Results tagged “fema”

Disasters of national or global magnitude bring out lots of emotions in people. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Kennedy assassination, 9/11, the Asian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, all brought out expressions of anger, compassion, grief and outrage. While the gamut of human emotions that run through events like these, events that define moments in time, that feel larger than life and wholly out of our control, are often fueled by our sense of humanity, there's almost always a portion of the population that connects darker forces to these events. Roosevelt knew in advance of Pearl Harbor and let the U.S. get dragged into WWII. Katrina was an opportunity to clear out a poor, black largely Democratic-leaning population. 9/11 was a government conspiracy to instigate a war against the Islamic world.

Todd Stroger, the beloved President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, today issued a reminder via press release that December 2, 2008 is the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance for disaster relief stemming from this fall's flooding. According to the release, "To date, more than 30,000 businesses and residents have filed a claim through FEMA for assistance in the wake of this fall’s catastrophic flooding, with FEMA disbursing $35 million to impacted counties, including Cook. A full 88% of those funds – $33.5 million – have been disbursed to Cook County residents alone." To apply, call FEMA at 1-800 621-FEMA (3362).

Photo by chloeloe
• A 17-year-old boy was fatally shot near his South Side home last night. It was only part of a violent 24 hours for the city.
• Republican "power broker" William Cellini enteres a not guilty plea yesterday to his extortion charges.
• FEMA will be providing $45 million in relief for Illinois victims of fall flooding.

President Bush yesterday declared Chicago a disaster area, allowing people affected by the massive rain and flooding on September 13th to request financial assistance. Also eligible are residents in Cook, DuPage, Will, Kane, Grundy and LaSalle counties. Coordinated through FEMA, the assistance will include grants to pay for things like extensive home repairs and temporary housing -- although if you just had a flooded basement you're probably out of luck. [D-H]

As neighborhoods like Albany Park and many suburbs begin to dry out and clean up from this weekend's flooding, residents are beginning to ask for help from the federal government. Senator Dick Durbin was joined by 39th Ward Alderman Margaret Laurino, and a representative from Barack Obama's office to get a first-hand look at the massive flooding that happened from this weekend's intense rains. Said Durbin:

This has been devastating. A lot of these folks don't have insurance to cover this. One hundred billion gallons of water dumped on any community . . . is something you can't prepare for. I think when we need FEMA, they will be here.

Fitting that as we approach Friday's third Katrina-versary, FEMA should once again rear it's ugly head. The government agency has turned down Illinois' appeal for relief stemming from March's flooding in southern Illinois. Governor Blagojevich claimed 659 homes were impacted from the flood, including 228 of which were either heavily damaged or destroyed. No word yet on how FEMA will blatantly ignore the victims of Tropical Storm Fay.

The City of Chicago is fighting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over nearly $6 million in federal disaster money the city used for snow removal in 1999 and 2000. In a complaint filed in federal court, the city says that it had a right to use those funds to clear runways at O'Hare and Midway. FEMA has been trying to recover those funds for three years, contending that airlines should have paid for snow removal services at the airports. “That’s a conclusion we disagree with,” a spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department told Crain's.