Word: fema
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From Hurricane Frederic in 1979 to tropical storm fay, which ravaged Florida in late August, Americans affected by disaster have looked to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for aid. But long before its error-plagued response to Hurricane Katrina (which marked its third anniversary Aug. 29), critics complained that FEMA, meant to epitomize state humanitarianism, was a synonym for government dysfunction...
...waters rise to the height of a person, the Robertses act as a citizens' National Guard, a more caring and effective FEMA. They take elderly friends to their attic, share food with them, give them comfort. Outside, a neighbor, Larry Simms, stands shoulder-deep in the water, looking for people to save. And all the while, Kim keeps recording, giving witness to nature's fury and the government's indifference...
...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...
Metzler is not among the estimated 1% of Iowans with flood insurance, so he appreciates the help he's received, including $250 in food assistance for the month, $300 a week in "unemployment-type disaster relief" and personal phone calls from a FEMA official. Staying with friends as he awaits a possible FEMA trailer, Metzler is determined to restart his business elsewhere in town. "Heck yeah," he says. "You've got to have a bowling alley in Coralville...
...Cedar Rapids, Robby Cooper, 22, a legal assistant, calls the $21,000 he received after filing a FEMA claim for his home and belongings "pretty good help," adding, "It's bought me quite a bit of time to figure out what I'm going to do." But Tom Slaymaker, who has a back ailment and is unemployed, says he has received only $1,200 and hopes for more. The family not only lost the rental home where they lived but another home they own (and were on the verge of selling, Slaymaker says). They did not have renters or flood...