FEMA-contracted call center gave false info about flood insurance
Tags: insurance companies, femaOct. 4, 2005 - Hundreds of thousands of hurricane flood victims along the Gulf Coast are only now realizing they were misled by the government on their need for flood insurance.
State floodplain officials tell ABC News that the floodplain maps, created by FEMA and used by the federal government, are both outdated and inaccurate. They also say the government has known of the inaccuracies.
Based on those maps, residents of parts of St. Bernard Parish in Louisiana were told that they did not need federal flood insurance. They lived in sections of the parish that fall outside FEMA's designated Flood Hazard Area…
The confidential audit, prepared by James, found that large numbers of callers were badly misled about their need for flood insurance. ABC News obtained the audit documents from a source other than James. Members of Congress have repeatedly asked FEMA for a copy of the report. As of today, FEMA officials say the agency has not yet turned over the audit.
"Three-thousand calls a month – 500, 600 calls a month of which were gravely erroneous. That's a serious problem," said James of the report's findings.
FEMA says it has since replaced the Tallahassee answering service with another one, but that does little for those who relied on its maps.
"The people who relied upon these maps, in many cases, ended up in harm's way, flooded, without flood insurance, and had no idea that they were in danger," asserted Steve Kanstoroom, founder of FEMAINFO.us, a Web site advocating for flood victims…
