Although victims of Katrina and Rita are scattered all over the United States, this news is likely to be received with a fair amount of hostility in Houston:
A judge ordered the federal government to resume paying rent and make three months of retroactive payments for about 2,600 hurricane evacuee households in Houston and thousands more across the country.
U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had not sufficiently explained why it cut off the payments this year.
FEMA must not only resume the payments, it must “pay to each of these evacuees the short-term assistance benefits they would have otherwise received from September 1, 2006, through November 30, 2006,” Leon wrote.
It’s common knowledge that the welcome wore off the mat in this part of Texas long ago. However, while much has been made of the increased violent crime in certain areas, the FEMA ruling strikes the heart of what’s really got folks upset.
Many simply cannot understand how it’s possible to still need assistance so many months later.
Of course, an unfortunate number of people were angry even as the first buses arrived from New Orleans, and everything since has merely confirmed what they already “knew”:
“They’re just lazy, waiting around for a hand-out“, or “They should just go home. There’s plenty of work there.”
Polimom gave up rational discussion on the subject with these knowledgable folks long ago; you can’t argue with prejudice. However, the vast majority of Houstonians (and Americans everywhere) were concerned about the evacuees, and understanding of their difficulties.
Unfortunately, while many have found jobs and started rebuilding their lives, problems still remain for others:
About 11,000 evacuee households are covered by the ruling, said Ginny Goldman, ACORN’s head organizer in Texas. “This is a substantial amount of money,” she said. “We are talking many millions of dollars.”
[snip]
In the aftermath of Katrina and Rita, FEMA began paying rent and utilities for evacuees through programs administered by local governments. At its height, Houston’s Joint Hurricane Housing Task Force housed about 34,000 households.
In February, FEMA began shifting evacuees into a separate housing program that pays rent but not utilities and has tighter eligibility rules. Ultimately, the agency decided about 2,600 Houston households were ineligible for that program. Those families received their last rent payments in August.
Well over a year later, it’s obvious that there are barriers, of one form or another, that these folks simply cannot overcome alone.
If a person held a job before Katrina or Rita blew through, but hasn’t been able to find one in a new location, the problem is unlikely to be laziness. Is it a transportation issue? Child care problems? Training needs? Confusion? Depression?
It’s time to stop assuming that these riddles are solveable for everyone. It’s clear that they’re not.
Moreover, if someone suffered from a disability or poor health before the storms hit, then a hurricane is unlikely to have effected a miracle cure. The sick and elderly are just as vulnerable in Texas or Georgia as they were in Louisiana; more so, in fact.
How many are never going to support themselves, and how can we help them find a permanent solution? Is that a financial burden that belongs only to the host cities and states? If so, why? Because that problem is not hurricane related.
That there are people who still haven’t found their feet since last year’s hurricanes wiped them out is a real challenge — not just for the evacuees, but for all of us.
The 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes fit FEMA’s emergency charter. Furthermore, the government recognized that it can take a long time to regroup from a disaster; that’s why there are provisions for up to 18 months. If some still cannot support themselves after 15 months, though, then there are reasons.
It’s time to figure out what those are, so we can close the gaps. Time’s running out.
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