Records show bias in FEMA benefits

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A Hollywood surgeon got FEMA money for Hurricane Wilma for a generator.

A Plantation lawyer received $274 more from the agency than he paid for his generator.

Yet, a Fort Lauderdale teen with serious medical problems had to insert catheters by candlelight when the Oct. 24 storm knocked out power. His family couldn’t afford a generator.

A FEMA program to reimburse applicants for generators and storm cleanup items has benefited middle- and upper-income Floridians the most and so far cost taxpayers more than $332 million for the past two hurricane seasons, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found in a continuing investigation of disaster aid.

For Wilma alone, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had spent $84 million as of last Monday on generators for 101,028 people in 13 Florida counties, including Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade. Another $6 million paid for chain saws for 27,394 applicants.

“I see people making $200,000 a year putting in for a rebate for a generator,” Davie Fire Chief Don DiPetrillo said last month, as the town scrambled to open a shelter for people left homeless by Wilma. “This is just not a good use of public resources.”

By agreement with the state, which pays 25 percent of the cost, FEMA reimburses for generators, chain saws, dehumidifiers, air purifiers and wet/dry vacuums purchased for home use after a disaster.

For the four Florida hurricanes in 2004, the reimbursements amounted to $242 million. Eighty percent of the money went to applicants in middle- and upper-income areas, including 45 residents of the moneyed island of Palm Beach and 221 people in a posh Orlando suburb with sprawling estates on lakes and fairways.

FEMA imposes no income restrictions.

“You could make $100,000 a year and still live paycheck to paycheck,” said Randy Bartell, community assistance consultant with Florida’s Division of Emergency Management.

FEMA leaves it up to states to choose what will be reimbursed in each disaster. States can elect to exclude certain items or limit eligibility, for instance reimbursing for generators only for the medically needy.

Other states have imposed limits, but Florida’s policy remains one of the most generous of the hurricane-vulnerable states.

Bronstein, an insurance fraud lawyer in Plantation, put in a claim for a generator he bought when his Davie home lost electricity from Wilma. He said he “makes six figures” and could “certainly afford my own.”

“My thought was, ‘Well, if I’m eligible, I’ll take it because I certainly pay enough in taxes,”’ he said.

Bronstein was surprised that he qualified but even more surprised when his government check arrived for $836, the maximum amount. He paid $562, including tax.

“I profited from the hurricane,” he said. “It’s crazy.”

Dr. Arthur Palamara of Hollywood, a vascular surgeon and candidate for the state House of Representatives, got an $836 check from FEMA for a generator he bought a week after Wilma, and he now is debating whether to cash it.

“My sons are giving me a hard time, saying, ‘You don’t really deserve the money,’ ” said Palamara, who lives in a home assessed at $1.1 million. “My wife says we pay taxes. It’s not like we’re doing anything illegal or dishonest.”

Still, Palamara wonders whether it’s “morally correct.”

“There are people probably who need this money more than I do,” he said.

When Wilma knocked out power to Debbie Springston’s Fort Lauderdale home, she begged FEMA for a generator for her 18-year-old son, Marcus, who was born with heart and kidney ailments.

“FEMA said, ‘Go buy a generator’ and they’ll reimburse us for it, but we didn’t have money,” she said.

Springston does not work, and the hurricane left her construction worker husband unemployed. “There was no pay coming in,” she said.

Marcus uses catheters several times a day to remove bodily wastes. With no electricity, he performed the task using light from a battery-operated lamp and, when that failed, some small candles. “I could barely see,” he said.

After a week, the family moved to a motel paid for by their homeowner’s insurance.

“The government needs to get their priorities right,” Marcus Springston said.

Dolores Morris of Hollywood also lost power in Wilma. The 63-year-old needs electricity to run a machine that feeds her oxygen. She also needs refrigeration for insulin. Her husband, Robert, is a disabled Florida Power & Light Co. worker.

When the couple told FEMA they couldn’t afford a generator, a worker suggested she go to a hospital if she ran out of oxygen. Dolores Morris said she conserved the supply she had in portable tanks and tried “not to get upset” so she wouldn’t breathe too much.

“I don’t think FEMA is set up for the poor person,” she said.

FEMA did not respond to requests for comment.

Federal law says disaster aid is for people unable to meet disaster-related expenses “or needs through other means.” Florida’s goal is to keep people in their homes and out of public shelters. Generators help people stay comfortable and keep food cold, and chain saws are needed to cut up debris blocking access to homes, said Frank Koutnik, deputy state coordinating officer for recovery in the state Division of Emergency Management.

“You’ve got to show this is why I needed this chain saw, and you’ve got to be able to document that you were without power to be eligible for the generator,” he said.

But the way the program is set up puts the poor at a disadvantage, the Sun-Sentinel found.

Other types of FEMA assistance help mostly low-income applicants. Money for home repairs is available to those who are unable to repay a loan and have no insurance to cover the losses.

Under those programs, FEMA sends a check without the applicant paying up front. But cleanup items and generators, which can cost $500 or more, are prohibitive for people who don’t have the money or credit to buy the items and wait for government reimbursement.

Koutnik said those unable to afford the purchases “would have to know a friend” who could help. “The system is strictly set up as a reimbursement process,” he said.

FEMA reviews claims “on a case-by-case basis” and reimburses up to the $836 for generators, according to the agency. Applicants who paid less than the maximum are reimbursed their actual cost, said spokesman Jim Homstad.

But 10 people told the Sun-Sentinel that FEMA reimbursed them for more than they paid.

The state’s cost of the program for last year’s four hurricanes topped $60 million. So far for Wilma, Florida is responsible for $22 million.

In Virginia, after the total tab hit just $8 million for Hurricane Isabel in 2003, officials ended the reimbursements.

Virginia officials thought the policy sent “the wrong message,” said Marc LaFountain, spokesman for Virginia’s department of emergency management. “We want people to be prepared ahead of time.”

North Carolina does not pay for chain saws, and only people with serious medical needs are eligible for reimbursement for generators, said Phil Myers, chief of operations for the state’s division of emergency management.

Florida officials have not considered limiting their policy, Koutnik said.

“As far as we can tell, it has (worked),” he said.