The Houston/Galveston region has been largely ignored nationally in the wake of Hurricane Ike, and this chron.com story is truly amazing. Apparently, according to the article, “federal officials have approved only about 13 percent of requests for money to repair damaged houses or replace ruined belongings.” Hurricane Ike was six weeks ago, in case anyone had forgotten.
No doubt, some of the slow federal response is to prevent instances of disaster fraud, but members of Congress and other elected officials are saying that FEMA is moving too slowly.
In other Ike-related news, it appears a lot of individuals who came to the area to find work and help with reconstruction efforts have yet to be paid. The Chronicle’s Bill Murphy has more.
