Top 10 Reasons The Flood Insurance Story is Bullshit

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FEMA Requires Flood Insurance
Winfield Resident Bitches About Paying

Crusading out-of-state douchebag Mark Hallburn is
playing his tiny violin to accompany Winfield homeowner Kenneth T. "Buddy" Davidson's whining about being required to carry flood insurance for his home.

Halburn gets it wrong right from the start when he writes:
"As you can see from the Google Earth image, Davidson's home is down the Kanawha River from the locks, just east of Winfield High School."

Wrong again, lumpy. Davidson's house is UPSTREAM from the locks. A fact you might know if you actually lived in West Virginia.

I don’t know where to start with this one…I’ll just take ‘em in order with a Top 10 list.

1. The homeowner is a little less than 3 miles by river upstream of the Winfield Lock, 2.25 miles as the crow flies; not “a block”.





2. If you live near a lock, by definition you live near a river. Wouldn’t any sane person living near a river be concerned about flooding? It’s not like it’s never happened before in West Virginia.

3. The letter is from his lien holder, not FEMA. FEMA only requires flood insurance if you have a federally backed mortgage loan – if you own your home you are not required by the government to have flood insurance.

4. Taxpayers are subsidizing his loan, why can’t they protect their investment from risk in a high risk area?

5. Being that close to a river means the risk of flooding is high; probably higher than his risk of fire. Yet no one complains about paying for fire insurance.

6. Navigation structures DO NOT offer any flood reduction measures; they only maintain a pool for navigation.

7. If there were any flood storage at a lock (again, there isn’t) he is UPSTREAM of the lock where the water would be stored, INCREASING his risk of flooding.

8. When this property floods, you can be assured the homeowner would be demanding a federal bailout from the same FEMA he is complaining about.

9. When this house was bought, the flood risk was apparent to any casual observer. Crying to legitimate media apparently didn’t work so the owner is definitely trying an “alternative” source.

10. The Publisher only said that he called FEMA; more information is needed about where he called, what number, what time he called, etc., etc. He’s been known to make late night calls and act surprised and indignant that no one answered him.

Putnam County places the assessed value of "Buddy's" home at $85,440. Which means the appraised value is $142,400.



It took us all of 5 minutes to find this flood zone map. You could have gotten off your dead ass and done the same thing before buying the house, "Buddy".
Flood insurance on a home of that value is less than a hundred bucks a month.
If that extra C note is going to break you, you've got no business being in that house in the first place. Quit your whining and pay up, pal.

As for you, Halburn, you don't even live in West Virginia. Why should anyone care what you think?
When are you going to stop playing reporter and go away?