Huffman, Citing Rio Dell, Asks FEMA for more ‘Flexible, Equitable’ Access to Disaster Aid
North Coast Congressmember Jared Huffman questioned the head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency about inadequacies built into the disaster relief program Sept. 19, specifically citing the recovery struggles in Rio Dell as an example of how the system is failing smaller, rural communities in the wake of natural disasters.
While thanking FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell for the important work the agency does across the nation as she testified before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Huffman asked for the agency “to provide more flexible, equitable ways for devastated communities to qualify for federal disaster relief from FEMA.”
Huffman emphasized that residents in less affluent communities are often left to fend for themselves, unable to meet the damage thresholds that trigger federal aid, while more urban, wealthy areas are able to meet the total required with just a fraction of the damage and far less impact.
“We leave a lot of rural, less affluent communities behind. And with the climate crisis bringing us more and bigger disasters, we really need to tackle this equity problem now to get ahead of it,” he said. “So, I told you a little about my district. We've got earthquakes, we've got tsunamis, we've got wildfires. It is sort of the poster child for this problem because FEMA's arbitrary and inflexible financial damage threshold can leave devastated communities behind.”
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By: KIMBERLY WEAR
Source: North Cost Journal of Politics, People and Art
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