This from New Jersey Online concerning business owners that where hard hit in Bound Brook, NJ during the recent hurricane : "......At a press briefing yesterday held by Rep. Bob Franks (R-7th District) and representatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Small Business Administration and State Police, angry business owners demanded the federal government provide grants rather than loans.

"People in Bound Brook never ask for handouts, but this is one time we're in such a crisis," Councilman Frank Bruno said.

Merchants shouted down the officials when they discussed the availability of low-cost loans.

After the raucous session, Isa Hishmeh, who opened Miles Carpet on Main Street two years ago, said he dipped into his children's college fund to make a go of it.

"If we don't get grant money," he said, "in plain English, I'm screwed."

-- Mitch (waituntil2000@angrypeople.everywhere), September 21, 1999

Answers

The welfare mentality is firmly implanted in the culture. Government is our new god which should and will save us.

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), September 21, 1999.

I understand that Bound Brook is known to be flood-prone. Some of the NC areas flooded by Floyd are also known to be flood-prone. I love the NC shore and the Florida Atlantic and Gulf coasts but wouldn't buy or build there because of the storm risks. If you open a business or buy/build a house in an area known to flood during a nor'easter or a hurricane, and you do not have federal flood insurance, you should not expect an outright grant from the government.

If someone wants to live in a high-risk area, that's fine, but home insurance or tax dollars should not subsidize that lifestyle or reward someone for not taking out flood insurance--which is what the situation is at present. Immediate emergency aid is one thing; encouragement to continue living or running a business without flood insurance in the same high-risk area is another.

If the Bound Brook area is indeed a historical flood area, then I hope TPTB refuse the requested grants and instead offer assistance to relocate to a less hazardous area.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 21, 1999.

I agree with you Old Git. When you build a home or business in a location that has potential for a hurricane, tornado, flooding, earthquake, etc., you get in line and you take your chances. This reminds me of the beggars who confront you on the street demanding money. They say to you, "give me some money or I'll rob you anyway." My words to Isa are "go get screwed!"

-- bardou (bardou@baloney.com), September 21, 1999.

Old Git -

I agree totally with you. According to the news show I was watching last night, this was the third time in 2 years that some of these businesses/people had been flooded out. The mayor said something about the people of the town being "loaned out" (strange term - never heard it before) and needed grants because they couldn't take on anymore even low-interest loans. Same thing goes on out here nearly every year. The state has bought out some of the worst places. Either way, I guess we pay.

-- Valkyrie (anon@please.net), September 21, 1999.

Perhaps those who live in glass houses shouldn't be so quick to throw stones. Re: Welfare and "free govt money".

I would have a lot more respect for those who knee jerk when talking about welfare for those in distress, if they would just once consider

1. the tobacco subsidies.

2. the various subsidies available to the very rich corporations via the mechanisms of tax laws and accountancy practices.

3. the agricultural crop insurances.

4. the nearly open ended spending by the DoD.

5. the completely hidden spending by CIA.

6. the trickle down of funds and hardware from the Feds to the local law enforcement.

7. the obsenity of spending and perks represented by our elected officials, especially those elected to the higher offices, State & Fed.

8. the programs supporting the schools, programs which adults create a fiefdom with, and our kids can't even add or write or think upon graduation.

Just to name a few....

Time to realize that we live in a fascist socialized nation.

Oh, yeah, and it is so easy to play easy politics by picking on those who are in the most need, say disaster victims or the "welfare queens", yet they are only operating within the framework provided by the Fed and State Laws.

If you are serious about reforming the idea of social hand-outs, do some serious politicing - address my above points at the level the laws are enacted - other than that you are acting politically scurrilous, rather like shooting carp in a barrel with the good ole boys while drunk - fun for a while, easy targets, easy to feel good - and doesn't address the deeper underlaying national social maliase.

-- Mitchell Barnes (spanda@inreach.com), September 21, 1999.

I guess that means we should not comment about certain problematic aspects of recent events unless we drag in a litany of other activities that have some similarites to those aspects so that each post, instead of being brief and to the point, can be an encyclopedia of problems.

No thanks.

Jerry

-- Jerry B (skeptic76@erols.com), September 21, 1999.

"When you build a home or business in a location that has potential for a hurricane, tornado, flooding, earthquake, etc."

Is there anywhere in the US where you aren't vulnerable to something like this? Unless Congress has repealed the laws of nature, ALL of us are vulnerable to natural disasters.

There are some places, like right on the beach or right by a river, or perhaps right on top of a fault, that are obvious, but otherwise there is no way to tell where a disaster will strike.

I lived in a farmhouse in Iowa that survived several direct tornado hits in its 120 years of existence. The way it was built helped it survive. The frame of the house was 1 foot square hardwood beams mortised into the limestone bedrock. The walls were just wood siding, the tornados would just strip away the siding and leave the framing untouched.

Most houses these days are built so shabbily, with such poor materials, that few of them can survive any really rough weather. Yuppies pay outrageous prices for ticky-tacky construction of 2x4's on 24 inch centers sheathed in particle board. Local boards allow this shoddy work because they want the development and the tax dollars and outright graft that comes with them. Therefore, much of the damage of these storms can be traced to outright greed.

-- Forrest Covington (theforrest@mindspring.com), September 21, 1999.

Nowhere in England is more than an hour and a half away from the sea--you KNOW I love the ocean! I lived in rented accoms in that huge saucer of a hurricane-prone swamp called New Orleans for twelve years--a city I love--the last two with Sweetie. I've been marooned by floodwaters and snowed up to waist-high in NJ, done relief work after Camille, gone through a tornado in Little Rock and just missed the major earthquake in Mexico City (1982, I think)--I'm highly sensitive to these things!

So when Sweetie resigned from the Navy and we looked around for a place to live, we settled on central NC as the least likely to suffer a severe natural disaster. There are tornadoes here, but small ones and rarely. We get the tail-ends of hurricanes, but not often. It snowed 11" one year and I was thrilled. A couple of Durham streets flood after several inches of rain but not near us. You might not be able to find a safe place to live but you can find a safER place to live. I reiterate: anyone who knowingly builds or buys a home or business in a known flood-prone area and does not purchase federal flood insurance should not be encouraged to continue that irresponsible lifestyle and expect me to subsidize it through my tax dollars and high rate of homeowners insurance.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), September 22, 1999.