FEMA DENIES FLORIDA’S REQUEST FOR DISASTER AID FOR JAN 16 TORNADOES
Fema (The Federal Emergency Management Agency) denied the appeal from Lee and Charlotte county residents for recent tornado relief. The refusal led the DEM (Florida Division of Emergency Management) to appeal the decision.
The DEM announced that they are dedicated to supporting the calamity recovery process. Kevin Guthrie, DEM Director, assured the residents that DEM is doing everything in its power to persuade the Federal Emergency Management Agency to review its decision. Moreover, they will provide all assistance necessary for disaster relief.
Two Charlotte County tornadoes touched down on Jan 16 of EF-1 caliber. On the same day, Lee Collier County also suffered from an EF-2 tornado. The national weather service confirmed that the tornado near Placida damaged 35 households. A state of emergency was declared in Charlotte County and Lee County by Jan 21. Luckily, there were no casualties, but 300 unfortunate people had to leave their homes for various reasons, one of them being a power outage.
FEMA requested help with relief under its various assistance programs. These assistance programs run by FEMA include Crisis, Counseling and Training, Individual and Household Program, Disaster Unemployment Assistance, and disaster legal services.
However, the request was denied because the aftermaths of the tornado were not extensive enough to obtain a response from the Feds. The magnitude of the damage was much less severe than required for the government to take action. According to the letter received from FEMA director Deanne Criswell, the disaster could have easily been handled by the local government body and the volunteers.
Criswell further reported that the officials at FEMA will cooperate to their best ability regarding the information on other resources that could help in the tornado relief. Also, they coordinated that any additional damage could be reported with a justified appeal within thirty days.
Criswell said regional FEMA officials would communicate about other resources available through the federal government or volunteer organizations. She also said FEMA would coordinate to see if any additional information about damages justified an appeal, which must be filed within 30 days.
The Spokesperson of the Florida Department of Health tried to persuade FEMA to support Florida in their time of crisis with the following tweet:
https://twitter.com/JeremyRedfernFL/status/1493752756892536835
