FEMA refunds assist higher earners most Sally Kestin Megan O'Matz and John Maines, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
December 11, 2005
A Hollywood surgeon got FEMA money for a generator after Hurricane Wilma.
A Plantation lawyer received $274 more from the agency than he paid for his generator.
Yet a Fort Lauderdale teen with serious medical problems had to insert catheters by candlelight when the Oct. 24 storm knocked out power. His family couldn't afford a generator.
A FEMA program to reimburse applicants for generators and storm cleanup items has benefited middle- and upper-income Floridians the most and so far cost taxpayers more than $332 million for the past two hurricane seasons, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found in a continuing investigation of disaster aid.
For Wilma alone, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had spent $84 million as of last Monday on generators for 101,028 people in 13 Florida counties. Another $6 million paid for chain saws for 27,394 applicants.
"I see people making $200,000 a year putting in for a rebate for a generator," Davie Fire Chief Don DiPetrillo said last month, as the town scrambled to open a shelter for people left homeless by Wilma. "This is just not a good use of public resources."
By agreement with the state, which pays 25 percent of the cost, FEMA reimburses for generators, chain saws, dehumidifiers, air purifiers and wet-dry vacuums purchased for home use after a disaster.
For the four Florida hurricanes in 2004, the reimbursements amounted to $242 million. Eighty percent of the money went to applicants in middle- and upper-income areas, including 45 residents of the moneyed island of Palm Beach and 221 people in a posh Orlando suburb with sprawling estates on lakes and fairways.
FEMA imposes no income restrictions.
"You could make $100,000 a year and still live paycheck to paycheck," said Randy Bartell, community-assistance consultant with Florida's Division of Emergency Management.
FEMA leaves it up to states to choose what will be reimbursed in each disaster.
Other states have imposed limits, but Florida's policy remains one of the most generous.
"It's absolutely disgusting," said David Bronstein, an insurance-fraud lawyer in Plantation.
Bronstein put in a claim for a generator he bought when his Davie home lost electricity from Wilma. He said he "makes six figures" and could "certainly afford my own."
Bronstein was surprised that he qualified but even more surprised when his government check arrived for $836, the maximum amount. He paid $562 for the generator.
"I profited from the hurricane," he said. "It's crazy."
Dr. Arthur Palamara of Hollywood, a vascular surgeon and candidate for the state House of Representatives, got an $836 check from FEMA for a generator he bought a week after Wilma, and he now is debating whether to cash it.
"My sons are giving me a hard time, saying, 'You don't really deserve the money,' " said Palamara, who lives in a home assessed at $1.1 million.
Palamara, a former vice president of the Florida Medical Association, wonders whether it's "morally correct."
When Wilma knocked out power to Debbie Springston's Fort Lauderdale home, she begged FEMA for a generator for her 18-year-old son, Marcus, who was born with heart and kidney ailments.
"FEMA said, 'Go buy a generator' and they'll reimburse us for it, but we didn't have money," she said.
Springston does not work, and the hurricane left her husband, a construction worker, unemployed. "There was no pay coming in," she said.
Marcus uses catheters several times a day to remove bodily wastes. With no electricity, he performed the task by the light of a battery-operated lamp and, when that failed, some small candles. "I could barely see," he said.
After a week, the family moved to a motel paid for by their homeowner's insurance.
FEMA did not respond to requests for comment on the newspaper's findings.
Federal law says disaster aid is for people unable to meet disaster-related expenses "or needs through other means." Generators are part of a miscellaneous category under which states determine items covered each time a disaster is declared. -------------------------------------------------------------- Please Note: Due to Florida's very broad public records law, most written communications to or from College employees regarding College business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, this e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.