Editorial: FEMA denial of West disaster aid stinks of politics

[TexasTowelie]

[font color=green]Yes folks, you knew it was coming and it didn't take long...[/font]

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s decision to deny money to help rebuild West, Texas, after the April 17 explosion is worded about as crisply and unsympathetically as such responses can get. The explosion of an ammonium nitrate fertilizer facility in West, which killed 15, injured about 200 and forced hundreds of people from their homes, simply wasn’t bad enough, in FEMA’s view, to warrant a major disaster declaration.

But the fact that FEMA’s response was in a letter sent directly to Gov. Rick Perry, an ardent foe of just about everything federal, strongly suggests partisan politics is heavily at play here. This stinks.

If you look back at the posture toward the federal government that Republican Gov. Chris Christie took in New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy, it was the exact opposite of the kinds of rhetoric Perry has used. Christie asked for help, made a very strong case for it, and did everything he could after Sandy to establish a political partnership with President Barack Obama to ensure that New Jersey maximized the amount of aid it would receive. And he got a generous package of help in return.

After the West explosion, Perry used it as an opportunity to thumb his nose at the notion of greater regulation to ensure such disasters don’t occur in the future. He based the entirety of his 2012 presidential campaign on appealing to conservatives’ anti-Washington sentiments. He pretty much wants to do away with the federal government — specifically three departments whose names escape me at the moment. He has marched in lock step with Tea Party Sen. Ted Cruz and increasingly conservative Sen. John Cornyn in their criticism of big-spending federal government.

Read more at http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/06/fema-denial-of-west-disaster-aid-stinks-of-politics.html/ .

[Ian David]

1. Texas needs to take responsibility for their own actions. n/t

[mbperrin]

4. Please direct that ire toward the governor who received only a plurality of votes, not a majority.

More Texans than not refused to vote for Perry.

Could you feel a half ounce of sympathy for the ordinary dead in West?

[Ian David]

7. Of course I do. And these things will keep happening until you fix it. n/t

[Paladin]

24. Thank you sir. May we have another? (nt)

[mbperrin]

2. Perry and the rest of the Republican gang running this state

are ruining this state.

How long before people get angry enough to do something about it?

My old granny used to say that she didn't mind so much when people shit on her, but she became boiling mad when they then complained that she stunk. (No, my granny did not stay home and bake cookies in a gingham print apron. That's true.)

I'm there.

[Skittles]

11. your granny was awesome!

[bunnies]

3. Oh, bullshit.

The company responsible for the explosion should pay. Its common freaking sense.

[Ilsa]

12. Not enough insurance. The company would

Probably declare bankruptcy rather than be run for no profit. I guess they should try to sue the owner of the company, but I bet he's been hiding assets like crazy these last three months.

[bunnies]

14. No doubt.

Didnt the people of TX vote against regulations that would have prevented this from happening? I seem to recall reading that somewhere. There should be laws that place the onus where it belongs in cases like this. You blow up a town, you pay for it. Sufficient insurance should be required or the company should be forced to run for no profit.

I feel for the people who wanted the regulations and didnt get them because their anti-government neighbors are too dumb to get the reason theyre needed.

[Ilsa]

15. They think Jesus will protect them from

Accidents like this. I'm not kidding.

[bunnies]

16. omg.

If thats the case they deserve what they get because clearly Jesus is not a fan. Kinda like the folks who welcome climate change & wars cuz it means Jesus is a commin!

[Ilsa]

17. Okay, maybe

Not everyone in West feels that way, but over the years, I've met plenty of people who opt out of insurance, etc whenever possible because they believe God will handle it all for them. They choose to not consider that bad things could happen, so they are unprepared for disaster.

[bunnies]

18. So, I guess those people will just have to accept...

that God wanted them to be homeless. It must be in the grand plan because (of course) God knew that FEMA would reject the request. Thats how it works... right?

[Ilsa]

19. Oddly enough, some of them

will probably accept this tragedy as "God's will." They have been conditioned by their religious leaders to accept their lot in life. They aren't comfortable because it isn't God's will. I hear this sort of brainwashed logic all the time.

[TheCowsCameHome]

5. I thought Texas had seceded.

Where have I been?

[Paladin]

23. I have an answer to your question.....

...but I don't think the administrators would be happy with it.

[notadmblnd]

6. I always thought FEMA existed to aid in natural disasters such as floods,hurricanes, tornados etc

not for aiding corporations after they blow up neighborhoods

[mindwalker_i]

10. Yeah, this wasn't a naturl disaster

This was a disaster borne by a very direct decision made by the government - supported by enough of the people to continue being the government to stay in power - not to regulate companies. Sorry that the people who didn't vote for them also have to deal with the consequences, but the evolutionary process isn't always fair.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Maybe, maybe not. Here are the criteria FEMA considers:

The federal disaster law restricts the use of arithmetical formulas or other objective standards as the sole basis for determining the need for federal supplemental aid. As a result, FEMA assesses a number of factors to determine the severity, magnitude and impact of a disaster event. In evaluating a Governor's request for a major disaster declaration, a number of primary factors, along with other relevant information, are considered in developing a recommendation to the President for supplemental disaster assistance. Primary factors considered include:

Amount and type of damage (number of homes destroyed or with major damage);
Impact on the infrastructure of affected areas or critical facilities;
Imminent threats to public health and safety;
Impacts to essential government services and functions;
Unique capability of Federal government;
Dispersion or concentration of damage;
Level of insurance coverage in place for homeowners and public facilities;
Available assistance from other sources (Federal, State, local, voluntary organizations);
State and local resource commitments from previous, undeclared events
Frequency of disaster events over recent time period.

The very nature of disasters-their unique circumstances, the unexpected timing, and varied impacts-precludes a complete listing of factors considered when evaluating disaster declaration requests. However, the above lists most primary considerations.

http://www.fema.gov/declaration-process-fact-sheet

Maybe they thought the West explosion didn't satisfy enough of these criteria. There is an appeal process, and maybe FEMA will reconsider.

[Skittles]

9. they can hand it out but they sure can't take it

[Ilsa]

13. I bet FEMA gives in. They are yanking Perry's, et al, chains

to make them sweat a little. They deserve to sweat this out after being so critical of the Sandy declaration for aid.
Another item: "FEMA has, however, provided $6.5 million in emergency funds to individual residents. That act, of providing individual assistance, established FEMA’s opinion that it does have jurisdiction here."

[onestepforward]

20. FEMA already has provided millions of dollars in aid to West and its residents:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=191011025

HOUSTON (AP) — The Federal Emergency Management Agency is refusing to provide additional money to help rebuild the small Texas town where a deadly fertilizer plant explosion leveled numerous homes and a school, and killed 15 people.
-snip-

As of Wednesday, FEMA said the agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration had approved more than $7 million in aid and low-interest loans to West residents impacted by the blast. FEMA also is paying 75 percent of the costs of debris removal and will reimburse the state and the municipality for the initial emergency response.

FEMA denied the "major disaster declaration" both for public assistance — which would give money to the city to help rebuild — and for further individual aid, which would provide for crisis counseling and other services.
-snip-

[TexasTowelie]

21. After all, it's only about 15 times the amount that the taxpayers paid

for Perry's security when he ran for president.

[onestepforward]

22. You got that right!