GOP rep on paying for flood loss: ‘At some point, God is telling you to move’

Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) said on Thursday that it’s unreasonable for taxpayers to repeatedly pay for homes that have flooded, suggesting that homeowners move out of at-risk houses. 

“We have these repetitive loss properties. So, for example, we have one property outside of Baton Rouge that has a modest home worth about $60,000 that’s flooded over 40 times. The taxpayers have paid almost half a million dollars for it,” Hensarling said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” 

“At some point, God is telling you to move,” he added.

{mosads}

“If all we do is force federal taxpayers to build the same home in the same fashion in the same location and expect a different result, we all know that is the classic definition of insanity,” he continued. 

Hensarling’s comments come as his home state of Texas recovers from catastrophic flooding that occurred last month in the wake of Hurricane Harvey. 

The storm, which made landfall on Texas’s southeast coast as a Category 4 hurricane, dumped rain across the region, including 50 inches in the Houston area. 

The storm is estimated to have left 30 percent of the largely-populated Harris County, which is home to Houston, underwater. 

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said damages from the storm could cost $180 billion. 

President Trump signed legislation that would provide $15 billion in disaster relief for areas affected by Harvey. 

The bill provides an extension of the National Flood Insurance Program.