Floridians: What help, if any, did FEMA give re: Katrina?

[MichiganVote]

Any prep work that you're aware of?

Supplies?

Shelter?

Medical?

[Spangle]

1. I didn't qualify

I had homeowners Insurance. Said they would give me a loan. I never seen them. I called in the info. Got a letter in the mail with the denal. That was it.

[MichiganVote]

4. Did they provide any basic survival items to residents?

[Spangle]

11. Woops!

I'm 2004 huricane damage. I should have paid attention to the question. I was just responding to the question about FEMA.

My area wasn't totaly wiped out. But they were here. But you had to be able to get to them. They had what they had when you got there. Some times they would have blue tarps, some times they didn't. Same with everything else. Most people couldn't make trips like that.

[gatorboy]

2. NPR had a story a month ago about FMEA asking for money back.

Apparently, their budget was getting stretched out and was either asking for their money or cutting what they originally offered.

One woman talked about last year's hurricane causing $10,000 of damage to her home. FEMA offered her $800 and months later asked her to pay it back.

[MichiganVote]

3. I think there is some wacky bookeeping going on-as in embezzlement

[Spangle]

12. Could be for several reasons

They keep track of how much you get from every where. You can't get money from them and from someone else I think. If you have insurance, then you don't qualify. If they find out later that you do, then you got to pay it back.

However, in 2004 they paid for things that they shouldn't have. They paid claims in a county that didn't have damage. Hmmmm....

[nashville_brook]

5. i'm an ex-pat... i'll ask around and find out. i know brevard co is still

hurting from last years storms. they were making horrible decisions in spending the cash on the county level. they lost the shore, basically.



and with privatization there's all these chummy deals -- and instead of spending BIG MONEY, on difficult cooperative projects they are just dumping more sand on the beach which is compounding the problem.

the whole experience of living in florida is living in the land of the developer. look to the deregulation of wetlands. they might give "attention" to florida, but it's not the right kind of attention. ironic because brevard was pretty sucessful at cleaning up the indian river of pollution there for a while.

[MichiganVote]

8. Thanks Nashville. There is more to this whole story

Trust the media to miss it. PM me.

[fishnfla]

6. Nothing. Everyone around here knows the drill...eom

[MichiganVote]

10. How so?

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. For Florida, Katrina came out of nowhere it seemed

It didn't become a Cat 1 Hurricane until it was very close to the east coast, so folks had very little time to do anything. I don't even thing they tried to evacuate that many people this time around.

One big difference for FL is that we don't have the same issues with flooding like New Orleans. Even when it does flood the water recedes very quickly usually.

However, lots of people have been without electric for over a week and we did lose more lives (7) then usual because people were more blaise about this one.

[MichiganVote]

9. So it sounds like neither residents or local gov't's have contact w/FEMA