The great job bush did for Florida hurricane victims last year??

[tinfoilinfor2005]

I just can't shut up about this any longer. In the past few days I have heard multiple reporters and talking heads questioning bush's poor response this year as compared to the "fabulous" job he did last year during the four Florida hurricanes.

I live in Florida and work at a resort in the Florida Keys. Most of our guests are Florida residents who enjoy the Keys as a weekend or week's get-away. So many of these folks are from the devastated areas of Port Charlotte, Port St. Lucie, Ft. Pierce, Vero Beach and others. Their stories are waaaaay different from what the media would like us to believe.

George and Jeb did arrive early in an election year and spread the photo ops far and wide. As recently as last Saturday I spoke to two different families who told me that still today there is huge disrepair and FEMA is still clueless. One of the ladies was called by FEMA two weeks ago and told that she would have to move because her home was considered "uninhabitable". As it happens, their house didn't sustain any damage from the hurricane, and in fact was a well constructed home in one of the upper class neighborhoods.

A political photo op does not equal a "fabulous job" no matter how many times it is repeated.

[jean]

1. this aspect of failure would sure be working catapulting out there

Thanks for the info - I have wondered about relief efforts last year and suspected their performance sucked.

[RagingInMiami]

2. They must be all democrats

Once the election was over, there was no more need to help out the victims of Florida's four hurricanes last year. Which of course did not prevent some people who were not even affected by the hurricanes to cash in. Probably republicans.

[Turbineguy]

3. All they had

to be was "fabulous" until the election was over.

[noonwitch]

4. My dad lives near Punta Gorda

I talked to him shortly after Charlie hit there. I told him I was watching the President on the news, touring the damaged areas. His response was "big deal". My dad likes Jeb, thinks he's a good governor, but despises George, who he views as stupid and incompetent. Dad was helping people fill out their FEMA and insurance papers, as his condo was not damaged (he lost a shrub and a piece of siding), and he was well away from the surge.

I asked him about the competence of his state when zoning, however, due to them allowing that trailer park to be built right on Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda. He said that most of the people in the trailers were poor and handicapped, and had no family to look after them, so there really was no one to object to the park being built there.

[Virginian]

5. They showed up for the Photo-Ops a lot sooner.

Isn't part of the story about the great job they did coming from people who live in Miami and received money they didn't deserve?

The idea that they actually appeared before people died of starvation is a plus.

[whopis01]

6. FEMA responded too much in florida

FEMA responded quickly in Florida last year, they just didn't respond to the right people.

FEMA quickly got $31 Million to the residents of Miami-Dade county last year after 4 hurricanes went over almost every part of Florida EXCEPT Miami-Dade county. They paid for hundreds of funerals that were not hurricane related (some for deaths that occurred before any of the hurricanes went even passed through). People who had no reason to claim money from FEMA did so and were paid by FEMA.

I think that one of the reasons FEMA had such a slow, poor response in the wake of Katrina was because of their over-zealous response in Florida. They have an approach of either giving money to anyone who asks (whether they need it or not) or not doing a damn thing at all. They just don't get the concept of getting aid to those who need it.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

7. I wasn't aware of this, but living thirty miles outside of Miami

I'm not surprised.

I was very surprised when visiting Florida's West Coast in the spring and seeing damage that appeared as if it had just occurred.

[madfloridian]

8. I agree. People are still moving into FEMA village in Punta Gorda.

A year later. I have very strong feelings on this issue. There was a lot of confusion in the areas hard hit by Charley, Francis, and Jeanne. I know, I was in all 3 of them.

They are just not covering it. I have some stuff I have researched on this, but there is just not much at all.

Here is a video from an NBC news affiliate in Charlotte County a year after Charley. The site of FEMA village is shocking in itself. Even more shocking is that those folks have nowhere to go in February.
http://www.nbc-2.com/Articles/readarticle.asp?articleid=4074&z=3&p=

The trailer parks and low cost housing are not being rebuilt. This deserves far more coverage than it is getting, and it deserves honest coverage.

There are still more homeless every day in Florida as a result of repairs not being done. Mold in homes, no longer insured. Roofs still have tarps, moisture building up. It is very hard to find coverage.