Quote:
Originally Posted by KC911
I regularly see FEMA contact info, etc. on our local reports from the mtns and here. Just a few minutes ago it was reported that folks in hotels, etc. using FEMA $ would be extended a few more months (until May?) ... they WILL not be tossed out.
Good people will see to that ...
Limited resources, supply lines, etc. but FEMA is not AWOL... but not even close to being everywhere... here, there, and everywhere.
Same as it ever was ... and always will be.
I think 500 FEMA workers were here in NC... the rest are natives, private orgs, local infrastructure support, etc.
And help and $$$ from everywhere...
CA is another fine example of who we are.... thank you!
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Since you are not local, your "local reports" are just people regurgitating FEMA press releases and words by others that are not where the disaster or suffering is happening...followed by you regurgitating the same. But glad they are helping where you are and other places where the destruction was limited. FEMA has really not extended aid beyond the heavily populated areas...and is doing nothing to help rebuild in rural areas. Neither is the state.
Almost 9000 homes destroyed or unlivable in a single rural county and only 27 temp shelters after over 3 months does not seem like a much. That is just one county. That is not a good look for FEMA or the fat cats at the state capital (or those that constantly make excuses for them).
Allowing the few that were put in hotels to extend their stays (only at the last minute due to public outcry) does not really help long term. Many, many have been deemed "ineligible" and turned out into the cold because they did not own homes/have current addresses, apply in time, and other inane reasons...and are still being moved out into the streets in the bitter cold (10F low today and 6F tomorrow). The program has stopped taking any new applications. Many lived in cars, tents, and make-do shelters for a month before admission to the program...and many have not been helped or were unable to (or chose not to) leave their communities and go to the city from destroyed homes without roads.
Briefly extending stays for the few in hotels until March will not help folks a lot (other than the owners of the hotels that would otherwise be largely vacant). People need roads and help with longer-term housing, not platitudes.
Other folks see it differently than you. NC Congressman Chuck Edwards just this past Friday:
"Many Western North Carolinians relying on FEMA’s hotel program don’t have a home to go back to, and it is inhumane to expect these folks to leave the only safe and warm shelter available with only a few days or a week’s notice.
The only real help I have seen has been from private citizens and organizations. Fortunately for the area, when unemployment spiked to more than 10% in October...many folks (that could do so) simply moved away and left everything behind, reducing pressure on housing and jobs. Of course, one does need a very good job to rent or buy (as prices are very high). There were few of those even before the disaster.