Wizbang, We Can Help You A Little With FEMA and ARC

Paul @ Wizbang, we read your post. Some of us have American Red Cross National Disaster Recovery Team experience, so some of what you ask we can answer:

We don't know how FEMA works. Somebody read the news reports on what FEMA is doing and what it is not... Somebody read their site and distill it for those of us who don't have time for red tape.

Flood insurance? I know the feds handle it. Who do I need to talk to? What do they pay?

Every natural disaster I send the Red Cross my standard $100 donation. I have no idea how to get money from them. It is a grant or a loan?

If I don't actually cancel my phones and my bill is auto-debit do they still bill me?

We're writing this as though someone who is displaced and that means someone in a hotel and will need to get out due to lack of funds, etc. BTW, if you are in a hotel and you are displaced from the affected region: SAVE YOUR RECIEPTS and don't check out. Go directly to a local Red Cross office or shelter in your area. You can register at that office or shelter, get reimbursed and obtain additional funds to remain there.

First, if you have access to a computer, register at FEMA's site:

http://www.fema.gov/register.shtm.

Refugees can also call them by phone, number's on the list or in the phonebook or by dialing 411 in your area. Operators will also connect you via 800 number if you don't know it. If a phone isn't available, get to the nearest Red Cross Shelter. Both the American Red Cross and FEMA will *both* be onsite - you have to register when you check in and all your information is taken from you at that time.

Once that information is gathered, Red Cross social workers will arrange to interview you. Mind you, there are mountains of forms, but they MUST be filled out in order to allow you housing assistance (yes, they WILL cut you a check for your stay in a hotel and other associated expenses for a specified period of time.) Every situation is evaluated separately, and some are grants and some are loans, depending on the nature of the disaster and the financial and property disposition of the displaced individual (and yes, hurricane Katrina is a big one.) This also includes your phone, electricity, and gas; typically if there is no service to a particular area, billing is suspended by telecom and utility companies until they can restore it. You'll also have to disclose your income (you may need to claim lost wages) along with any property insurance you have (or don't have - and some don't.)

You'll also fill out FEMA flood insurance claims for your property. Usually what happens is your claim is reviewed by adjusters (both Red Cross and FEMA) and your property (if reachable) visited. Criteria is used to determine the loss you've had, and the ability to rebuild and any salvageable property you might have. The report is filed and then you recieve your settlement - possibly a Red Cross one as well as a FEMA one, depending on the circumstances. There are also other charity organizations (like Southern Baptist Disaster Relief, Salvation Army, etc) to whom your claims may go to under the right circumstances - the Red Cross social worker helps with that.

At the moment, there are 250 Red Cross shelters set up to handle displaced persons, and plans to open more are pending getting folks out of New Orleans. Currently, they're preparing 500,000 meals a day and delivering them to the affected areas of the Gulf coast. ARC is also bringing in water, which Peter Teahean (ARC spokesman) says is "like gold." It's the biggest effort in their history. As folks start to get to locales outside New Orleans, look for more Red Cross and FEMA help.

Hope this helps. Any other questions, let us know.

Comments

[Storm Digest Blog Blog Archive Red Cross to Pays Lots of Hotel Stays]

[...] We described for you some time ago the process that the Red Cross and FEMA uses to provide relief and support to hurricane Katrina evacuees, or any disaster for that matter. Today the Washington Post leads with an article about the Red Cross paying hotel stays for the thousands of evacuees registered with motels and hotels in the Gulf region: The program began early this week, when several thousand hotels and motels in and around the Gulf Coast area were notified by the Red Cross that registered guests who can show that they lived in 256 storm-affected Zip codes in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama would be eligible to have their unpaid room charges covered by the Red Cross. [...]