How our screwed up government doesn't work >> Dumas Arkansas / trailers

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/...407799,00.html

Dumas to get some trailers
Mike Wintroath/Associated Press

Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (center), Rep. Mike Ross (right), D-Ark., and Dumas Mayor Marion Gill speak with Lisa Dritschler while surveying the tornado-damaged town of Dumas last week. FEMA isn't helping much.Story Tools
E-mail this story | Print Assistance limited aftertornadoes hit Ark. town
By Peggy Harris
Associated Press
March 10, 2007
LITTLE ROCK -- Desha County Judge Mark McElroy said Friday he was disappointed the federal government didn't grant his tornado-damaged county disaster assistance but appreciated the promise of travel trailers two weeks after many residents lost their homes.
McElroy said he appreciates that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had to base its decision Thursday on certain criteria in turning down Gov. Mike Beebe's request for a federal disaster declaration. The county judge said he doesn't want to sound like he's whining.


Advertisement
"I'm glad they decided to at least throw us a bone," McElroy said. "We will survive. (But) it's going to hurt us for a long time."
FEMA Director David Paulison said in a letter to Beebe that the agency determined the state and local governments could handle the needs and that additional assistance from the federal government wasn't necessary.

"Based on our review of all the information available, it has been determined that the damage to the private sector was not of such severity and magnitude as to be beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments," Paulison said. "We have determined that supplemental federal assistance is not necessary."

Democratic Rep. Mike Ross, who represents south Arkansas and has been critical of FEMA for its response, said he met with Paulison for about an hour Friday and the director said the agency could release more FEMA mobile homes and trailers than the original 30 promised among the thousands parked at Hope for disaster relief.

Ross said Paulison agreed that FEMA could transfer ownership to the state of as many temporary homes needed by the storm victims.

"I'm still disappointed that it wasn't declared a federal disaster area, but at least we are going to be able to get mobile homes and trailers," Ross said.

The Feb. 24 storms in Arkansas injured 27 people in Dumas, destroyed or damaged 150 homes, and put at least 800 people out of work in the small town. For days, the town was without electricity and residents had to boil their drinking water as a health precaution.

Beebe said Friday that the FEMA decision "defies common sense" and the state would decide whether to appeal it. Meanwhile, he said, officials were working to get the trailers to Desha County "as quickly as possible."

"It is unfortunate that assistance will now depend on additional state resources instead of federal disaster programs that Arkansas taxpayers helped fund," Beebe said.

Matt DeCample, a spokesman for Beebe, said workers would begin moving the 23 mobile homes and seven travel trailers this morning. DeCample said moving and setting up utilities for affected residents could last through Monday.

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said that while the storms in Alabama and Georgia that followed the Arkansas tornadoes caused obvious damage to hundreds of homes and businesses and warranted federal disaster declarations, the damage in Arkansas was not "readily apparent" and required closer examination.

He said FEMA worked with state and local officials in Arkansas, as well as residents, to get preliminary damage estimates that the governor used in his request. He said FEMA wanted to make sure the state had every chance for federal assistance but also had to consider its duties to taxpayers.

A primary factor in deciding a disaster declaration is the extent of insurance coverage on damaged homes, he said. "FEMA, by law, cannot duplicate insurance benefits," he said. "When they (homeowners) are getting reimbursement on insurance, that's not fair to the taxpayers."

He said FEMA estimated that 68 percent to 85 percent of the homes in Desha County were insured.

Ross, along with Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, has criticized FEMA for the delayed decision on the governor's request, and Ross had arranged a March 15 House committee hearing to examine the federal agency's response.

"We asked for a federal disaster declaration and 150 of the new mobile homes (at Hope), and 12 days later they tell us we can have 30 used mobile homes if we'll send someone down to pick them up. This is nothing more than a cruel hoax and a fraud," Ross said before meeting with Paulison.