One man's bureaucratic battle with FEMA

[maddezmom]

BuzzSixty-one-year old Jack Williamson made it off Bolivar Peninsula with two pairs of pants and the shoes on his feet last Thursday as Hurricane Ike approached his little yellow house in the beach community of Gilchrist.

After the storm, Williamson checked in with the owner of the hardware store in High Island, who surveyed the damage on the peninsula and confirmed the two-bedroom home on Gayle Street was a loss.

"He said it's totally gone," he said Thursday.

So Williamson said he was surprised when he called FEMA's toll free number, 1-800-621-3362, on Wednesday to check on the status of the disaster application he filed by phone on Sept. 13, and was told by the automated system that his claim status was "zero loss." By Thursday, he said, the phone system seemed to signal some progress — it said his claim was under review, and he could expect to hear from FEMA within two weeks.

~snip~

A reporter called the same phone number at 3:30 p.m. today and selected option No. 3, to speak with a FEMA representative. This was the response:

"We're sorry all of our agents are busy assisting other callers. For your convenience, we have a Web site where you can register online for disaster assistance or check the status of your application ... ," the system said. "We apologize for this inconvenience. Your call will now be disconnected. Please try your call again later. "

"Thank you for calling. Goodbye."

more:http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6010002.html

,

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Same recording comes on when I try to report telephone outages in my state.

I just love the part when they tell me to go online to report that I can't get online.