Helene Aftermath…Are You Ok?

[Southernmiss]

The Disaster Relief Fund gets base funding in the annual budget process. New disasters require supplemental appropriations. In the past 30 years, 68% of the DRF has been funded through supplementals. The House didn’t fund FEMA in the interim funding last week.

 

[DCLMP]

No set time frame but I do email my representative and senators regarding issues that concern me, or sometimes to thank or compliment them for various things they have done that I feel are worthy of that thank you or compliment. Sometimes the issues I am concerned about are resolved in my favor, sometimes not. It's like voting. You vote your choice, sometimes your candidate or issue is a winner, sometimes not. If not, you accept it, move on, and try again in the future. It's the American way.

Not sure of your cryptic message there, DC.

Sure you do Dan. Either it’s that or you really just don’t care.

 

[DCLMP]

You don't seem to understand the purpose of different government operations. I am in NC, but I am not in the mountains, but I have lived in them. This is not a simple task compacted by a lack of being able to communicate. It isn't like everyone is in a neighborhood with a house every 50 feet. People have been there, first responders, military, volunteers. No one is just sitting on their hands.

When people are in distress, no response is fast enough. I feel helpless because I can't help my daughter's friend get home from the mountains (she's safe and has all she needs, but I'm sure would rather be home). I see post after post of people I know who are trying to find and get supplies to loved ones. I also see the posts when they got help and supplies. Volunteers can make all the posts they want about what they do and they should. That is not the military's job- they just do what they need to.

You say there is an obvious reason- it's not obvious to me.

.We have the resources , helicopters and manpower.
Throw out the red tape and actually do something. If it wasn’t for private groups and private helicopter it would be a lot worse. Same thing in Maui it was all private citizens.

 

[DCLMP]

Hey, at least no one has been throwing rolls of paper towels at the people affected, right?

Almost as insulting as the 750 dollars.

 

[Chirple]

Almost as insulting as the 750 dollars.

Got anything other than right-wing media saying this? (The only online source I saw publishing this was Breitbart.) From FEMA's website (scroll down).

https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response

 

[kymom99]

What’s consistent in every disaster is that volunteers are there right away and FEMA takes days. Now they are out of money gee I wonder why.

They are not out of money

 

[Dan Murphy]

Almost as insulting as the 750 dollars.

$750 for quick impact relief.

From the proverbial horse's mouth:

One type of assistance that is often approved quickly after you apply is Serious Needs Assistance, which is $750 to help pay for essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies. There are other forms of assistance that you may qualify to receive once you apply for disaster assistance. As your application continues to be reviewed, you may still receive additional forms of assistance for other needs such as support for temporary housing and home repair costs. Learn more about the types of assistance available. If you have questions about your disaster assistance application and what you qualify for, contact us at 1-800-621-3362 to speak with a FEMA representative.

https://www.fema.gov/node/fema-will-only-provide-750-disaster-survivors-support-their-recovery

A roll of paper towels, even brand name like Bounty, are only about $2.50 a roll,

 

[DCLMP]

Got anything other than right-wing media saying this? (The only online source I saw publishing this was Breitbart.) From FEMA's website (scroll down).

https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response

Kamala said it during her photo op that’s gone viral.
Disasters shouldn’t be politicised by either side, but that is the state of our clown world.

 

[DCLMP]

$750 for quick impact relief.

From the proverbial horse's mouth:

One type of assistance that is often approved quickly after you apply is Serious Needs Assistance, which is $750 to help pay for essential items like food, water, baby formula, breastfeeding supplies, medication and other emergency supplies. There are other forms of assistance that you may qualify to receive once you apply for disaster assistance. As your application continues to be reviewed, you may still receive additional forms of assistance for other needs such as support for temporary housing and home repair costs. Learn more about the types of assistance available. If you have questions about your disaster assistance application and what you qualify for, contact us at 1-800-621-3362 to speak with a FEMA representative.

https://www.fema.gov/node/fema-will-only-provide-750-disaster-survivors-support-their-recovery

A roll of paper towels, even brand name like Bounty, are only about $2.50 a roll,

How much did Ukraine get? Sorry you lost everything including family members but here is 750. Um okay

 

[TiggerTrigger]

@TiggerTrigger, reading posts like these upset me very much. I am originally from south LA and saw my share of hurricanes. I now reside in NC and know the disaster region very well. Yes, they were warned, but NO, they had no idea of the monster that was being unleashed on this area - nobody, but nobody could have foreseen even half of the destruction that was unleashed here. I'm, thankfully not in it, but near, and my heart is so breaking. Some towns/villages cannot be reached yet by any way - they have used mules, horses, by foot, ATV's, etc. - any way imaginable, still it's such a slow go.

So, please, don't accuse anyone of not doing what they should have seen beforehand.
A lot of the responders have also lost property or loved ones and still are trying to help. You do not know the terrain at all evidently. Like a poster above said, this cannot be compared to Katrina (except in total destruction) in any way because of WHAT caused it and the terrain of the mountains.

We are hurting and our hearts are heavy. I have friends that have lost so much.

I'm sorry if you found it offensive or hurtful, but I really don't think you read my reply from the correct angles.

For starters, I am painfully aware of how different each weather disaster can be and I have had my share of being one of the ones waiting significantly longer for relief than others because either the damage around us was too great or we weren't as high of a priority. Trust me...when I was 8 months pregnant with roof damage and no power for 3 weeks, I was not a happy person. I have also watched more people than I care to count flood from named and unnamed systems, including myself. I have also been through my share of evacuation experiences...some better than others.

As for the rest of it, while this is a different rescue situation than has been experienced with past storms in other areas, and I'm well aware of the extraordinary measures being taken to get to people, you cannot just sit there and focus solely on the heartache side of the matter...especially when we've got 2 more months left of hurricane season. Considering what went wrong is vital when you've got so many concerning and differing stories about awareness and pre-storm warnings coming out of the region. You might not like accusatory angles, but it is most certainly warranted if any kind of evacuation orders were in place and people chose not to heed the warnings. You say you lived in LA...so surely, you must have feelings about the people in surge areas that intentionally ignore evac orders and either perish or put first responders at risk when they call begging for help. That being said, if you really read my post, the angle was questioning why more wasn't done in advance. You can't stop the rain from coming, but the people in charge could have potentially done more to save people in their communities. Other areas have faced unprecedented weather issues and successfully conveyed the unprecedented severity anticipated so they could save more lives and keep first responders from having to risk their own. So, it's a bit of a cop out when we know that the prediction maps were calling for a disaster well beyond the proportions of the worst of their previous flooding issues. With such a disastrous looking forecast, why not put in mandatory evacuations for low lying areas and areas along water? There is going to come a point where all of these questions and then some are going to hit a boiling point, because the forecasting shows that more could have been done and more could have been saved. You'll still have those people that refuse, who assume it's just hype, but maybe it's time to take an accusatory tone about some of it when you start considering the people that could have been spared.

 

[Chirple]

Kamala said it during her photo op that’s gone viral.
Disasters shouldn’t be politicised by either side, but that is the state of our clown world.

See the response from @Dan Murphy (beat me to it). Only a couple of people are politicizing disaster relief/recovery here and really toeing the line in their carefully measured responses.

 

[DCLMP]

See the response from @Dan Murphy (beat me to it). Only a couple of people are politicizing disaster relief/recovery here and really toeing the line in their carefully measured responses.

It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around how people are ok with this. Not trying to politicise it, but this has been going on for decades.

 

[kymom99]

It’s hard for me to wrap my brain around how people are ok with this. Not trying to politicise it, but this has been going on for decades.

Seriously money is not immediately helpful in this disaster. Do you expect government officials to go around with bags of cash to hand out? What will people do with it? There’s no where to use it. The provisions such as water, food, and education is what is needed immediately, and it’s being delivered. The emergency fund of money can be applied for by those in more stable settings who can actually access things to purchase. Then, as mentioned, they can apply for other funds for shelter, etc.

 

[DCLMP]

Seriously money is not immediately helpful in this disaster. Do you expect government officials to go around with bags of cash to hand out? What will people do with it? There’s no where to use it. The provisions such as water, food, and education is what is needed immediately, and it’s being delivered. The emergency fund of money can be applied for by those in more stable settings who can actually access things to purchase. Then, as mentioned, they can apply for other funds for shelter, etc.

Agree she would have been better off saying nothing.

 

[kymom99]

Agree she would have been better off saying nothing.

That was not my point, but thanks for your response.

 

[DCLMP]

That was not my point, but thanks for your response.

Thank you for your response to my response.

 

[Pink Partridge]

Seriously money is not immediately helpful in this disaster.

Money is always useful in a disaster. People with money have used it to leave the area and purchase secure lodging arrangements.

 

[barkley]

$750 for quick impact relief.

that's exactly what it's intended to be for BUT it also serves as the 'gateway' via the application for it to determine eligibility to other funding/service sources. i never dealt with this kind of funding through fema but i did administer identical quick impact relief ('emergency assistance') that was county and/or state funded when events occured that were either awaiting federal designation or the feds (or even the individual state) chose to not take on the responsibility. i don't know if it's still the case but at that time many of the large agencies that help people out in these horrific situations required that they FIRST make application for these funds and receive an eligibility determination before they made their own internal eligibility determination and provided any financial or services assistance.

Seriously money is not immediately helpful in this disaster. Do you expect government officials to go around with bags of cash to hand out? What will people do with it? There’s no where to use it. The provisions such as water, food, and education is what is needed immediately, and it’s being delivered. The emergency fund of money can be applied for by those in more stable settings who can actually access things to purchase. Then, as mentioned, they can apply for other funds for shelter, etc.

this was my thought as well. it's not like being handed a debit card preloaded with $750 is going to help when there's no place to use it. i've in fact wondered how the issues with lack of cell service/internet the applications/issuing the funds is even able to be handled. back in the old school days we literaly had paper applications and staff KNEW the regulations but in recent decades computers have taken over to the point that the bulk of staff do strictly data entry and would be hard pressed to know the actual eligibility criteria. the computers issue the debit cards or do ach deposits into accounts (i don't think paper checks have been issued in over 20 years whereas we could do them and they could walk them to a local bank). with no cell or internet service i can't imagine how this process even works.

i agree that it's the hands on help needed at this point.

 

[mousefan73]

How much did Ukraine get? Sorry you lost everything including family members but here is 750. Um okay

Guess we can also say how much money does Israel yet? same thing right?? on the otherhand comparing foreign aid to invasion or supplying military aid ( all the billions for american manufactored weapons of war (horribel as it sounds- american jobs as war is a great boost to GDP) is apples to oranges with disaster aid. Your arguement is assuming that Americans wont be aided, which is not the case

 

[HeatherC]

$750 is literally nothing. Even if they give that to people that have been rescued and have nothing left, that won’t even allow them to travel away from the area or even get lodging for a week never mind food and clothing.