After Hurricane Wilma hit South Florida in Oct, 2005, I was without power for about 2 weeks. FEMA claimed they would reimburse people who needed to buy a generator due to the storm, so I bought one and applied over the web from my work. Within weeks, all my neighbors that also bought generators had received their checks and I had nothing. I finally received a letter saying my claim was rejected because I did not have sufficient damage. I called FEMA and they told me that since my house was not damaged, the system automatically rejected the claim, but that they were honoring the reimbursement and they would assist me in filling out the form over the phone so it would go through. I re-applied over the phone and was given a phone number to fax my receipt. Again, I waited weeks with no communication. I called FEMA and they claimed they had no record of the application, so I now filed a third time and faxed the data again. Again, I waited and received no reply. I called FEMA and they claimed the application was there, but they never received the fax. I faxed it again and waited several weeks before I finally received another letter saying that my application was rejected because I did not have enough damage.
So… I just called FEMA again and asked to speak with a supervisor. They said there were no supervisors, but asked if they could help me. I explained the story to them and they said that they had heard this story from many, many people and that they agreed it was unfair and arbitrary and that the agency has given them no guidance on how to respond if someone calls with this question other than to appeal the decision or live with it.
FEMA sucks.
- Steve Velazquez