The Road Home program attempts to restore the equity a homeowner had in his home at the time of the storm. This will work well for some and leave others unable to find new housing.

Consider a homeowner in the Ninth Ward with a  $45,000 house, paid off, with no insurance. Assume they have received about $6,000 in temporary housing aid from FEMA. They'll end up with too little money to rebuild. At most they get $30,000 and need to borrow around $40,000 to build something like a Katrina Cottage if they can find a suitable location.

The guy with the $150,000 house and $1 in flood insurance would get $149,999 and would be made whole. He is in the only sweet spot in this plan. If he had $150,000 in insurance he would get nothing. If he had no insurance he gets $100,000.

Consider a homeowner in Lakeview with a $400,000 house and another $100,000 of contents, max flood insurance of $250,000 and homeowners insurance. They got $2,000 from FEMA, their homeowners also have helped with expenses while they were evacuated but no more. Their flood insurance paid $250,000. They would get $148,000 from Road Home.

• However if they were underinsured for flood with only $100,000 insurance they could get $150,000 in CDBG money
  
• If they were totally uninsured for flood they could get $100,000 from CDBG
  

Finally think about the homeowner in Old Metairie with a $1,000,000 home and $350,000 contents. With $250,000 flood insurance and full homowners insurance (2.5% storm deductible - $25,000). They get $250,000 flood plus some homeowners if they had damage above the first floor. They could also get $150,000 from the Road Home.