The state submitted a letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency last week at the urging of Governor Charlie Crist, seeking emergency financial assistance to help out homeowners impacted by problems with Chinese drywall. A week later, FEMA has announced it will not give such assistance. According to FEMA’s response, under federal law the drywall issue is one of product safety, not an emergency or a disaster incident such as a hurricane. Drywall imported from China has caused an array of problems in Florida and a series of lawsuits in both state and federal court. [SFBJ] [more]

Florida families hurt by Chinese drywall should receive financial aid, interim director of the state’s Department of Emergency Management, David Halstead, wrote to Washington yesterday. Halstead wrote the letter to officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the urging of Governor Charlie Crist, who has expressed concern over the broad and potentially more widespread risks associated with drywall from China. The letter asked federal officials to consider alternative modes of compensation. Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties are three of the four highest counties in number of Florida Department of Health drywall cases. According to the letter, Halstead asked the government to conduct a preliminary damage assessment related to these problems, and warned that there could be far more families affected than previously anticipated. [Sun-Sentinel]
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A redrawing of South Florida’s flood zones will boost insurance costs
for homeowners who live in higher-risk zones. The Federal Emergency
Management Agency revised the region and divided it into different
flood-risk zones, from A (high risk) to X (low risk). The letter
designation will be used to determine whether property owners must get
flood insurance, and also be factored into the costs of premiums. The
most expensive policies can cost as much as $2,000. [Miami Herald]
[more]

Florida Senator Bill Nelson has joined a quartet of federal lawmakers to petition the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help homeowners displaced by defective Chinese drywall. If governors of Florida, Virginia and Louisiana request help from FEMA, the agency can offer rental or other emergency assistance to homeowners or businesses who have sustained uninsured losses because of the tainted drywall. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has collected more than 1,500 complaints about the defective drywall in 27 states and the District of Columbia. [Palm Beach Post]

The William O. Lockhart Municipal Pier in Lake Worth is open for business again. The pier, originally opened in 1960, is 960 feet long and was damaged beyond use by hurricanes in 2004. Lake Worth and the state received 90 percent of the $3.4 million needed for repairs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and reopened the pier this spring. [more]

The federal government is looking into putting the state’s hurricane
evacuees in foreclosed homes if a major storm hits the state. The plan
is meant to keep displaced residents close to their communities and do
some good with foreclosed homes. The Federal Emergency Management
Agency would probably contact mortgage holders for lists of available
homes, assign homes to evacuees, and pay rent to the owners of the
houses. The idea could be duplicated around the country if it’s
successful in Florida. [more]