How Hard Should it Be to Get FEMA Funds?
Federal Emergency Management Agency Proves that Disaster Funding May Not Be Easy
Many people believe that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) makes it easy to receive a federal disaster recovery funds. In reality, these funds often require a large amount of paperwork and even spending some money.
The community of Galveston is looking at spending $800,000 to chase the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery dollars. Elder reported, "the Wharves Board of Trustees, which on Monday agreed to pay a Florida firm up to $800,000 to manage the Port of Galveston's efforts to win millions of Federal Management Emergency Agency dollars to repair public docks Hurricane Ike damaged."
Galveston is trying to get continued funding from the damage caused by hurricane Ike. Hurricane Ike a Galveston in September 2008. Since that time Galveston has been awarded 5.6 million and Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster recovery funds. These funds have been used to make repairs and clean up hurricane debris.
After this much funding is been received, why would Galveston need to spend $800,000 to get more funding? The $800,000 will be used to hire a management company. The management company's responsibilities will be to aid Galveston in wading through the sea of Federal emergency management agency paperwork and documentation.
Galveston is not the first community to have problems getting Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) money. The city of New Orleans is still chasing Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery funding. Cedar Rapids, Iowa citizens are being asked to pay rent for temporary trailers. These are just two incidents of the Federal Emergency Management Agency FEMA placing roadblocks to receiving disaster recovery funds.
The question becomes how hard should it be to receive Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) disaster recovery funding. Galveston is spending her thousand dollars to chase an additional $2.5 million in grants. This highlights many issues in the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) current disaster recovery funding system. The federal emerging management agency needs to make it a priority to streamline the funding process. This will make it easier for states, communities, and American citizens to recover from disasters.
References
Elder, Laura. It November 2009. Port could spend $800,000 chasing FEMA money. Galveston County Daily News. Retrieved November 18, 2009 from http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=0f1858f85dd58a0e
Published by Bruce Ziebarth
I work full time in the Emergency Management fields as a planner and trainer. I also am pursuing a second career as a freelance writer. View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentThe Port of Galveston has hired a consultant to help with its recovery. The Port of Galveston is independent of the City of Galveston and the aid to the Port is not in any way tied to the City of Galveston's recovery or the money the City of Galveston has received from FEMA. The only thing they share in common is their geographic proximity.