Broward Officials Slam Fema

[Opusnone]

It's getting worse, as predicted.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-ccommand04nov04,0,5508855.story?coll=sfla-home-headlines

Too little, too slowly.

That's what Broward County leaders and storm-weary victims say about the federal emergency response to Hurricane Wilma.

People whose homes have been destroyed are being herded from temporary shelter to temporary shelter. Longer-term housing has not yet been identified. Federal centers where people can apply for relief will not be set up until this weekend.

Eleven days after Hurricane Wilma struck Broward County, local officials are increasingly frustrated with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and wonder when the promises of help to the thousands left homeless will become a reality.

"We're rebuilding Iraq so why can't we rebuild Broward's roofs?" County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman asked.

Local officials say their top concerns are that FEMA:

* Sent only 300 employees to inspect thousands of damaged homes from Jupiter to Homestead. To combat fraud, FEMA won't assist without confirming the damage.

* Offers rental assistance vouchers below local market prices.

* Is too slow in delivering mobile homes.

* Snubbed creative solutions by the county to provide affordable housing in such a tight real estate market.

Some members of South Florida's congressional delegation said they got little reassurance after meeting with FEMA representatives in Washington, D.C., on Thursday afternoon.

"We all left more concerned than when we got to the meeting," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston

snip


If power was out to millions of people in NY, DC or LA for weeks at a time you would see nothing on the TV or in the papers than:
BLACKOUT - DAY 12!

But down in America's wang (Florida) thanks to a red governor, in a red state, not helping blue voters, this is what you get.

[mduffy31]

1. Sad

It is sad, I worked with some FEMA members during the great Red River Flood in '97 in North Dakota. Now they were a bunch of consummate professionals, of course that is when James Lee Witt was in charge. Now look at it. I am going to say though, could it be that FEMA is a little thin right now because of all of the disasters in the last 3 months. I don't want the rank and file to be painted with the incompetence brush because of the "morans" in charge.

[Opusnone]

2. Thin, my ass

Read the quote from FEMA spokesman Zuniga. They've distributed $1.6 million so far, and they call that alot!

Let's see, that's about $10 for each claim thusfar.

It's bullshit.

[mduffy31]

4. I mean thin as far as manpower. nt

[KharmaTrain]

3. Tight Real Estate Market???

There's your bottom line...as usual. Gotta keep those property values high...or at least keep the bubble from bursting. The devestation of people...especially the poor and elderly are a mere inconvenience compared to what "real" destruction would happen if the property values were to suddenly head south.

I spoke to a good friend in Ft. Lauderdale the other day...he said he's amazed at how slow things are moving (and he's a big critic of all things boooosh) as if the poor are going to be forced away from the area (just like NOLA)...and that their homes can be bought for pennies on the dollar, torn down and a big ticket home can be built. It's the same game that's being played on the other coast near Naples...eventually the poor and riff-raff just "vanish".

[Opusnone]

5. It's not a tight real estate market west of I-95

It's tight towards the beach, where everyone wants to live, but there's plenty of space and empty buildings out west.

The dilemma is who controls the real estate market. There are $25 million starter castles less than a mile from public housing. Do you think officials want to get rid of the public housing to build more starter castles and increase the tax base? You're damn right they do.

They're condemning property all over the metro area as we speak.

Gerrymandering by God.

[Tatiana]

6. So Florida's slamming FEMA.

Texas slammed FEMA.

Louisiana and Mississippi officials slammed FEMA.

Is there anyone besides Bush who thinks FEMA is "doing a heck of a job?"

This is disastrous. We essentially have NO functional national emergency management agency. This is extremely important to our entire nation's well-being, yet the corporate media doesn't see fit to cover this topic at all.

God help California and other blue states. If this is how Bush's FEMA responds to Texas and Florida, we're f**ked.

[tanyev]

7. No, no, no. They're supposed to blame Jeb.

Somebody didn't get the memo.