FEMA Uses New Computer System to Speed Quake Aid

More than 200,000 residents whose homes were damaged during the earthquake will have their federal aid applications processed and could receive checks within a month--rather than the usual six months--because inspectors are aided by a new computer system, officials announced Friday.

Before individuals are eligible for long-term rental or mortgage assistance, federal inspectors must examine their residences. This used to be a time-consuming process in which inspectors filed reports and other paperwork, which was then typed into agency computers, said Morrie Goodman, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

During the Loma Prieta earthquake and Hurricane Andrew, people waited up to six months for the process to be completed, he said. But with the new computer system, which was field-tested during the Midwest floods last summer, the process will be much quicker.

Inspectors are provided book-size keyboards so they can file reports directly to a FEMA computer in Northern California. With a new crew of inspectors starting work Monday, the field officers expect to be able to complete 15,000 inspections each day.

“This is the first time this system has been used during a large-scale disaster,” Goodman said. “Checks will be going out faster to the people who need them and it will cut the cost of inspection.”

The residences being inspected are those of homeowners who are eligible for repair grants of up to $12,200 or mortgage assistance of up to $10,000, and of renters who are eligible for up to 18 months of rental assistance.

There are about 240,000 structures to be inspected, and by Friday federal inspectors say they will have examined half of them. The rest will be completed in about two weeks, Goodman said. Residents whose applications are approved will receive federal checks three to seven days after the inspections, Goodman said.

FEMA’s central computer coordinates aid from all state and federal disaster agencies to check for abnormalities or duplications in applications for housing assistance or personal property loss.