FEMA Stats - Hurricane Season From Hell!

A rundown of FEMA's aid activities this season. (For the storm season at-a-glance go to: 2004 Storm Season.)

Note that FEMA lists the number of applications submitted, but not the number processed or approved. Instead, the agency discloses the dollar amounts approved, which, by all accounts (from Florida), is much more impressive than the number of processed applications.

Many hurricane victims report that FEMA employees will not even talk to them until precisely 9:00 AM and when they are forced to talk to victims, they avert their eyes, quote policy and disengage as quickly as possible.

I understand that - sort of. Florida is a difficult state to look at right now. There is misery, suffering, emotional and physical collapse; it's hard to watch...I get it.

But emergencies are like that. Is it unreasonable to expect the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be equipped to manage...errr...emergencies? And the very human outflow from those emergencies? Apparently, it's beyond the scope of FEMA's ability to show a little human decency and compassion. Or perhaps utter disregard for human suffering is part of the "policy" they all seem to know by rote. Leave it to the Feds to pour water on a drowning state.

Okay, < end rant >. And for what it's worth, here it is:

Alabama: Ivan, 64,995 applications for aid, $38,898,706 approved.

Florida: Bonnie/Charley, 220,458 applications, $138,233,233 approved; Frances, 300,671 applications, $184,697,275 approved; Ivan, 69,756 applications, $25,589,664 approved; Jeanne, 20,364 applications, no funding approved yet.

Georgia: Ivan, 1,541 applications, $1,068,881 approved.

Louisiana: Ivan, 3,665 applications, $1,672,444 approved.

Mississippi: Ivan, 5,975 applications, $2,414,114 approved.

North Carolina: Frances, 5,254 applications, $4,556,527 approved; Ivan, 3,346 applications, $1,651,399 approved.

Ohio: Ivan, 4,225 applications, $4,998,189 approved.

Pennsylvania: Frances, 742 applications, $297,080 approved; Ivan, 12,970 applications, $6,805,261 approved.

Puerto Rico: Jeanne, 32,444 applications, $5,546,998 approved.

Virginia: Gaston, 3,968 applications, $5,804,758 approved.

West Virginia: Ivan, 3,651 applications, $1,880,762 approved.