Word: fema
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...month after floodwaters destroyed their home and belongings in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the Slaymaker family - Tom, 35, Kara, 37, Samantha, 16, and Andrew, 10 - are living in a neighboring community in a mobile home provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The trailer is better than the Slaymakers' previous shelter - a tent in a friend's backyard where the family camped for three weeks after the Cedar River swamped 1,300 city blocks in early June, prompting 25,000 residents to evacuate. Better, but still not home. "I'm worn out," says Tom Slaymaker. "I have no idea...
...over 340 flood-and-tornado-ravaged communities across Iowa, thousands of people remain in limbo after what many consider the state's worst natural disaster. Seventy-eight of Iowa's 99 counties are under presidential disaster proclamation. Almost 31,000 people have registered for FEMA aid; more than 9,000 homes have been damaged and 3,000 destroyed; flood repair estimates have surged (to $1.3 billion in Cedar Rapids alone). The government, however, has learned from Katrina. The FEMA "mobile homes," as the government prefers to call them, are arriving (of the 500 requested in the Cedar Rapids area...
...least to begin with are sounding the most marooned. Difficult decisions, for individuals and communities, loom about how to rebuild, including whether to seek a federal property buyout. In Oakville, where 193 of 203 homes and businesses were heavily damaged or destroyed, many of the 439 residents want FEMA to buy out the entire town. In a written statement to TIME, the agency's coordinating officer for Iowa, Bill Vogel said: "Much has been done. Much remains to be done. FEMA is in Iowa for the long haul to do everything within the agency?s power to help the state...
...deceived by water that looks shallow. Six inches (15 cm) of water will reach the bottom of most cars and can cause stalling and loss of control, according to FEMA. A foot of water will float many cars, and two feet of moving water can carry away most vehicles - including SUVs and pickup trucks. In other words, if you can turn around...
Local government, however, refused. "We're a town that's just barely getting by and can't afford to fix all those violations," says Mayor Ellett. Nevertheless, in June 1991, FEMA suspended Grand Tower from the insurance program altogether. "Taxpayers will not be called upon to put money back into a flood area if the community hasn't done its part by enforcing the ordinance," says David Schein, FEMA's senior flood-plain-management specialist. That essentially means the only assistance the Federal Government is likely to provide is temporary shelter and food. "That's really humanitarian," snaps Ellett...