswol
For those wondering why this rule even exists… It was made for beachfront homes that generally flood A LOT.
The thought behind the rule was to force residents to elevate beachfront homes that continuously flood so FEMA wouldn’t have to continually be forced to pay for fixing them.
Sadly, the same rule has been applied here in #WNC and it makes NO sense at all.
This is pretty typical of the government. They make a rule to solve a specific problem that ends up hurting other people when the rule is broadly, applied to situations everywhere.
3:46 PM · Dec 22, 2024
