The rebuilding effort on Bolivar has only just begun...

This explains our plight, which is the same as hundreds of neighbors and property owners on the Peninsula.   County officials are clearing debris, moving as much as they can and getting the roads cleared and open while utility companies are building power lines and checking water operations.

We cannot do anything on the Peninsula until the infrastructure is back in place and our insurance rules.  FEMA is everywhere down there now and adjustors are working feverishly to get to home sites when in so many cases, nothing is left standing.  Relatives and loved ones continue to look for the missing and stories surface every day concerning the finding of bodies or personal effects.  Really sad and terrible things.

The issues range from coverage at all to what kind of coverage did the homeowner have in place?  If insurance rules in favor of "surge," "rising," or "flood," water damaging the home, many will not be covered depending on the exact wording of the policy.  One person in the field told me that many are scrambling to come up with a verifiable meaning for "surge" water that occurs prior to the hurricane making land.

Ted and I opted for a very good Texas Windstorm policy where we lived, based on information we were given from friends and insurance personnel.  We also had a good homeowners' policy. However, if the adjustor rules for water, we will not be given what we need to rebuild.  The FEMA representative talked to Ted again last night and said that almost every home he had investigated had been ruled "surge" water and that many policies would not have to pay a dime. In our case, he thought FEMA itself might authorize a small amount, or offer a small loan, which means we would not have near enough to rebuild our home, especially in today's market and with the economy as it stands.

We still have not been able to hear from Texas Windstorm and Ted said we are not going to give up until we do, as well as continuing to pursue our homeowner's policy. 

The ruling amounts to a lot of money in our case, so you can see how much we want the adjustor to rule correctly as Ted and many others believe the wind did come first and take down our home prior to Ike ever hitting land or the water rising.  Since there is no structure at all to measure a water line on, no one really knows for certain.  The FEMA man said that they do know that a wall of water at least 18 feet high stood on the Peninsula for a long time.  Can you imagine that?  I can't.

Anyway, keep on praying, please.  We need to get an answer soon and make our plans.  I fully intend to rebuild my home on Bolivar where I am so happy.  I know God is good and that He is always good even when I have trouble remembering that fact.  Also, please join me in prayer for those dear families who live each day to hear what happened to their loved ones.  More than 400, according to our sources,  are still missing from the Peninsula since Ike.

Until the next page turns,

Brenda

I appreciate your love, concern and support during these past difficult days.  Friends are truly the angels God appoints to take care of each other during times of need, and how I thank God for each of mine.  It seems that just when I have reached a very low valley, God sends someone along to give me an uplifting word or smile.