FEMA red tape frustrates evacuees

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Sep 29, 2005 | by Michelle Maitre, STAFF WRITER

Workers at Alameda County's assistance center for Hurricane Katrina evacuees report delays in dealing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, with one worker saying folks have waited up to six hours to check the status of aid applications over the Internet.

"It's a communications debacle, is what it is," said Susan Anderson, a health consultant and privacy liaison for the Alameda County Public Health Department who has helped staff the Katrina services center at Eastmont Town Center in Oakland.

Officials opened the center Sept. 19 as a one-stop shop where Katrina evacuees can receive everything from health care and housing assistance to information onenrolling children in local schools.

But Anderson said evacuees who have already lost everything to the hurricane and related flooding are facing maddening obstacles when applying for FEMA aid. The Web site crashes constantly or does not recognize identification numbers already assigned to FEMA enrollees, she said. And a toll-free telephone line is so overloaded that callers are automatically disconnected.

One time, Anderson was able to get through to check the status of one evacuee's aid only to learn that the woman's $4,000 assistance check had been mailed to a temporary shelter in Baton Rouge that the woman had long since vacated.

"Too many people sitting down across the desk from me have broken down crying over this, over FEMA," Anderson said.

FEMA spokeswoman Barbara Ellis acknowledged delays, although a reporter's call to the hot line was connected immediately to an operator Wednesday afternoon.

Ellis said the federal relief agency has been overburdened in dealing with the twin disasters of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

By Wednesday, more than 1.7 million people had registered for FEMA aid, Ellis said, and the agency had doled out about $2.4 billion.

FEMA has added 9,000 call center operators to try to handle demand and is working to fix a technological problem where the Web site could not recognize some Internet browser applications, she said.

"We're really trying to accommodate people on this," said Ellis, who recommended people try calling during "off-peak" evening hours - - although Anderson said some evacuees call late into the night and still don't get through.

"I know it can be frustrating," Ellis said. "They just need to call that number back at different times."

Alameda County officials estimate that as many as 600 families relocated to the East Bay following Hurricane Katrina.

The county's local assistance center -- a collaboration among the Social Services Agency, the Health Department and the American Red Cross -- has helped about 190 families since it opened, said site coordinator Ada Lillie.

Aside from FEMA, everything is running smoothly, Lillie said. "We are going (forward) and assisting people as best we can, it's just FEMA is like a nightmare in some ways," Lillie said. "For the most part, folks are bearing with it."

Lillie estimated that one in five attempts to call FEMA make it through. "They're so busy now, with Rita and Katrina, it's probably a good idea to try some night calling," she said.

The Alameda County local assistance center is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday at the Eastmont Town Center Adult and Aging Services Department, 6995 Foothill Blvd., third floor, Oakland, 577-5635. Visit http://www.fema.gov or call (800) 621-3362 to apply for FEMA emergency assistance.

Contact Michelle Maitre at mmaitre@angnewspapers.com.