sandy swirls along the east coast... >> narrator: tonight... >> don'tget >> that's my point. that's whye >> narrator: more than thr afpetorm sandy tl r pondent su iga icenyaid, "oh, no, no, no, that was eeg. >> narrator: the red tape. >>owfi this same application out three times. >> sullivan: the same application? he same application. >> sullivan: this pile? es >> narrator: the controversies. this is a classic dispute where they gave her just a little bit of money... >> i saw betlss the board. >> there's nenan systematic issues with respect to how the cweus or how the claims were paid. >> narrator: and the profits.

li40io in profit. how do you explain that? >> whie ro oversight, it was not enough. >> narrator: tonight tl d npr special report. >> people are profiting unfairly on other people's misery. >> narrator: "business of disaster." frontline is made possible by contributions to yo station from viewers like you. thk you. anheraor public broadcasting. major support for frontline is idth d. and catherine t. macarur foundation, committed to il mstan and peaceful world. more information is available acor tiups ed by the park foundation ded to heightening awarenessit issues. e nd helen glessner family, ti trustworthy journalism that s inspires. fond w with visionaries on the fron neocchange id at fordfoundation.org.

the wyncote foundation. and by the frontline naunh support from jono haantional support auon >> we looked around and tried to find the perfec b oowhgr e grp er tendas them. we sai "s ace we want toiv" losht't ofwandstit oe. wat a ppinesatoc

brought to us. the ocean can be joyful. and the ocean could alsowallow you up at any given time. u know, it's unpredictable. >> clear and present danger. ndls tt cot. >> the time for evacuation r. gk hind tld >>ng sten island for yyopretty mkn what tes th w highe t i'd ever seen tend n whole entoc i "t trm we have to leave, or there's od chance you're gonna die." n t u the east rreed the entire system is shut down.

>> there wa eon raer wessly in a blackout. the laman all but shut off. just codner iatinfr s's bedndh door and ie, t is that?" >>nte d the r ined down the block alrea there's no escape now. e is s in this house. rell upstairs and we're nghe watel as it's coming csehe step, i'm wondering, "ar go >> as the sun rises on the devastation, staten island badly affected by flooding... >> the re t fnd ishe nr pl have died, and that number grows, it seems, by the hour. >> m ahe tr dn fathod

boulevard, which is the main thfahte shoreline. i saw boats and cars up on people's property. ho homes. enyo he commit ata . i wann uan the rof n bulyo idea just how diffre we. >> they wereitrd a an esidt obamwill sor himself the damage inflicted on the folks and ofn island. >>o toe esco was a big moment for us. we'ng to do everythie can to help. >> i think a lot of staten islas,erli president obama or not, thought, "all rig'lth that we need." >> gootoou you doing okay? aevece enus into the crd s ro my wife an >> i was like, "wow!" >> so some of this is going bh.

but here, my commitment you is i goi to stay oit >> he promised that he wld cut all the re. >> he was going to make it >> he was gonna makeright. ty. don't forg abouts. >> that's my point. 's why i camre gss >> it's always gd when a politician comes after the electi (laughter) >> god bless you. god bless you, nice to see y. >> economic damage from ane sandy could go... >>stndd $20 billion. >> our requests are about $7io >> my instructions to the federal agency has been, "i nto rod ta, bureaucry,su that we are getting the sowheyre needed as quickly as possible." >> all the sandy survivors

can everybody get over here? e toou to shoulder. are weinth until we're all home? yes! >> are we standing shoulder to shouerntil we're all >> yes! >> laura sullin:reporter for npr, i've covered quite a w erth esec test, . from katrina to haiti, i've investigated problems with disaster aid and looked closely ffts to rebuild. for the past year, i've been hestabperstorm sandy ct a group ofga l fall, here at the statca in trenton. ie nge of the families that rll use help. pplaus >> good morning. e cy. me mhtamantha are still, three years l without a home, facing four wl nep. k laus ul iurpris t

learn just how many homeowners were still struggling. s an t people across the street unndhat thousands of us ilho. >> we goiodo from the federal government, those ioll't reached the people who need lp. >> this isreou. svan:tao sandy survors, they told me ouleh nce. so thine y said, o,hawas prti everythinghaon as be the storm." uln: andht of government bureaucracy. f t ei' probably get a rese kn, about a month later mla >>va there was one story i heard over and over from so many homeowners, oug quinn. ou know, iptc. "it's going to be okay. hioibekay. i've bee wortsn , re i'll work it out. sn:s that what happened ires and i'm stl ywlose. i bome in my house d f muan ea hin. >> sul aun

we spend billionofrs ery year to help people like q mha osge b their feet p t from the next storm. ov tt arwe've been investigating where those llre actually going an man yfter say, storm survire not . that question took me to air lot in toms r,ery, where i met up a witdoug quinn. wow. hey doug, how are u? quvehirf neigho20 >> nictoou. sullivan: he'd always dreamed lg onat >> yeah, this is it. livan: hol >> this is what's left of it st my house was over this way. my dul b t er n f it was a comfortable,

cozy middle-class home. ons i came here, i just was... inipo y thats me slivan:re f that home was l l so this is the tay dry? yea >> sullivan: and it all fits into aox this is everything. thall you've got. >>et weird wuf after the storm, because er in my house was destrod. p ost pus l poesonof front ora le th wllicult. sulli hnoth thlycut ild. usmee'a be a pwhe life will be a littlesy and then we'll work our back to normal. i y ine a contingency, ands it's for.

>>van: he's ght. s ation is what flood ine sior bu fns i fft from oerwn insurance. run by a government prograter es siod the 1 and '60s. srsi >> along 4ese kansas aisrithe worst fln isry inundate thousands of square mileof land. us owing rapidly at tmeinng homes were being built in vule. so time after time, the federal rnment was cup to provide disaster aid, and ople had very few options thaur hat in time. >> sul tur dustry had said floods were toy eron up theatfl insurance program in 1968. the prpava insurance anfeto

sell policies and settle claims, especially in flood-one s. the prmsthpolici would be u cll losses unless the disaster got too costly. thpaoue up the dice >> the insurance compa d veisherogram. ri is altas. liobr e floorahe0s, he says he hadem t insurance companies from the beginning. >>veinio ed tt the ng us too much and the taxp ping them too much money. te they were also ngy at we t were some legitimate claims. d te kthem out heam. >> sullivan: how'd they take ? >> they didn't like eytoestried to fight it, bgroo with us and they left. >>va tren't of the proor the 1980s brought a new idd renewed faith in prse >> fs .

yotoit destroying everyin livan: the insurance induryroac the flood program toan seice policies, and expand its h. ar nct about natilource now. >>vay the early 2000s, ma wasrsthra and four and a hf n homeowners had government-backed flsu >> now, that number goes up and dnge uency ofs xi nothlld insuranc like a flood. >> suln:hes kept coming. repi s e tyrricanwi lin a series of devngcanes put the national flood program den >> we see orth veflooded. tnt of ur just ripped off. ul nre katrina. he ael sty a. >> for all intents and purpose it immediately bankrupted

e al insance m, hadren borrowing from the sury. >> sullivan: by the time sandy ca aroun fro was nearly $18 billion in debt an ds toave a big impact on thousands her din so this is it. >>is th irehat i' been in since e montr y. i pay for this, plus in my daprerty fomo, particularuli the ooinraon a h that's a dt. liou have to pay flood inranc a that t how are you in? i. i'g broke. >> sullivan: but he ha veerem how msudi have on this house? >> i had a $250,000 flood suranccy i bought the maximum amount s gally allowed to buy. >>vat did you get?

$00. >> sullivan: can you build your aor90,000? otcl sn:e was nvince he'd been underpaid. he h eerts sawost00 to rebuild his home. filed an appeal with fema, an he waited for nearly ves. o y, ttt from fema. "fa concurs with selective's nal decision, and no further adnistrative review can be ovhrough this appeal oc they sided with the inranc an >> sullivan: what u do? >> i hired an attorney. ernoto sm rs i'veer syo in my life, and my back was against th bause i knew sog on. >> sullivan: to understand n'fit with the insurance y, i h to journe into the complex world of flood ve

the seooo orleans, and a high-stakes lett. hi, are you john? lo. sullivan: laura sullivan. nice tmeetou. >>nimeou as well. >>van htaling is a bit of o legend, a plaintiff's attorney with stfrnt >>ittost at tim >> sullivan: he made millions for his clntfo himself, taking on the insurance mpafr trina. iceie even for a lawyer that's en dng this r a long time, they're very compli i mean, they're thick. ifouer t an insurance policy, it's very dit d. it's not written in plain ge there's lots of loopholes i oclusions. so eve h w on sandy, and these ar the clients that we represent. >> sullivan: after sandy ugg d w firm's attention on problems pih flood claims ew york and je >> i looked at some of the se iever seen

anything worse in my entire career. >> sullivan: he enally signed on to rrese about 600 sandy victims in lawsuits against 20 insurance companies and he says the companies used a variety of ways to stalnderpay homeners. >>yolook at this all of t nrh we all underni. they used the same process to underpay everybody. >> sullivan: as the lawyers dug heandy cases, they made kico >> theema-run national f insurance program appears riwiesd cheating.. thousands say they have come vtiin >> sullivan: evidence that seengiering firms the rance compweng may have committed fra. timeas attorneve mostyn, had joined houghta in the fight. seoteb that were used asome othin

that we had, and this here... >>ullivan: the lawyers found ens id managers changed r without them knowing about it. >> this is the original first port >> sullivan: this is the igal rep >> this is what the engineer tem tse "the physical evidenceer atroperty indicated that thsubjecdi uramy od fs ased with the flood." thgohere, and it says,ph edence observed at the property dith sject ilasot strucll damaged by hydrodynamic forces." liot flood. >> right liamreport. >> same repomeee supposedly. i'm taabprs e a person who never went to hoev tse never discussed he igal engineer, changed the . ul t engin companies accused of fraud 'ttondeither ulracomp involved in the lawsuits.

hi, s. >> sullivan: but both argued ur tednd peer revieeshange reports. i c o inaleengeport or whorhe been gehareon foe chs whilisin rpr c gipollgr o ustohe ogeoc? atap >>van: ala dug deeper, they uncovered otsuusrn s cio but the observations, ri it's as if... >>vaers at te house >> are identical, okay? int refter rt. and every one of them says "long-rmre movement, not structurally ge "long-term dfel met cturally damaged. >>va lawsuits sention on wul become the most controversial exn odan >>het ofg- dier mt.

>> sullivan: it wae exusion quinn's insurance cousdeer for his foundation. "asd by long-term differential movement." ul it's known as earth mo, and 'sde a pre-existing condition. >> they said that it was long-term earth movement, it was dathe big cracks in my dath are before the sto. ullivan: and they said the h ved. long-term earth movement. >> lrm mt, which mysteriously is not covered by flood ins. >> sullivan: is it possible that rth ment exclusion ghben the best terestme, it is in fact in their policie an's written there and 'shat they're paying for? e ve no e there's an earth movement clusio our die id flood trauma break the foundations ths,s it le before?" they're making up fake facts to put it inhesi

that's the pro. >> sullivan: ife 2 the fraud alti >> state authorities raided une ermp today. >> sullivan: ...prompted stnsy stat attorneys general in new york anjehast underway. >> wse warrant stors removed of boxes from the building. ul awaon criticis fmant of theam wrowing. the administrator ofem craig fugate, declined to interviewed. t heovsy he replacee leership of the program and promised wigirhaul. thhead of the flood program is roygh what do yothink was happenin with these examples of for urd st gelu ansens othesont of me, i find these neing reports to be the most mag. ma of them were ig but i' spoer

they took picturesmage they describ the damage, and when you go the conclusion on page 32, eyths no damage. atddy, sloppy work. >> sullivan: is it sloppy work s ud? thestions of fraud nele tal igtoou look forwardwh states' attornenerals can bring to me. ul ts in across multiple engineering cos presented by multipleanpa w was this hapnios so many different platforms wa shoddy work? >> so... and this is a piece th h f there iso ive in thi progm do anythi o thayveg d under the poli. >> sul othfaceit the companies don't seem to have ivederpay homeowne

they don't pay claims their mit government's money. bue ueto investigate, we heard stories iy rs about the prs top ts te thelood ss tolmehen happen over the lastad >> hurricane andrew, katrina hugo, the northridge quake the world trade center disaster. ngter-ted. at i've ever is disaster relief work. ul o oh david charles took me inside a daho >>. >> sullivan: yeah, this is ss he now helps homeowners fight rampies, but for nearyehopa hired m ad. it also feels like this hous isng >> it is. ca iou walk. >> sliisas to re out how much the national d m sh p homeowners. >>issspu where they gave ju a b of money and hoe needom. >> sullivan: he says the program ger

a ng danerut overpayments on flood claims >> the wmuey on katrina the insurance companies paid out uc tas a ti snghe attituthra companies going forward. >> sullivan: how do you ? >> well, i worked the clai anltcoming down omidna telling me how tat >> sullivan: you were told st >>ottoe stingy t thai uspa for were being rejected. every single change that mdue e veod telling toas >> sullivan: why do you think eye doinis >> to save money. eyere getrus pressure from congress to tevee he could, and one of these was ak ter no overpaymes im >> sullivan: let's go cht th. >> all right. ul tss to tighten up innsaf y, aording to several r erwho agre to speak with us.

one of them was jeff coolidge, mawhersay claims. hned when you started juclain >> guiwacongack the carriers, saying, "re items. so i would send those back todj s re fame- remove tir. fireplace, well, they ne e er i we'lpun sured or the policyholder to prove additional monies are owed. sos a systematic way ofalhe insureds s of these people will r acasmo >> sullivan: you'rng uprshe insurae ie y worked for, were telling you aywns less. >> yes, and that was done aspum. ul to help control ng k, fema eas ngf flood ai. some of the most expensive aigi here, in the baseme

yeah, ere'ean ass. he worst thing i've ever se37 iea movement exclusion the foundation is obviously sttame of anyldin 's the most expensive thing to f these are cracks. f if there's any one placet they shouldn't be cutting vendg m difficult for hor, 'slace. >>vapieo mp, a setett yidt coulin any widespread problem uym there's no evidence of syicssues respect to tim were adjusted or how the claims weai eiky would you expect some di te r redented event of tgn s, would expect o e. but they were very small in numbe >> sullivan: why do u so many people alleged and felt hed been underpaid?

i think that the national flsuprha under attack scena i thy t thf idprotis thy had,f en deeply into debt again, there would be a push e the national flood insurance pr a s tse and me of lawyers and some of these enneers,s ey their living. >>vat a questione t hetom of: how much money do insur ces offlood prog it's not etoou we looked at what's called rrangement." that's theacee and the inramp every year, the companies take out a third of the premiums thlefe rning progra the rest goes to settling ms thesto abo a n s a year sometimes more dependi o nuerf cl aic hh that fi yeo,es

ige arm, g told fa ur o. do you thi ypahe insurance companies too much? yw,'st to runninginnd are a private-public partnership thth but the costs are one of those int amining. ul what kind pr do you think they're king >>ner looked at the book of bs erd th of lihat's a bi statemr dyt is giviuromes m ancea n llyeno w thofucre wou on that. h,oonee perils that these coie yeeo specific to the companies to unde thmb ul she insurance coanulgree tbe interviewed, i asked their represtiutro margins. yw fa m it actually costs e nc cos run the expenses ever?

heers will p their services to cover their stwh they consider reonablet . other than that... sn:u ha that profit margin is? i o tmy head know, but if they didn't inasna then they would nopaat tgr >> sullivan: witrd to understw he insurance companies are making w heay what their expenses are, d hefi >> bauus is helpful to them in this tu and we've never seen numbers. sget th anpublish them. >>va, it's lauliom npr. we started trying to find those nu- tawod lp us ot of profits the insurance companies are making. take c tsoag and that would take some time. oustn s anoth amdemoney, be floodur >> new york city got in $ll a >> sullivan: iurnl arma't haveat

, ig disasters strike, coredsonol to state and gen to help homeowners rebuild. to see where that money ng, i headed to staten island. lal nonprofit in midland acetth o. >> this is before the water >> sullivan: he helps homeow foexusing aid. t wll the wat we 15isweot. >> sullivan: this is 15 feet at is the damread thut these neighborhoods? ery sine m. >> sullivan: can we go see it? >> l's sn: sandy dte communities along the eastn ortala. th lgiocea we're driving through right now. >> taner it wvethsis. it was over these signs. sn: gosh. many hav aed a tgobods

on ty're a b out and they're gone. ullivan: and for some that stbuilding back means eme steps to stay abovthe neod >> see how high it's gonna be? >>vaa. >> that's the ight >> sullivan: you gotta walk up ront door up there? , tgh wre youttt to survive. ul i shere wal of wto did you think it wasoi tres topo >> not at all. i old bosa "you know what? we builtmpat building in one year. how caweeb single family home >> sulli t o reng homes in new yoy he rib of a special housing program llldck >> we've created a power ra >> sullivan: thegr ilon from washington.

>>e'urer aid money. e of the program is nyc d k,t' t yme.. line family as told they'd be among the first hey d it back wae ckamerad the couple thede comforted. just t as. >> that's my point. at's wam. (laughter) sn: hi! bue lahe still living with a sh filled with sandy storm water. hiur fish tank. >>vath w from the tidal surge? >> yes. lihiidge water. >> tal pe tank water. , evhit intermingled, because the water actueno p berecoor >> sullivan: the wer cam l the way up here? is faswa ndter. >> sullivan: this used to be your ey? the cameradas were still waiting

tiror up and their house elevated. >> we had our television uc lar >>vaike many homeowners, they gambled and dne ine. they were now counti o om iback. >> do u hitem every single thing that i lost? sullivan: diane showed me haesbee. >> i know fills me application out three times. >> sulliva ts me apion, this pile? es >> sullivan: how do you keep alhistraight? h chobuee it straight. veow everything iso omsays y didn't fill this out," or "yo'till that," here it is, i filled it out. fit three or four times. >> sullivan: it wasn't just lost or it was also hard to get st a >> you would talk oso and then if you would talk to anotrsu ge a totally different story. ho do you believe? gn ai you're trusting what this person , dveg he says. hego bacand

that perso longer there and this person takes over and you're getting a totally eny,llhat time goaninen coed >> sullivan: the cam' frustrations with ilac were far from unique. the new york city comptroller audited the program's first people came in exg to file paperwork and then go through a process. and what really ha was people would come in vetheir documentation, d ldh. lis incompetence? >> it's gross incompetence. >> sullivan: the city had hired tsconsulting firms to run the build it bpr at a cost of $50 million. >> this ishe ct. >> sulvan:ud discovered why so many nee trated. the people that wereth front lines helping victims, talto do is >> many were not.

>> sullivan: what did you find? how do you >> we just found that the ménoh e job. >> sul lee case workers were supposed to ae iark ence in the field. t a review of the résumés edmo nsocial service experi a some were cashiers at walmar apndai >> think about how outrageous i w p husug coanies hundreds of thousands of dollars a month for creating a system usinunqualified pe no orsight by the city >> sullivan: how bad was daer >> we had a lot of damage. >> sullivan: brad gair was the top offialeend housing recovery for new york ci >> the wateramup from th east river, which is right thndedwh area. ul h20-year veteran ofisascovery anwe wd expln

for the problems with build it back >> i saw t aw york city, with all the best innsteg, to-understand, bureac, , ciocr g le funds or to get thk ir. >> sullivan: whyha ha smakes atn. cape gen largmacrte a $2 billion corporation ex theolat o in any short perioof and not have a chaotic n'd hi the fly and expet k. coraorme and gave r stofth gh co e a profit. it aty were they making exces pr i don't know. (ord t making excessive profits i kn >> sullivan: that was a question , gord build it back payments to th uldu the first year, isat we found. thultants were getting paprcaer

baon rf $ h but in fact, the firm paid less th a ta temp cyomho workers. >> one tood of this di cants always got paid. thamat this was ab >> we're not making widgets. ths kere the conveyor belt. these are people whose homes are l ne, and life has been upside-dr yes. inout it--het know where it's going. ann' gnto the sof-ssan tolekee w8000 and let's pour $600,000 into it elevate it and rehab it." sullin:ats going on? ton t end we... it was a... it...

ohd, dyou start? ul t00 we found i oin street. hie hen a totaknockdown. the city came in, did their survey, and said, "no, we can ft it," and they did. thsehouse up i air, and then they came in and they looked up and my hand to god, they looked up and they went, "uh-oh." sullivan: why? what was up? b tal hoer wt... everything was shifted. ul tse fell t d had en rebuilt in the air. >> my neighbors and we joke about it sometimes whacly cost to put e es up, oat re mcalc, e i could have gotn ho mighbor next door s stwa after three years. and that's har m >> sullivan: yeah? why? >>seomthey're no

>>livan: yeah. the head of build it b is amy peterson. ofomt i a ot far afr here where build it back spent $6,000 to raise a house. does that make af to you? so at's a gex because i know the home you're lkg out. at's a good example of kindlearni ao sometimes when you start to e a start to tad the say the home, you realize there's a lotrl ha to happen, and so we have fad those ations. the work that we're doing moving d, mch but it costs meyo build elevated homes within kind o est it lioeos $600,000? e're looking at all of the s aoura and trying to figure out st to do this. >>va othe streets of staten ndul

the challenges with rebuilding in these increasingly risky ea some heowners had hagh you live here? >> i used to. ul ted your house? y >> sullivan: after sandy d d vi >> yeah. sn:u you're coming back? >> n >> sullivan: you're done. ie. i want to pay off the mortgage. t know if build it back going to buy o'm seg a e . >> slin: some homeow were content keeping things e ey >> they want to give us money to towto build se ogh off the ground. it nllh u why knock things down now at mre it makes no sense. >> sullivan: others were worried about the choice they faced. f that these bungalows ould n be elevated. i'aneebe enneers can say diffy, but i mean, these are 90-year-old homes that i just thre t withstand these elevations. >> sullivan: it's okay? evne seemed to have

their own ns >> i just want to show you th here's our front door. sthey can't put a aytop. they want to p aat yo, , backyard. yoa 2 rod use to get te or in the backyard. >> sullivan: the more time i he the more people tao,or complicated all seemed. as hd tohe this was headed. what's the plan here? >> after the storm, there was t ugs about what individumuties wan but in the end, it's about what duomeowners want. soome homeowners are cod levair some homeowners have deced to sell their homes. >>va you say it's up hewns, dep on what they want. u can end up with igode half a block ty a il bea l, som t

houses are raised. hithing that makes nse for ouun >> i thalp thcomms b more resilient is important. >>vathe resilit? >> i think every single home ths rais i resilient. >>va is itbl in some of these areas, we shouldn'ebg ? >> a city that a astline as we have, that has knnes geti fs have lived hhahe ways t tom neighborhoods more resilient it's important to keep these as f brne city. >> sullivan: does it make sense todifferent people doing erent inth block, different communities g different things right xtch is si? s e e? no. anything that is happening in a non-systemay

herent ioima a lot of sense. does it do exactly what the pr, hey're currently ed yes. it gives individuals the choice and it d'telthhat you hapaat a solution ts fr block or your neighborhood or your community or your state. e is no larger strategy wh s, "what do we want e om lke fo next one >> sn:or h taken greater control over build bd needts coctryo speed he process and save money. the prpl s $1.7 billion to help about 9,000 sandy homeowners. about 20% ofom expecto bevate so far, 64 of those have been completed. millng toavr e elat was the cameradas.

anfore i left staten island, ntsehe any closer to tt de. hi! sr! >> sullivan: it's so y nick, good to see you. e were signs of progress. nota >> no fish tank. liut it turned out theiplre med in red tape. it fic >>es they did a wonderf j >> the furniture is coming? enounged? >> not quite. go get ripped out. >>vay'reng tear out all the renovation eny li h they're going to rip all of this >> every bit. lin: before build it ckill elthme the cameradas needed old ngtsd t, an meahe to fix up their first floor. >> so basically, they're going tohaupal d he goipu the house up in the air, and er ts done tseuslose e s. >>cright? >> wn u attorm

did to these people and then y e what government has been to yhihe iiatiusg excebly of my just mre pead ms, we need mreothers learom b f themd rehem. >>va f a that oversees housing ra is hud. keagency's head of di recovery about the la pems with build b at some ihi an oversight issue for hud? >> so, absolutel we're overseeing them. werkryly them to insure that where there e pr tey getting solved. sullivan: do you feel like you habeht little bit more of a hammer tosothoblems

go away? >>ately, there aren't loamer the way thatheon ides the money, they want us to l lovts t decisio. >> sullivan: and this is wh cti n going to look like-- thrt hee and neighborhoods? hit's up to the affected ctidecide. they get to make the choices abat we dollars that we provid t t better way of g i hope that there is t can all work together to do it wn , e that's what pereing the federal government for. ul iafh of all the sandy troubles, fema, too, has been promising changes. >> so this is the sandy claims review center that we have here where all of the work comes in for the folks that war looking at their claims again. ul a year ago, it gave 4,000 sandowho d ae ew review >> square yards are different. ul 1hors came forwaanarly

80gesoddit money. >> letllha do me a favor and take a look at ponfi >> sullivan: but some homeowne y s unin those cl, e ew ocess alone has cost more than 00on t tdyw task force. ulvan: since last year e h also ttling those lawsuits against ine companie now nearly 1,700 in all. >> there was a deadline tocc i did accept. ul oth settlements was toms river resioun. he got an additional $130,000, but it won't all g to rebuilding his home. wethaney. a ird is to rns. thl veme for es. sn:wo l fees. h,heo fees. thpalees the insurance company thri to m but on fhe s victims' legal fees. haayr $40,000 to a law firm because my government would not honor their tiaty made when

ccmyremium m. and that mey g that's not going to be used toldus ul w does pay the legal bills of the inrance ie o e ar o ntract stilas th i te wak socianca thef y,t doars to go pol l. >>ulvan: furing out er osardoo s exwhd or onngteth profitthinsurance companies ming off the fld ogra maasepack, b we fally got a hold of da: the expees e ies report tstate ine to anom fem wth p turce mpanies. thmbs, welae s before taxes. companies have varyi ways of ti tirxps

anre bhoes to theerok th was the best possib lk sf prs. a fa ta. isl ne h pa insurceni we tooour findings to th foeaheod m,unter, whoo an actuary. o duhose expenses weyeceived anyothof >> sulva as ed thatetween 2011 and 2014 tooffor e companies pam averad about $325 million aear. isto m oinit look, wetalking about sowhernear 3 profit margin co t tcee tsthe k. lio at do you make of this, the l,oby swrt >> sullivan: there was one with allhes wak ofandythe profs were more th $400 million. ecause they're handlin t oflaims at

year, the of en they handle claims. >>van big stor hi, ththe ney? h,e im u ed them make less moy,ytbeth rd igo be by thtaayers, they make a ki sn:e plou methy su thinsurance industry esve theyisouesti d said profits are rea 10% to5% after t buovidedo addional da. they ao saideral companies hat ogcause prdot st partipating. the gao is now examing thinsurance companies ar and how much themake. maito okg into tse qstns. it hard to look profit mbtey when ten of tusanf bved that they re underpaid by th sucos e e ncans walked aw w00on

in pt. how doou expla that? so what i c tell you isi usth hoanrit they get the resourcnd t the payouts that they ar en to. asnas m arwivi pre ofig because as i gck and look, e e iding ghwaen >>cagiat the amount of heartache at they've created,hemot anreth ted for average pe we're average, middle-ass lewe rer itakes me realng. mak me angry to watch the ate of fairly on otheop sery

sn:r y in a goopl t nt disaster? o, na ace. u oky se big disaeranasse e st qn: punmot? veryad? did ghat eyee toacinto a hom . is a sy, oniltrth hiow go deal wesdis when they happen? . it's not the. >>'think enoh people kn dnt tt cabe affecteby storms like this, and something has to be set up, because t we coulboce back ift ed again.

nee frontline, the law... moountries, sports betting online is legal exce in the united at >> the loophole. >>niat congress carv out a piece of legislation that says fantasy tst ling. i didne ec they did. sports betting and the meteic rise of d f sports. ou vato here as gambng? >> no. o bs.org/frontline for more on how cities and states preparing for the next disaster >> when it's your home coy,rent numb. lort homeowners should know about d nc explore onor from our partners at npr.

then share your flood excephit frtline mmac social media, using the hashtag #mystormstory. p for our newsletter at g/in >> frontline mss by contributions to your pbs stfrwee thank u. and the corraor icrocasting. masufofre is provided by the john dan catherine t. macarthur timmto building a more just, verdan acul world. moor ila at macfound.org. additional support is pred hefodation ded togh public awarenessf itical es e nden gr family trust, supporting orur t s sp the ford foundation, working thnan on neocange worlide, dfio ncun. anheon jonalism funh t onndo an haantiup

from lauon ptby dia ac group at wg acgb >> forore on this another tl mst website atbs.ont frontle' inof saeris ailable on order, visit shoppbs. c pl. frtline lso lable wnn .

thces u know th y rely ime yowa an y. rvas'ws verage becau i ityusalm cld ncise repoin otgh d t ovokin won:lo han n:maha hemake a goodecision o ch at stak ts election yea one e u o

♪