FEMA & Natural Disasters | FEMA reform or dissolution?

[Yosef]

Again, what is a “special” Bible?

Again, just one that has the SP emblem on it.
I assume it has some remarks from Billy Graham but not sure. I haven't read any of it because I have have my Bible that I've had for years. I only read the comments of the workers in it. After that I put the Bible back in the box and have it on a shelf.
I think only those who have been helped have that emblem on it but not really certain about that.

 

[Zoo_View]

Again, just one that has the SP emblem on it.
I assume it has some remarks from Billy Graham but not sure. I haven't read any of it because I have have my Bible that I've had for years. I only read the comments of the workers in it. After that I put the Bible back in the box and have it on a shelf.
I think only those who have been helped have that emblem on it but not really certain about that.

So, nothing “special” about the “special” Bible.

 

[Yosef]

So, nothing “special” about the “special” Bible.

Yes, the SP emblem.

 

[Zoo_View]

Yes, the SP emblem.

So, if I read the “special” Bible with the SP emblem, do I get to Heaven more quickl?

 

[lawtig02]

Again, SP does a great job with triage. That’s their mission and their role in the process. Some municipalities also do well with triage. And some don’t. But that has nothing to do with FEMA, which is and never has been responsible for triage. I’m extremely glad SP reached out to Yosef. Regardless of the integrity of the charity, they do great work in these situations. But it should not be at all surprising that Yosef did not hear from FEMA, and that’s not at all because FEMA hasn’t been doing its job in WNC.

 

[lawtig02]

I’ve spent several weeks in western NC since Helene hit. Yes, the FEMA response was massive and people were grateful that they were distributing food, water and medicine by days 3-4. It’s also true that many families found the aid application process very confusing and wholly inadequate. It’s also true that they just kind of left without communicating with anyone how to go about continuing benefits or cleanup work. Swannannoa still looks like a fucking war zone. Not exactly the picture of a competent and through response.

100% agree about the application process. Much of that is because of anti fraud requirements enacted by Congress. You can imagine who led those efforts. I’m very much in favor of streamlining the aid process to make it easier for impacted people to get benefits. That’s a whole different proposition than what Trump is talking about, though.

 

[HintonJamesHeel]

Can you imagine no FEMA? Gosh what a buffoon.

The country is just going to have state resources in each state sitting around waiting for natural disasters every 10 years? Insane.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

Yes, the SP emblem.

Geez. Sounds like you have been through a rough few months. Glad you got some help and could share your story. Sorry folks are dogging you.

I'm not a fan of some of the things Samaritan's purse is all about, but I'm a big fan of this work. If you get a chance, maybe share some of the comments that those volunteers wrote.

 

[sringwal]

Geez. Sounds like you have through a rough few months. Glad you got some help and could share your story. Sorry folks are dogging you.

I'm not a fan of sone of the things Samaritan's purse is all about, but I'm a big fan of this work. If you get a chance, maybe share some of the comments that those volunteers wrote.

People are "dogging" him because he is pitting charity work against FEMA, when we really need to understand that when disasters, like the one in Western North Carolina, occur, both are needed. It's not an either/or thing.

 

[nycfan]

FEMA had a location in Boone starting in mid October to help people sign up for long term relief. But there were wild rumors to the contrary spreading on Facebook (I assume via other means as well).

I have a place and family in the mountains. Fortunately, our place was fine though I did have to go get my mom b/c she had no power or water or internet and the roads were impassable in one direction and barely passable (downed trees and power lines) in the other.

It was shocking to see the extent of damage in Blowing Rock and Boone and out to Seven Devils. A lot of those scars are still there all over the place. Saw a ton of National Guard trucks up there and a bunch of trucks hauling supplies up the mountain.

I did get my windshield cracked driving on 105 (heavy vehicle in front of us spin up gravel). The guy who came to fix it was nice and professional. When he asked about how it got damaged, I told him and he told me he heard what turned out to be a list of wild rumors, including that Blowing Rock had been destroyed (I assured him it was still there but he was clearly skeptical). I told him about the supply and National Guard trucks as hopefully a good sign. He said no, I must be mistaken, that was probably Samaritan’s Purse, not the National Guard. He heard only Samaritan’s Purse was helping Boone.

I told him that I am sure SP was quite active — their office was right there on 321 — but that the National Guard is also there. I literally saw trucks and guards repeatedly — a convoy going up 321, a group seeming to be gathering on 105, a group gathering in the remains of the WalMart parking lot. He seemed genuinely confused (and likely just told himself I wouldn’t know the difference between a clearly marked fleet of National Guard trucks and SP I guess).

The extent of the damage was/is staggering and the breadth of response needed overwhelming. I have read about so many people of good will helping out — men came down from PA to build modular tiny homes to help with housing needs, people brought in supplies as they could and a lot of charity groups came in to help. By many accounts, like Yosef, Samaritan’s Purse was there helping a lot of people. But FEMA was there and so was the National Guard. All the misinformation made the National Guard and moreso FEMA invisible to people who were certain the Biden Administration was refusing to help.

Which doesn’t mean FEMA couldn’t be improved, because like any organization massive or small, there is no doubt it can be improved.

 

[SmilingJack]

I figured that the SP bible would look like this? Oh my bad it's a different purse....

 

[lawtig02]

FEMA had a location in Boone starting in mid October to help people sign up for long term relief. But there were wild rumors to the contrary spreading on Facebook (I assume via other means as well).

I have a place and family in the mountains. Fortunately, our place was fine though I did have to go get my mom b/c she had no power or water or internet and the roads were impassable in one direction and barely passable (downed trees and power lines) in the other.

It was shocking to see the extent of damage in Blowing Rock and Boone and out to Seven Devils. A lot of those scars are still there all over the place. Saw a ton of National Guard trucks up there and a bunch of trucks hauling supplies up the mountain.

I did get my windshield cracked driving on 105 (heavy vehicle in front of us spin up gravel). The guy who came to fix it was nice and professional. When he asked about how it got damaged, I told him and he told me he heard what turned out to be a list of wild rumors, including that Blowing Rock had been destroyed (I assured him it was still there but he was clearly skeptical). I told him about the supply and National Guard trucks as hopefully a good sign. He said no, I must be mistaken, that was probably Samaritan’s Purse, not the National Guard. He heard only Samaritan’s Purse was helping Boone.

I told him that I am sure SP was quite active — their office was right there on 321 — but that the National Guard is also there. I literally saw trucks and guards repeatedly — a convoy going up 321, a group seeming to be gathering on 105, a group gathering in the remains of the WalMart parking lot. He seemed genuinely confused (and likely just told himself I wouldn’t know the difference between a clearly marked fleet of National Guard trucks and SP I guess).

The extent of the damage was/is staggering and the breadth of response needed overwhelming. I have read about so many people of good will helping out — men came down from PA to build modular tiny homes to help with housing needs, people brought in supplies as they could and a lot of charity groups came in to help. By many accounts, like Yosef, Samaritan’s Purse was there helping a lot of people. But FEMA was there and so was the National Guard. All the misinformation made the National Guard and moreso FEMA invisible to people who were certain the Biden Administration was refusing to help.

Which doesn’t mean FEMA couldn’t be improved, because like any organization massive or small, there is no doubt it can be improved.

All of this. I've been going up there about once a week to help displaced tenants. And I have full sympathy for a lot of the landlords -- rebuilding or repairing quickly is just not an option for a lot of people. But the point is that when you're working with people across the region, especially on housing issues, you get a pretty good sense of how all the pieces work together. The volunteer orgs like SP are indispensable. The local governments are, for the most part, doing a great job, or at least the best they can. But FEMA is also indispensable. It's not always the most visible, and yes, I agree the application process should be simplified a bit, but if you take FEMA away, the whole thing falls apart. Every leg of this table is vital.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

People are "dogging" him because he is pitting charity work against FEMA, when we really need to understand that when disasters, like the one in Western North Carolina, occur, both are needed. It's not an either/or thing.

My mistake. Didn't read back that far. Yosef, sorry you had to go through that, glad Samaritans purse is helping you, and FEMA is still necessary. I'm sure after every disaster, its response can be assessed and can be improved for the next one.

 

[gtyellowjacket]

All of this. I've been going up there about once a week to help displaced tenants. And I have full sympathy for a lot of the landlords -- rebuilding or repairing quickly is just not an option for a lot of people. But the point is that when you're working with people across the region, especially on housing issues, you get a pretty good sense of how all the pieces work together. The volunteer orgs like SP are indispensable. The local governments are, for the most part, doing a great job, or at least the best they can. But FEMA is also indispensable. It's not always the most visible, and yes, I agree the application process should be simplified a bit, but if you take FEMA away, the whole thing falls apart. Every leg of this table is vital.

I found this part funny. Like the guy is looking at you and thinking you're just a woman. How would you know what a natural guard convoy looks like? It's not like they have those in a kitchen. And I'm just imagining a make believe windshield installer's face as he tries to process this whole thing.

Eta: oh my. I thought I was replying to NYC's post. Sorry.

 

[rodoheel]

The FEMA thing is just a continuation of the classic conservative mindset - they all scream about small government, lower taxes, and eliminating government "waste," and then as soon as some sort of disaster hits and they need help, they are demanding every form of aid possible and screaming if it doesn't get there immediately. News flash: as with basically every other government service, the principal way to make FEMA better is to fund it with more money and give it more resources. There is not some vast army of useless federal bureaucrats sucking all of the money out of FEMA to push pieces of paper around, any more than there is a similar army of useless federal bureaucrats in the Department of Education or anywhere else. There will always be this conservative fantasy that the government is both overfunded and providing less service than it could, when in fact the reality is usually closer to the opposite.

It is absolutely the case that government (and the federal government, in particular) is less nimble than private charities when it comes to disaster aid and a number of other things, because they have more rules, regulations, and procedures to follow. Those things are there to make sure that public money is spent responsibly and fairly; private charities have far fewer obligations in that regard.

 

[lawtig02]

The FEMA thing is just a continuation of the classic conservative mindset - they all scream about small government, lower taxes, and eliminating government "waste," and then as soon as some sort of disaster hits and they need help, they are demanding every form of aid possible and screaming if it doesn't get there immediately. News flash: as with basically every other government service, the principal way to make FEMA better is to fund it with more money and give it more resources. There is not some vast army of useless federal bureaucrats sucking all of the money out of FEMA to push pieces of paper around, any more than there is a similar army of useless federal bureaucrats in the Department of Education or anywhere else. There will always be this conservative fantasy that the government is both overfunded and providing less service than it could, when in fact the reality is usually closer to the opposite.

It is absolutely the case that government (and the federal government, in particular) is less nimble than private charities when it comes to disaster aid and a number of other things, because they have more rules, regulations, and procedures to follow. Those things are there to make sure that public money is spent responsibly and fairly; private charities have far fewer obligations in that regard.

Exactly. Remember in those first few days after Helene when Trump was using FEMA's lack of presence (which was not true) to score political points? And all the conservatives were like, "Where's FEMA??? WE NEED FEMA IN RED PLACES, TOO!!!"

Yeah, I remember that, too.

 

[Callatoroy]

A warehouse? Resources from where? Do you think that North Carolina should buy, staff, and maintain the equivalent of 15 state’s worth of rescue personnel and equipment on its own? And then the other 49 states should do the same thing? Do you have any idea how expensive and wasteful that would be?

Struggling to get the gist of something vs taking every word literally

 

[ZZLPHeels]

Struggling to get the gist of something vs taking every word literally

So enlighten me. Where will the response resources come from for the next hurricane?

 

[Yosef]

People are "dogging" him because he is pitting charity work against FEMA, when we really need to understand that when disasters, like the one in Western North Carolina, occur, both are needed. It's not an either/or thing.

I'm

People are "dogging" him because he is pitting charity work against FEMA, when we really need to understand that when disasters, like the one in Western North Carolina, occur, both are needed. It's not an either/or thing.

Wrong... Go back and show me where I said anything negative about FEMA. Copy and paste it in your post here and show everyone where I said anything negative about them. You won't because you know you just made it up. You lack of responding to this will prove it.

 

[rodoheel]

I'm

Wrong... Go back and show me where I said anything negative about FEMA. Copy and paste it in your post here and show everyone where I said anything negative about them. You won't because you know you just made it up. You lack of responding to this will prove it.

I suspect some of the misunderstanding here might come from your initial post in the thread, where another poster had said it was FEMA who got and directed a lot of people to NC to help with the disaster, and you said "No it wasn't." It may have been that you simply intended to say that there were other organizations working in NC in addition to FEMA, like Samaritan's Purse. But because you framed your post as disagreement with the other poster, it sounded kinda like you were disagreeing that FEMA got a lot of people from other states to NC. If that's not what you meant, you can just clear that up and we can move on.