FEMA failed Missouri flood families

The Flood of 2019 wrecked valuable farmland, flooded family homes that have stood for generations, and left communities scrambling to pick up the pieces. For the folks along the Missouri River who lost their homes, life as they knew it was turned upside down, with almost no warning. Then, in their moment of need, when they looked to the federal government for help, the federal government, specifically FEMA, failed them.
Some of these folks were told they qualified for assistance and even received money to begin repairing their homes. Then, FEMA came back and told them that a mistake was made, and they didn’t really qualify. In one case, FEMA demanded the money back because a photo of a flood victim standing in their flooded home appeared in the New York Times. The problem? His home had flooded too early and the right floodwater wasn’t the first to destroy his home. Imagine having lost everything, you apply for assistance, following all the rules openly and honestly, only to have the rug yanked out from under you, again because of some stupid bureaucratic rules.
To add insult to injury, FEMA didn’t just ask for the money back, which was already spent in many cases, they used the iron fist of the law to ensure compliance. They’ll garnish paychecks and social security payments, make threats, and turn the debt over to collection agencies that harangue and harass disaster victims. It’s sickening.
That’s why I introduced the “Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act” this week to put a stop to this egregious practice. If FEMA makes a mistake in granting assistance and there is no fraud involved, there is no reason for them to spend a bunch of time and money trying to claw that assistance back. The fact is, it’s pocket change to the federal government, but it’s life-changing to disaster victims, especially those who have lost their homes. If the money was used for disaster recovery, which is what Congress appropriated it for and there’s no fraud, FEMA needs to move on.
The bill also ensures that FEMA is reporting to Congress on the number of mistakes they make in individual assistance award determinations. Additionally, it requires them to put a plan in place to minimize the number of mistakes they make.
I’m proud to report that this bill was passed out of the Transportation Committee this week and will go before the full House for a vote.
We don’t often think too much about FEMA in our daily lives, but when disaster strikes, it’s often the only place folks have left to turn. We expect FEMA to help folks back onto their feet, to help our communities recover, and help families piece their lives back together, not attack disaster victims for mistakes that FEMA makes. If FEMA makes a mistake, they should be paying for it, not demanding that the victims cover for them.