Gulf Coast states still waiting for FEMA aid after hurricanes

Local officials call for focus on results, not on paperwork

By: JournalNow Staff | THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 02, 2008

A 30-mile scar of debris along the Texas coast stands as a testament to what state and local officials say is FEMA's sluggish response to the 2008 hurricane season.

Two and a half months after Hurricane Ike hit the shoreline, alligators and snakes crawl over piles of building materials, lawn furniture, trees, boats, tanks of butane and other hazardous substances, thousands of animal carcasses, perhaps even the bodies of people killed by the storm.

State and local officials say that the removal of the debris has gone almost nowhere because FEMA red tape has held up the cleanup work and the release of the millions of dollars that Chambers County says it needs to pay for the project.

Elsewhere along the coast, similar complaints are heard: The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been slow to reimburse local governments for what they have already spent, putting the rural counties on the brink of financial collapse.

"I don't know all the internal workings of FEMA. But if they've had a lot of experience in hurricanes and disaster, it looks like they could come up with some kind of process that would work," said Chambers County Judge Jimmy Sylvia, the chief administrator.

Gov. Rick Perry was so angered by delays in sending cleanup crews that he told reporters two weeks ago he is going to have the state clean it up and then stick FEMA with the bill.

FEMA said it is working as fast as it can considering the complex regulations and the need to guard against fraud and waste.

The 2008 hurricane season ended this week after walloping the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts with three major storms: Dolly, near the Mexican border in July; Gustav, which hit the Texas-Louisiana line on Labor Day; and Ike, which barreled ashore at Galveston on Sept. 12.

Only a hundred yards or so of the 30 miles of debris in Chambers County has been cleaned up, because the project has been slowed by negotiations over who is responsible for what.

Along the Gulf Coast, thousands of homeless families are still living in tents, trailers and motel rooms, and hundreds of businesses are lying in near-ruin.

The federal government is responsible for public lands or hazardous waste, whereas private landowners must handle their own cleanup but can apply for assistance. Much of the debris has been left to rot as crews determine whose land it is on and what is in it.

Galveston County Judge Jim Yarbrough tells the story of receiving word on Sept. 12, as Ike closed in on Galveston, that FEMA was sending him $1.8 million of his $3 million request for storm cleanup -- from Hurricane Rita, three years ago.

In Louisiana, hit by two storms this year, Gov. Bobby Jindal complimented the agency on improvements made since the botched response to Hurricane Katrina but criticized FEMA's focus on paperwork and an inability to make decisions quickly.

"It has gotten better, but the problem you've got with FEMA is that they're looking for reasons to say ‘no,'" Jindal said. "There's such an emphasis on filling out paperwork. They need to have a focus on results."

In an e-mail statement, FEMA said that the recovery process "continues seamlessly," and it noted the many rules and overlapping jurisdictions involved.

FEMA said out that more than $1 billion in federal and state aid has gone to Texas in disaster assistance since Ike, with about one-third of that in grants for temporary housing rent and another third in low-interest loans for renters, homeowners and businesses. The state has estimated the total price tag at $11 billion.