FEMA says it’s ready for Wilma
MIAMI – Federal, state and local emergency workers insisted Sunday they were collaborating closely and treating Hurricane Wilma with a sense of urgency, staging rescue workers and truckloads of emergency supplies in the final hours before the storm’s anticipated landfall in Florida.
Hundreds of Federal Emergency Management Agency and state trucks ferried ice, water and military-style “meals ready to eat” to Homestead Air Reserve Base and the Jacksonville Naval Station. Four urban search and rescue teams stood by in Orlando and Homestead. Nine medical teams were ready in Orlando.
U.S. Coast Guard pilots were searching for stray mariners to make sure they understood Wilma was on the way. The military, led by the National Guard, had 14 Chinook and 24 Black Hawk helicopters ready for rescue missions.
And in Tallahassee, FEMA officials were working in a what they called “Wilma Command” alongside Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida’s emergency operations officials.
“A hurricane is a hurricane,” Bush stressed Sunday, warning against complacency.
FEMA Director R. David Paulison offered little reassurance to Keys residents who ignored evacuation orders, saying those residents were making a serious mistake in light of Wilma’s size.
Because Bush had not yet asked for a federal emergency declaration as of midday Sunday, FEMA was working in a support role, and its supplies and support workers were on standby, said Frances Marine, the Florida spokeswoman for FEMA.
Bush said he planned to officially ask his brother, President Bush, to declare Florida a natural disaster area ahead of the storm. Such requests can trigger a wave of federal aid, but the timing, amount and location varies by storm.
Emergency officials in Broward and Miami-Dade said they were working closely with their state and federal counterparts.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez met Friday with FEMA and military officials in Homestead.
“There has been extensive communication,” Alvarez said.
FEMA’s response after a storm often evokes controversy. Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans are the most obvious example.
Last year, FEMA was quick to offer cash to individual homeowners and renters after four hurricanes hit Florida. But there were instances of criminal fraud, and some in Congress accused the agency of lacking accountability.
After Katrina hit Florida in late August, FEMA inspectors took a more deliberate approach. They worked with Miami-Dade and Broward emergency officials and determined that there was not enough uninsured damage to merit assistance to individuals.
Despite letters to President Bush, an official appeal and special legislation, FEMA did not give out cash grants to individuals in South Florida.
The federal government did offer money to local governments to reimburse them for debris cleanup and emergency worker time.
Local officials complained after Katrina that the level of damage required to trigger storm relief seemed to change from one storm to the next – vacillating between a requirement that 100 homes incur serious damage all the way up to 800 homes.
Several South Florida representatives voiced similar concerns during a briefing in Washington last Thursday.
“My people were promised a lot of different things. Then the rules kept changing,” said Lee County Republican Connie Mack.
Marine said FEMA does not base its decisions on numbers alone. Inspectors consider how much property damage is insured and how stressed local resources are.
“It’s not just a number. It is a totality of the circumstances,” she said.
If Wilma passes through Florida as expected, FEMA will probably follow a similar procedure, Marine said: Workers will begin passing out ice and water in local communities. They’ll first consider aiding local governments and then, with help of local officials, inspect damage by region before deciding whether to offer individual aid.