What do you expect FEMA, Governement all levels to do for you in a disaster?

[luvsJack]

This is my very last word on the subject.

President Bush declared a disaster area before Katrina ever hit land. I don't remember if it was Lousiana and Mississippi but I know it was at least one state. One reason (according to bil) was so that the govenors could call in the National Guard immediatly (which our governor did)and that FEMA could come in. So that was done. Too, after Rita hit LA and the other hurricane that hit in Fl that same year, we noticed that FEMA was waiting just north of the area with whatever supplies they were bringing to the area, they didn't do that with Katrina. It seemed to me that maybe they learned a better way??

FEMA trailers: I understand what you are saying about the area having to agree for the trailers to be there, has somewhere not agreed? Are you saying that we have towns that would rather their people be homeless? Besides, I haven't been to an area from here to the coast and all over the coast that hasn't had FEMA trailers. My point was that some got them and some didn't, and I don't think anyone is living in a tent because their summer home was damaged.

Also, the "$1000" that FEMA rushed out and sent to people in the Katrina area: some got it some didn't. And it wasn't about who needed it. I didn't get it, didn't try to get it. But I know people, personally who got the check who had no damage, no loss, nothing except some inconvenience. Others that lost their homes that never saw a dime. FEMA was not exactly getting the help to those that needed it in an organized way. But, in FEMAs defense one of the people who received the check with no damage has gotten a letter stating she would have to pay it back (she got that about 6 months ago and I don't think has ever paid a dime, but at least they tried)

Insurance: Yep, you should always file with your insurance first. I never said FEMA should pay if your insurance paid. Yes it is the homeowners responsibilty to insure their home; and most of them did; for all the good it did them. Part of my issue is,too, what were these people supposed to do until a claim could be filed? Do you realize that the insurance companies could not get to some of these homes for weeks, because the roads were gone?

Red Cross and other charities: Yep, they were wonderful. Prepared hot meals for people (we handed some of these out at our church), brought in food and clothing. But FEMA was the one with the trucks of water and ice that sat not knowing where to go, until a local sherriff went and "stole" a truck to take ice to one desperate area.

Being prepared: I whole-heartedly agree, we should always be prepared. We begin right before hurricane season each year. We have supplies, extra water, ice bagged up in the freezer, make sure the genarator is working. We cut limbs that may be in danger of breaking. We keep a couple of gas cans full of gas and have extra cash stashed. We know exactly where to go if we evacuate. But there is only so long you can stay evacuated, sooner or later you have to come back. We do not live in an area that would be under mandatory evacuation, but we always go to Jackson until the storm is over. No one was ever debating that we should be prepared. What we were saying is that Katrina was so devasting to our coastal region that we could not have been prepared enough.

Again: I am trying to speak for Mississippi, not NOLA. And no one in Mississippi sat around waiting for anyone to do anything. We got up and started taking care of ourselves. We took care of ourselves and our neighbors. Thats just what we do.

 

[JodiR]

Being an Iowa flood victim in the last week or so, here are my thoughts.

I do have flood insurance. I expect my insurance to pay me 100% (even though they are not). I will have to cut corners/do work myself in order to save money and be able to pay for what is not covered.

FEMA gave me $637 for my $40,000 of damages. Red Cross gave me $830 and I received $540 for disaster food assistance from DHS. I expected more from FEMA but I learned that theircap is $28,000. Since I am receiving more than that from my insurance then I will not receive anymore from FEMA. The $637 is for housing expenses while I am unable to live in my home.

Red Cross also provided daily meals and showers. Our city officials provided nothing.

Overall I am ok with what I received. It is better than nothing.

 

[luvsJack]

Being an Iowa flood victim in the last week or so, here are my thoughts.

I do have flood insurance. I expect my insurance to pay me 100% (even though they are not). I will have to cut corners/do work myself in order to save money and be able to pay for what is not covered.

FEMA gave me $637 for my $40,000 of damages. Red Cross gave me $830 and I received $540 for disaster food assistance from DHS. I expected more from FEMA but I learned that theircap is $28,000. Since I am receiving more than that from my insurance then I will not receive anymore from FEMA. The $637 is for housing expenses while I am unable to live in my home.

Red Cross also provided daily meals and showers. Our city officials provided nothing.

Overall I am ok with what I received. It is better than nothing.

Ok, this is my last word: I am very glad to hear that you were able to get the help you needed. And hopefully some of the organizations that help in these situations learned from their mistakes. Insurance payments, I guess, are never what we would like them to be. I wish I could send you the helpful people that helped me repair my home, but I don't even know where some of them are now. It was only because of them that my insurance check was able to strech enough to make the necessary repairs.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you that have had to endure the flooding.

 

[honugirl]

My post wasn't specifically directed towards Katrina or any other disaster. It was simply to inform and educate people on the realities of the limitations that these agencies are saddled with.

Yes, I did see places where the local governments would not allow trailers in or had severe limitations on where the could go and how long they could be there which pretty much made it non-feasible to use them.

The $1000 was something FEMA never did before and never will do again. It was an experiment. They tried their best to get money into the hands of people and it backfired on them.


FEMA is made up of different districts around the nation. Each region has it's own leadership and staffing. Since Florida goes through a million hurricanes a year, it's really possible that they have the drill down and were able to mobilize faster? I don't know. Also they have an incredible State emergency management program. Most of the food and water through there came from the state, not FEMA even though it was distributed at FEMA disaster recovery centers.

Even though there may have been a declaration of disaster before the disaster, you still have to remember that many of us are volunteers. They can't even call us to come out until that declaration is made. Which still means a lag time for us to pack, put our affairs in order, fly to the field office, (in the 2005 hurricane season's case) get trained, because many of us that year had never worked for FEMA before, then had to be dispatched out to our locations (the ones we could get to). All of that takes time. It takes time to get the equipment to man centers, to actually build a center. They have to look at locations, etc. This is NOT an easy process. They also have to assess what type of staffing needs they have as well. They don't want to call out 20 people when 5 would suffice. There are a lot of decisions that go into all of this.

People need to be patient in a disaster. The motto I've always been taught is "do the most good for the most amount of people". I know it's hard, but they'll get to you eventually.

I think the biggest thing that people don't think about is to keep a supply of cash on hand. Enough for several days expenses. No power, no credit cards. But if a store can open, they can take cash. Or if you have to evacuate to a less damaged area, you can still have some way of paying for things.

 

[golfgal]

Being an Iowa flood victim in the last week or so, here are my thoughts.

I do have flood insurance. I expect my insurance to pay me 100% (even though they are not). I will have to cut corners/do work myself in order to save money and be able to pay for what is not covered.

FEMA gave me $637 for my $40,000 of damages. Red Cross gave me $830 and I received $540 for disaster food assistance from DHS. I expected more from FEMA but I learned that theircap is $28,000. Since I am receiving more than that from my insurance then I will not receive anymore from FEMA. The $637 is for housing expenses while I am unable to live in my home.

Red Cross also provided daily meals and showers. Our city officials provided nothing.

Overall I am ok with what I received. It is better than nothing.

Why is your insurance company not paying you 100%?

 

[Corryn]

the "$1000" that FEMA rushed out and sent to people in the Katrina area: some got it some didn't. And it wasn't about who needed it. I didn't get it, didn't try to get it. But I know people, personally who got the check who had no damage, no loss, nothing except some inconvenience. Others that lost their homes that never saw a dime.

Not related to Katrina or the present flooding, but similar to the above quote: DH is a retired NYPD officer. He responded to Manhattan two days after the 9/11 attacks. He tried to get in that day, but the city was shut down....Anyway, he went in with a fairly new set of clothes and boots. When he came home, I made him stay out in the backyard to disrobe. It's a very harsh term, but he was covered in what we called Dead People Dust and the last place I wanted it was in my home.
Don't flame me - if you weren't there, you have no clue.
It's how we dealt with it.
One of the stories he told me was that there were many many stands set up to give the rescue workers new clothes, new jeans, new shirts, new jackets, new boots, etc. to change into so they weren't walking around with DPD and other harmful materials all over them.
Timberland was one of the brands and their stuff ain't cheap. I scolded DH that he risked his life at the bottom of the pit and he was deserving of a new set of clothes and he should have changed before he came home. He said that was the last thing on his mind. He didn't realize how dirty he was. What incensed us both was the fact that he saw many people, nice and clean, taking advantage of the situation and loading up with boots & clothing - not just single pairs to keep for themselves, but he said people had shopping bags and were just loading them up.
So it follows the same story quoted above, not just from Katrina, the present flooding, but in countries all over the world where aid is sent, however small, that never reaches those intended to receive it.

I am very sorry to hear about the personal stories. I've seen so many on the news, but to be discussing this and hearing it first hand from fellow DIS'ers is heartbreaking, I'm sorry
I spoke with my girlfriend who hails from Iowa (I forgot the name of her town) and when I spoke with her on Monday she said her family was in total denial. The water was slowly creeping up on her sister's business and their family home and they kept saying that the word on the street was that the water levels were going down. My friend was telling her sister that she's watching all the news channels and they were saying the opposite and that they should take action to prepare for the worst. I haven't spoken with her since then; I'm going to see her tomorrow.

My prayers are with you and all the victims. It seems it's getting worse before it's getting better. God be with you.

 

[luvsJack]

Not related to Katrina or the present flooding, but similar to the above quote: DH is a retired NYPD officer. He responded to Manhattan two days after the 9/11 attacks. He tried to get in that day, but the city was shut down....Anyway, he went in with a fairly new set of clothes and boots. When he came home, I made him stay out in the backyard to disrobe. It's a very harsh term, but he was covered in what we called Dead People Dust and the last place I wanted it was in my home.
Don't flame me - if you weren't there, you have no clue.
It's how we dealt with it.
One of the stories he told me was that there were many many stands set up to give the rescue workers new clothes, new jeans, new shirts, new jackets, new boots, etc. to change into so they weren't walking around with DPD and other harmful materials all over them.
Timberland was one of the brands and their stuff ain't cheap. I scolded DH that he risked his life at the bottom of the pit and he was deserving of a new set of clothes and he should have changed before he came home. He said that was the last thing on his mind. He didn't realize how dirty he was. What incensed us both was the fact that he saw many people, nice and clean, taking advantage of the situation and loading up with boots & clothing - not just single pairs to keep for themselves, but he said people had shopping bags and were just loading them up.
So it follows the same story quoted above, not just from Katrina, the present flooding, but in countries all over the world where aid is sent, however small, that never reaches those intended to receive it. :

I can't even begin to tell you the amount of respect I feel toward your dh and others that did what he did during the aftermath of 9/11.

You are so correct, it's not just something that happened during Katrina. During any disaster there are those that will always take advantage, and either don't realize or don't care that it takes away from those that need it. And, I guess, it would be too time consuming and consuming of the man power availabe to be able to shift through all the people and determine who is needing and who is not.

Honugirl, Thank you for being a volunteer. When people are faced with a disaster of any kind, sometimes they forget to thank the volunteers that work with the different organizations that are in place to help. I am sure that tempers flare during the times you are giving of your time and you may hear the wrath of many peoples frustration; just know that the time you give trully is appreciated.