FEMA denies individual aid

by: BARBARA HOBEROCK World Capitol Bureau
1/16/2008  12:00 AM

Oklahoma was seeking individual assistance that would provide help to those affected by the storm.

OKLAHOMA CITY — The federal government has denied Oklahoma’s request for individual assistance for Tulsa and Oklahoma counties in the wake of a December ice storm that crippled the state and caused millions of dollars in damage, Gov. Brad Henry’s office announced Tuesday.

Henry said he was deeply disappointed and frustrated that the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied the request.

“I don’t understand how FEMA could assess the extensive damages from that ice storm and not conclude the obvious,” Henry said. “This was a storm of historic proportions that caused damage to both public property and private property.”

The governor is expected to enlist the help of the state’s congressional delegation in appealing the decision. The state will be required to provide additional information in its appeal, said Michelann Ooten of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

Individual assistance covers uninsured housing repair or temporary housing costs, Small Business Administration low-interest loans to individuals or businesses to repair or replace damaged property, disaster unemployment assistance, and grants for serious needs and necessary expenses not met by other programs.

With $4,000 out of pocket and still more damage to clean up, Edward Hooker, a Tulsa homeowner, was counting on FEMA for a financial lifeline.

“Our hopes were raised,” Hooker said. “And now I wish nobody had ever said anything about it. It’s disappointing, of course.”

Nearly 13,000 people reported uninsured damages to state officials. But that number doesn’t include Hooker himself — and, presumably, thousands of other homeowners like him — because he wasn’t able to get through to the state’s hot line or Web site to file a report.

“It is what it is,” he said. “And we’ll all just have to deal with it.”

The news didn’t come as a shock to some homeowners.

“I’m not surprised,” said Frank Baumgarten, a Sperry resident who lost 32 pecan trees in the ice storm. Insurance won’t cover the trees, he said, because the appraisers can’t determine a value.

“Nobody can tell me what’s going on. You can hope for a little help from the government, but you can’t count on it.”

Henry on Jan. 9 put in the request for individual assistance for Tulsa and Oklahoma counties. State emergency management officials had indicated additional counties would be added if the request was approved.

Based on preliminary damage assessments, “it has been determined that the damage to the private sector was not of the severity and magnitude to warrant individual assistance for the two counties,” Carlos J. Castillo, FEMA assistant administrator in the Disaster Assistance Directorate, said in a letter to the state. “The required response appears to be within the combined capabilities of the state, affected local governments and voluntary agencies.”

State officials knew the request could be denied in light of Oklahoma’s experience with the January 2007 ice storm, for which FEMA also denied individual assistance.

“But we remained optimistic,” Henry said. “After receiving nine presidential declarations in one year — which included back-to-back flooding events, ice and snow storms — we felt the case for additional assistance had been made.”

Henry called the ice storm a “full-fledged catastrophe” that knocked out power to more than 640,000 Oklahoma homes and businesses and resulted in 29 deaths.

“If the ice storm did not warrant federal assistance for the many Oklahomans who were impacted, then nothing does,” Henry said.

President Bush last month granted Henry’s request for public assistance to 25 counties affected by the storm. Under the disaster declaration, federal assistance is available for expenses related to infrastructure damage, including roads, bridges and public facilities, as well as the costs of debris removal.

Source: Tulsa World