NELSON, COLLEAGUES MEET WITH FEMA HEAD ON MISSOURI RIVER FLOODING

June 22, 2011 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson invited Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate to Nebraska to explain how FEMA will provide repair and recovery aid to individuals and communities impacted by this year’s Missouri River floods.
Senator Nelson made the invitation during a meeting he convened with senators representing the upper Missouri River basin and Fugate to discuss flood issues, such as flood insurance coverage, federal disaster aid and FEMA’s formal designation that, for insurance purposes, the 2011 flood officially began on June 1st.
Senators Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Chuck Grassley of Iowa and John Thune of South Dakota attended the meeting; Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa also was represented.
“I invited the Administrator to Nebraska to see the damage firsthand, and most important to be able to help provide better information to the public,” Senator Nelson said on his weekly conference call with the Nebraska media. “And provide a better understanding of what FEMA can provide for communities and individuals. The Administrator said he’ll do what he can to make that possible.”
Fugate told the senators that early this year FEMA began holding public meetings and using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to get the message out that this would be a year of unprecedented flooding, and that people should buy flood insurance. The outreach resulted in 16,000 more policies being sold this year.
There was a lot of discussion during the meeting in Nelson’s office about FEMA setting June 1st as the formal date of a flood in progress. The date is significant because, by law, individuals must have bought flood insurance 30 days before the start of a flood to be able to file claims for damages from flooding.
“Some of my colleagues are concerned that is an arbitrary date, and it’s something FEMA needs to provide more information about—how that date was determined and how it will impact individuals,” said Nelson. For his part, Nelson called the June 1st date “problematic.”
FEMA officials said that the date was determined by examining flooding occurring on land around the Garrison Dam in North Dakota.
“However, FEMA assures us they’ll look at all the flood damage on an individual basis to determine the exact cause of any potential damage. I know this is a very complicated and complex situation. That’s why I think it would be helpful for the Administrator to come to Nebraska meet with elected officials and the public to work their way through the impact of these decisions,” said Nelson.
Finally, the senators noted that communities along the Missouri have spent large amounts of money for flood protection and inquired about whether federal aid might be available.
FEMA officials said that once a state’s governor issues a formal request for a disaster declaration and the President issues that declaration, communities may qualify for aid. The federal government would pay 75 percent of allowable expenses, 25 percent would be paid by state and local governments.
“The City of Omaha and other communities have spent a lot on flood prevention and could see some federal aid to ease the cost to their budgets. FEMA is aware of the need, and I will monitor the issue going forward,” said Nelson.