Louisiana Family Recovery Corps Urges Quick Action on National Catastrophe Fund

BATON ROUGE, La., March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the President of the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps urged the House Financial Services Committee to move quickly to consider and report the Homeowner's Defense Act (HR 2555). This legislation would create a financial backstop and assure that families and communities have the resources to repair, rebuild and recover in the aftermath of catastrophic natural disasters such as massive hurricanes, major earthquakes, and similar large scale catastrophes by creating a partnership between state and federal governments and the private sector.

The bill is scheduled for a committee hearing on Wednesday, March 10, 2010. "Six of ten American families live in areas exposed to massive natural catastrophes. These families and their communities need and deserve the type of support a public-private partnership could provide. This bill will start pre-funding today for the natural catastrophes we know will be coming in the future," said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, President of the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps.

The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is a statewide disaster recovery non-profit organization created to assist families and communities in Louisiana during times of natural or manmade disasters. The organization, which is based in Baton Rouge, was created by former Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco and other state officials. Among other things, the organization has studied the impediments to recovery that have hampered families throughout Louisiana.

"Our research has shown that impediments related to the lack of personal resources, limited access to affordable homeowners insurance, and other factors have dramatically undermined the state's ability to recover. These impediments have affected families in virtually every community in the state," Dr. Sizer said.

"The unprecedented property damages, the large number of homeowners who are uninsured or under-insured, the vulnerability of the insurance market to mega-catastrophes, and a general lack of access to capital and coverage all combine to create the potential for financial catastrophe following a natural or manmade disaster," he said.

"Indeed, many of Louisiana's residents, when faced with ever-escalating insurance costs, on top of some of the highest insurance rates in the nation, are forced to go without insurance. The situation is particularly acute for those who are retired, disabled or otherwise living on fixed incomes," he said.

"The result for families and communities directly affected by catastrophe is a prolonged recovery period; a recovery period that could last for decades," Dr. Sizer said.

"The result for the American taxpayers is that natural catastrophes are generally followed by a massive infusion of taxpayer dollars – an infusion that drains critical resources that could be put towards other critical services," he added.

"Further, our research and experience have shown the impact of massive natural catastrophes is a statewide or multi-state phenomenon. The fact of the matter is that massive hurricanes do not only affect coastal cities and towns. Events like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita directly affect communities hundreds of miles from the Gulf, across several states," he said.

"Other research, along with our work throughout the state of Louisiana, has found that persons most typically affected by massive events tend to be poor, live in housing that is valued well below regional or national averages, and are disproportionately members of minority groups," Dr. Sizer said.

"The notion that establishing a national catastrophe fund is somehow designed to assist only the wealthy owners of beachfront properties is overly cynical. Persons advocating that position should travel to see how ordinary Americans are still dealing with the aftermath of Katrina and Rita a full five years after those storms ravaged the Gulf States," he added.

About the Recovery Corps

The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation formed in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Recovery Corps' mission is to facilitate human recovery for the state of Louisiana in the aftermath of disaster, both natural and man-made. The Recovery Corps has partnered with human service and non-profit organizations throughout the state and the country to deliver assistance as effectively and efficiently as possible, allocating more than $80 million to recovery efforts and assisting more than 30,000 households since January 2006.

The Recovery Corps has positioned itself as a unique agency with respect to its role in the state's recovery efforts. Not only has it seen first-hand the needs of Louisiana's citizens through the implementation and execution of its direct assistance, outcome-based proprietary programs, but it has also produced and commissioned important research related to Louisiana's long-term recovery efforts and the impact of disaster on people. Further, the Recovery Corps has become a leader in the effort to organize Louisiana's non-profit sector and, in doing so, is helping to develop integration and coordination across state agencies and Louisiana's non-profits.

For more information about the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps, log onto www.RecoveryCorps.org.

SOURCE Louisiana Family Recovery Corps