{"id":1171,"date":"2017-05-09T23:13:36","date_gmt":"2017-05-09T15:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/microdium.net\/public\/2017\/05\/09\/fema-forging-ahead-one-familys-path-to-flood-recovery\/"},"modified":"2017-05-09T23:13:36","modified_gmt":"2017-05-09T15:13:36","slug":"fema-forging-ahead-one-familys-path-to-flood-recovery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microdium.com\/public\/2017\/05\/09\/fema-forging-ahead-one-familys-path-to-flood-recovery\/","title":{"rendered":"FEMA: Forging Ahead: One Family\u2019s Path to Flood Recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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BATON ROUGE, La. \u2014 Kim Aucoin moved to Baton Rouge from Charlotte, North Carolina, in March 2016. She was raised in Lafayette and was happy to once again live in her home state of Louisiana. Little did she know that just five months later the area would be devastated by historical flooding.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy landlord came to the house and said \u2018Get out, we\u2019re going to flood,\u2019\u201d said Aucoin. The home had never flooded before, even during a big flood event in 1989, but she said this time her landlord didn\u2019t want to take any chances. Aucoin and her husband, Randy, evacuated to her boss\u2019s home in Prairieville, but before leaving, they placed sandbags around the property. The sandbags didn\u2019t help; the house took in 16 inches of water.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aucoin had hazard insurance for her rental home, but it didn\u2019t include damages from rising water.\u00a0 They did not purchase flood insurance. \u201cI work for an insurance company so why I didn\u2019t get it was just stupidity,\u201d said Aucoin. She wasn\u2019t alone, 39 percent of the residents who flooded in August were not living in a flood-prone area and some didn\u2019t have flood insurance coverage.<\/p>\n

While their landlord repaired and renovated the damaged home, the Aucoins lived in a small trailer they borrowed for a few weeks. Then they moved into a hotel and were pleased to find out FEMA\u2019s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) would reimburse them for hotel expenses.\u00a0 \u201cWe received FEMA money within five business days,\u201d Aucoin said. The money was electronically deposited into their bank account which made the process fast and convenient.<\/p>\n

Even though the Aucoins contents weren\u2019t a total loss, they still qualified for FEMA assistance and filed a claim.\u00a0 \u201cIt helped us start to replace things,\u201d said Aucoin. Another big help was receiving a Louisiana Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card. \u201cWe lost all of our food in the flood and neither the trailer or hotel had a kitchen so it was very helpful.\u201d The $300 EBT card was reloaded once, totaling 600 disaster dollars to assist with grocery expenses.<\/p>\n

The Aucoins are some of the fortunate flood survivors in the sense that they were able to move back into their rental house just two months after the August floods. And this time they have flood coverage through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). A smart move since hurricane season begins June 1st and there is a 30-day waiting period between purchasing a policy and the date it goes into effect.\u00a0 Despite the unsettling start the couple plans to stay in Baton Rouge. Aucoin said, \u201cIt\u2019s been a rough few months, but I\u2019m glad to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

NFIP Facts<\/strong>:<\/p>\n