Disaster Aid for Public Facilities May Take Years

It took President Bush less than 48 hours after the Oakland fire to sign an emergency disaster declaration authorizing federal aid for the devastated hillside communities.

Then it took California Republican Sen. John Seymour less than 20 minutes to trumpet the President’s rapid response at a Capitol Hill press conference.

But it may take years for the federal government to make good on the gesture and cough up the tens of millions of dollars that may be needed to rebuild roads, replace government buildings, reimburse firefighting costs and repair public facilities in the Oakland hills.

That’s because the fire is now at the bottom of a long list of U.S. disasters in more than 40 states--disasters that include the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake--that are still awaiting $693 million already pledged for public repairs but never delivered.

“The President grabs the spotlight and declares an emergency, but he doesn’t come through with the assistance,” said Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento). “. . . The bucks aren’t there to back up the promise. The federal emergency assistance fund is tapped out.”

The Bush Administration countered that Congress is to blame for not passing a budget request made in July by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is charged with providing disaster relief, to cover the $693 million shortfall.

“Congress didn’t act responsibly, and now all of a sudden a problem appears, and they want to declare an emergency and break the budget agreement,” White House spokesman Sean Walsh said Friday.

The Oakland blaze, the most catastrophic fire in California history, claimed at least 24 lives, destroyed 1,200 structures and did an estimated $1.5 billion in damage.

FEMA officials begin accepting applications today from residents needing temporary shelter and unemployment benefits. Those who qualify for federal aid are expected to receive about $5 million in funds from FEMA, according to preliminary estimates.

Such speedy financial assistance, however, will not be forthcoming for public facilities. FEMA officials said Friday that the agency has no money to cover its initial estimate of $40 million in damage to the city’s infrastructure.

Oakland will have to wait until declared disasters in more than 950 counties, including 45 in California, are addressed first. The only exception is for life-threatening emergencies such as firefighting expenses and broken sewer pipes, said Grant Peterson, FEMA associate director for state and local programs.

Any request from Oakland to help rebuild public facilities “is going to go into a log that has come in from all disasters since last year,” Peterson said. “We pay on a first-come, first-served basis. The bottom line is Oakland has a lot of states in front of (it).”

Oakland and other Bay Area cities are still awaiting $56 million from FEMA for the 1989 earthquake, money for restoring public structures.

Legislation to approve $185 million in FEMA funding for the current fiscal year is sitting on the President’s desk. Seymour said he “has every reason to believe (Bush) is going to sign that right away.” FEMA did not receive any funds from Congress last year.

Next week, the House is scheduled to vote on an emergency supplemental spending measure to provide more than $700 million to FEMA to fund obligations already made to previous disasters. The bill is opposed by the Bush Administration, which says it is unwilling to spend the money on an emergency basis without first enacting tax increases or spending cuts to pay for it, as provided under last year’s pay-as-you-go budget agreement.

Fazio, a House Appropriations Committee member who has been frustrated in his efforts to get emergency aid for California farmers hit by the 1989 freeze, says it is “tragic” that the White House assists foreign countries’ emergencies while U.S. disasters go without funds.

“Our President finds it so easy to hand out aid all around the world, yet he will not help our families here at home,” Fazio said in an interview. “. . . I don’t think the American people who are not victims of (the Oakland) disaster really know that these people aren’t being taken care of.”

The Administration, Fazio noted, used its emergency authority to provide more than $1 billion to Israel and Turkey after the Gulf War, to Kurdish refugees, and to victims of volcanic eruptions in the Philippines and a typhoon in Bangladesh.

A White House official who requested anonymity said the international disasters are “unanticipated and true emergencies,” whereas the Bush Administration anticipated the FEMA funding shortage and asked Congress to act.

“These guys are looking for ways to break the budget,” the White House official said. “They are looking for a way to expose the President and make him look callous as far as the domestic side goes.”

In any case, FEMA stopped paying bills to repair public facilities in April, 1990. At that time, a swarm of disasters had depleted FEMA funds to pay for public facility repairs. There were 39 disasters in fiscal year 1991, which ended last month, and 36 disasters in 1990--far above the historical average of two dozen per year, FEMA officials said.

No law or regulation requires the federal government to help out in emergencies. But it has long been accepted that Congress should provide economic aid in natural disasters that endanger the national economy. In these cases, FEMA pays 75% of emergency damages, and state and local governments pick up the remaining 25%.

In Oakland, bills remain unpaid, a court fight goes on, and ill will lingers.

FEMA incurred public wrath after the Loma Prieta earthquake two years ago; the agency returns today amid suspicion and skepticism.

“We don’t have much choice,” said Penny Goldsmith, 44, who expects she will have to deal with FEMA to rebuild her home of 20 years. “Maybe they’ve learned something.”

FEMA assures eligible victims that they will get such aid as subsidized housing for up to 18 months, grants not to exceed $10,400 for disaster-related expenses, unemployment benefits for up to six months and Small Business Administration loans to repair or replace buildings. Other assistance can include crisis counseling programs through the California Department of Health.

As this unlucky city emerges from the second disaster in as many years, people cannot help but recall the horror stories of earthquake refugees who found themselves mired in red tape and regulations. FEMA knows the stories, too, and its leaders insist they are better prepared, if under-funded, in this challenge.

“It’s the kind of disaster that we and the system have trained well for,” said Bill Medigovich, FEMA’s regional director.

Despite the assurances, people here recall what they heard in 1989. After the earthquake twisted and bent nine Northern California counties, 86,000 applications for disaster assistance flooded into FEMA. It was the agency’s biggest disaster.

“The system was incredibly stressed at all levels,” Medigovich recalled.

The quake struck hard at the decaying urban cores of Oakland and San Francisco. FEMA found that some of its regulations, as well as its workers, were ill-suited to handle refugees who already suffered from poverty and other urban ills. Counselors from far out of state were stumped trying to explain arcane rules to victims who spoke little or no English.

Oakland legal aid lawyers resorted to the courts when several hundred people who lived in quake-damaged residential hotels found they weren’t eligible for help because they could not prove that they lived in one place for at least 30 days, as FEMA rules required.

The suit was settled a year ago; FEMA agreed to waive its 30-day residency requirement and pay $23 million to San Francisco, Santa Cruz and Oakland to replace low-income housing lost in the quake. Oakland got the largest share--$11.5 million. But the case is not over. The legal aid attorneys continue to press a demand for $620,000 in legal fees.

In all, for the 1989 quake, FEMA doled out $91 million to individuals who needed assistance, and will spend as much as $500 million in aid to local governments.

Earlier this year, Oakland Mayor Elihu Harris sent 20 of his top aides to an extensive FEMA training seminar. Since the fire last Sunday, Harris, Medigovich and their assistants have spent long hours going over relief plans. FEMA is counting on private insurance to cover most individual losses in the generally affluent Oakland and Berkeley hillsides.

Harold Smith cringed at the thought of FEMA red tape. Smith, who was burned out of a condominium in the Hiller Highlands, noted that he is 68, and “If I start dealing with them, I’ll be long gone before it’s over with.”

Bunting reported from Washington D.C. and Morain from Oakland.

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