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It’s the kickoff for hurricane season and forecasters are predicting as many as 14 named storms with anywhere from three to six of these storms growing into major hurricanes. Here on the Gulf Coast, we certainly perk up when this time of year rolls around. For years, a good story in south Louisiana went like this:
“I’m a Catholic, so I certainly know a good bit about suffering,” she would say.
“Yeah, I’m a Louisiana homeowner, he answered.
“Oh, so you understand.”
Louisiana homeowners know a good bit about suffering, particularly when it comes to being stuck with the high-est property insurance rates in the nation. The Clark Research Group determined that Louisiana has some of the highest insurance costs, coming in at an average of more than $6,000. No other state in the South comes close. If you live in industrialized New Jersey, the cost is $1,318, a drop of some $300 in the past 10 years. California, with wildfires and massive rain-caused mudslides, pays an average of $1,988.
But that’s not the whole story. Congress merely put its finger in the flood insurance dike with legislation that supposedly capped the skyrocketing rates of property owners in flood prone areas. But what our minions in Washington didn’t tell us is that the rates will continue to climb dramatically in the years to come. The legislation is just a quick fix to hoodwink voters in order to get through the next election cycle.
Because of the devastating hurricanes that seem to hit the gulf coast at least once a decade, the federal government has bailed out these southern states, literally and financially, time, and time again. Some cynical members of congress have even suggested that it’s time for many homeowners to relocate. But attitudes are beginning to change, because other oxen are being gored. Mother Nature has given the Gulf South a pass in recent years, but she is causing havoc in other parts of the nation.
Oklahoma has suffered an unprecedented surge in both earthquakes and tornadoes and are clamoring for federal help. New York and New Jersey have a long way to go to recover from last year’s Hurricane Sandy. In Texas, hurricanes and wildfires have cost some $28 billion in recent years. California witnessed rapid growth in both drought and wildfires, and earthquakes remain a constant threat. A Wall Street Journal study published recently concluded that almost every state in the nation is subject to some major disaster.
So has a national plan that doesn’t use taxpayer dollars been proposed which is both comprehensive and affordable? Yes. Such a proposal was unveiled in New Orleans in May of 1995 at a catastrophe insurance confer-ence sponsored by the American Insurance Services Group.
The proposal called for a Natural Disaster Insurance Corp. ) that would sell disaster reinsurance for residential and commercial properties while also providing primary coverage for residential properties. We all agreed back then that there would be a huge problem with catastrophic insurance losses all over America unless a national disaster program was put in place. And that’s just what’s happening across the country now.
Here is how it would work. Private insurance would take a small portion of its premiums and contribute to a state created fund. The state fund would then be backed up by a nationally created fund. The national fund could borrow to pay for any shortfall, but no federal tax dollars would be involved. Each state could buy in and have a rate set according to the risk. Hurricane prone states like Louisiana would pay more than a state like North Dakota that experiences much less in natural disaster damage. That was the plan then. And the good news is that in reaction to the devastation of Hurricane Sandy and the tornados in Oklahoma and Missouri, a number of states are coalescing around this same plan now.
It’s taken almost 24 years, but it looks like it could be the right time for problem solving. It’s just not a handout for the coastal states. The whole country will benefit. And at a price that’s affordable. We certainly cannot be any worse off than we are now.
“Do you know what happens when you give a procrastinator a good idea? Nothing!”
--Donald Gardner
Peace and Justice
Jim Brown
Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide. You can read all of his columns at www.jimbrownusa.com.

NEW YORK (AP) — A free e-book collection allows fans of Tracy Chevalier, JoJo Moyes and more than 40 other writers to read early excerpts of their upcoming books.
“Buzz Books 2019: Fall/Winter,” published Tuesday, features such works as Chevalier’s “A Single Thread” and Moyes’ “The Giver of Stars.”
Other excerpted books include memoirs by Adrienne Brodeur and by former United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power, and Stephen Chboksy’s novel “Imaginary Friend,” his follow-up to “The Perks of Being a Wallflower.” The compilation also includes 12 debut novels, among them Kiley Reid’s “Such a Fun Age.”
A companion volume will feature young adult titles for the fall and winter.
“Buzz Books 2019” was released by Publishers Marketplace (buzz.publishersmarketplace.com), the online industry newsletter.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's trip to Louisiana (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
President Donald Trump is using an official government event at a liquefied natural gas export facility to handicap his potential 2020 Democratic opponents.
Trump ran through a list of his challengers at the event in Louisiana on Tuesday.
He says Texas' Beto O'Rourke is "falling fast," and he mocked the candidate for trying to reboot his campaign.
Trump says, "History has said that does not work out well."
Trump also mocked former Vice President Joe Biden, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Trump claimed to the crowd: "Bernie's got a lot of energy. But it's energy to get rid of your jobs."
He added dismissively that there are "350 million people and that's the best we can do" with Democratic candidates.
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Noon
President Donald Trump will highlight his administration's efforts to ramp up liquefied natural gas exports as he visits a new plant Tuesday in southwest Louisiana.
Trump will tour a $10 billion export terminal that will liquefy natural gas for storage and shipping. The process involves cooling gas vapor to a liquid state.
Trump cites an increase in liquefied natural gas exports as boosting jobs and cementing the U.S.'s role as an energy provider for international markets.
The administration has also promoted liquefied natural gas from the United States as a way for Europe to reduce its reliance on Russia for energy.
The visit is Trump's third to Louisiana since he took office. He will also use the trip to address supporters at a fundraiser in Metairie.

HACKBERRY (AP) — President Donald Trump is highlighting his administration's efforts to ramp up liquefied natural gas exports and boost the country's energy infrastructure as he visits a new plant in southwest Louisiana.
Trump arrived in the state Tuesday to tour a $10 billion export terminal that will liquefy natural gas for storage and shipping. The process involves cooling gas vapor to a liquid state.
Sempra Energy announced Tuesday ahead of Trump's visit that the Louisiana plant has begun producing liquefied natural gas.
Trump cites an increase in liquefied natural gas exports as boosting jobs and cementing the U.S.' role as an energy provider for international markets. The administration has also promoted liquefied natural gas from the United States as a way for Europe to reduce its reliance on Russia for energy.
Joining Trump on the trip was U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who emphasized the importance of selling liquefied natural gas to Europe.
"When Russia sells energy to other countries, they usually attach political strings to that energy. And it's usually things that go against our Western civilization values, our democratic values," Scalise told reporters. "And the fact that we can now sell American energy to our allies around the world, and they can break their links with Russia, they don't have to buy Russian energy, it not only helps our economy, but it helps geopolitically."
The president and congressional leaders are trying to work together on an infrastructure package that would include boosting energy development as well as rebuilding roads, bridges and airports. Trump and Democratic leaders agreed to work toward a $2 trillion package, but it will be difficult for lawmakers and the White House to agree on how to pay for it.
Some Republican lawmakers have described raising taxes to pay for public works improvements as "a nonstarter." Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers will be wary of speeding up environmental reviews to hasten construction.
The nation's top business groups and labor unions support increasing the federal gasoline tax, currently 18.3 cents a gallon. It was last raised in 1993.
Democrats are waiting for Trump to unveil what he can support, knowing an infrastructure package will go nowhere in a Republican-controlled Senate without his strong backing.
The visit is Trump's third to Louisiana since he took office. He will also use the trip to address supporters at a fundraiser in Metairie.