Letter: Flood insurance won't help many

I'm an insurance adjuster who has witnessed the devastation brought on by Tropical Storm Irene. There are so many people who have lost most of their belongings and have been forced out of their homes.

Though most carry the national flood insurance policy, it's limited in its benefits. For example, national flood insurance does not pay to match cabinetry in your kitchen. If the lower cabinets are the only ones directly in contact with the water, they will be the only ones replaced. This lowers the value of people's homes, as they will now have mismatched cabinetry.

Such policies do not cover loss of use of the home, even though it may have been deemed uninhabitable. Many of these homes have mold in them, and because people cannot afford to rent an apartment or pay for a hotel, their children are forced to breath moldy air.

Furthermore, the policy is limited to unfinished Sheetrock, a boiler and a water heater in the basement. Very little else in the basement is covered. Long Island homes with finished basements will receive little benefit.

I am also coming across many homeowners who were not advised that they could take out personal property coverage. Clients' entire first floors have been devastated by the flooding, and they have no coverage.

Why don't we just take some of the taxpayer dollars that go to line the pockets of the bigwigs at Halliburton or other contractors rebuilding Iraq and Afghanistan, with inflated costs and cost overruns, and use that money to help the people here in these United States? Our politicians should spend a night with many of my fellow taxpayers who have no home to provide to their families. I see the devastation first hand and can't help but be affected.

John Natale, Long Beach