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The rich get richer

SP Times:

The federal government has sent millions of dollars in aid to areas largely unaffected by disasters, even after local officials warned of possible fraud, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent $29.2-million to people in Miami-Dade County for Hurricane Frances, the Labor Day storm that struck 100 miles to the north.

That's not an anomaly, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.

"It's just the same nationwide," said Paulette Williams, emergency management director in Mobile County, Alabama.

FEMA gave people in Mobile County $29.5-million for flooding last year, despite repeated calls and letters from Williams saying that the county sustained no damage.

In southeastern North Carolina, FEMA has approved thousands of Frances claims in counties where the storm caused only minor problems.

"We didn't have any damage," said Mitchell Byrd, emergency management director in Bladen County, where people have collected $2.5-million. "We've got the biggest case of fraud you've ever seen."

In Michigan, more than 30,000 people in Wayne County collected $33.9-million for storms in May and June.

"That's just staggering," said Mark Hammond, Wayne County's deputy director for homeland security and emergency management. "I could see 2,000 homes, but not 30,000."

A City Council member in Detroit barely remembered the storm. "I know it happened, but I don't remember that it particularly affected Detroit," said City Council President Maryann Mahaffey.

Herald.com:

In the gallery-rich downtown of affluent Stuart, the lunch crowds are back, the stores are stocked and any signs that Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne roared through last summer are almost impossible to spot.

But 24 miles southwest of Stuart, in the hard-pressed agricultural community of Indiantown, the storms continue to pummel the economy months later.

On a drive into town, the first sight is of a field full of FEMA trailers, where 70 families still live. They're among the thousands living in temporary housing across Florida because they have no options.

In the contrast between Stuart and Indiantown lies a simple and troubling truth about hurricanes: They do their worst to the people who have the least. Working-class and poor people, experts say, suffer losses from which they may never fully recover.

''These are the people most desperate for our help -- those in lower-income brackets, many already living check-to-check to begin with, and then an extraordinary experience like a disaster comes along,'' said Brad Gair, who oversees FEMA's temporary housing in Florida. ``It can be a huge setback for them and have devastating effects on their households.''

`JACUZZI EFFECT'

The more affluent and those who are outright wealthy may actually end up more prosperous once rebuilding is finished. That's because repair work often involves upgrading their property, what some economists have labeled the ``Jacuzzi effect.''

Furthermore, they typically have private insurance and don't have to wait for government programs.

''There's plenty of money here,'' said Bob Alexander, proprietor of Alexander's Now and Then gift shop in Stuart. ``People who have money will put the cash out and reimburse themselves when insurance comes in.''

In essence, economists say, the affluent lose their deductibles, but the poor lose everything. Aid is often aimed at homeowners, not renters.

SP Times:

Florida legislators on Thursday approved a $450-million package of hurricane relief, ranging from tax breaks for some homeowners and aid for people facing multiple insurance deductibles.

Gov. Jeb Bush declared the four-day special session "a job well done" and said he planned to sign every bill the Legislature passed.

"There are a lot of people in our state that are hurting, and they were counting on the help of of their elected officials, and they delivered," Bush said during the session's closing ceremony.

Senate President Tom Lee, R-Brandon, said homeowners and mobile home owners will receive recovery checks along with public schools and agriculture.