![]() ![]() "We know there are structural inequities within the system of how FEMA does business - their programs, their policies, their funding."įor years, FEMA defended its programs. "It validates everything we've been saying for years now," says Chauncia Willis, the former emergency manager for Tampa, Fla., and co-founder of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management, a nonprofit organization that advocates for equity in disaster response. The agency did not respond to follow-up questions about its analyses, including whether it has completed additional income-based analyses since 2019.ĭisaster experts and local officials have warned for decades that FEMA's approach to disaster assistance is fundamentally unfair. Low-income disaster survivors are less likely to receive some type of crucial housing assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.įEMA's own assessment shows it often fails to help those most in need. Getty Images Hurricane Maria damaged hundreds of thousands of homes in Puerto Rico in 2017, including in San Isidro. FEMA has not analyzed whether there are racial disparities in who receives money after disasters despite a growing body of research showing that people of color are also less likely to receive adequate disaster assistance.FEMA was about twice as likely to deny housing assistance to lower-income disaster survivors because the agency judged the damage to their home to be "insufficient.".The poorest homeowners received about half as much to rebuild their homes compared with higher-income homeowners - disparities that researchers say cannot be explained by relative repair costs.The poorest renters were 23% less likely than higher-income renters to get housing help.A small air conditioner (right) provides some relief from the Louisiana heat after the home's main AC unit was destroyed.įEMA analyzed 4.8 million aid registrations submitted by disaster survivors between 20 and compared applicants' income. A tree caused a hole (left) in the bedroom ceiling. Its 150-mph winds caused serious damage to the Speights' mobile home. NPR Hurricane Laura was the strongest storm to make landfall in the U.S. FEMA's own analyses show that low-income survivors are less likely than more affluent people to get crucial federal emergency assistance, according to internal documents NPR obtained through a public records request. So, like most disaster survivors, they turned to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for help.īut the Speights didn't get the help they needed, and their experience echoes those of low-income disaster survivors across the country. They didn't have the money to fix the damage. The Speights were living on a fixed income, and they didn't have home insurance. The hole was right next to the hospital bed where Stephen slept, and water leaked into the bedroom every time it rained. The nebulizer that helped him breathe also required power. Donnie couldn't use the lift to get Stephen in and out of bed because it needed electricity. ![]() The Category 4 hurricane knocked out power, destroyed the air conditioning unit and sent a tree through the bedroom ceiling. ![]() That was before Hurricane Laura hit in August. But they couldn't afford to fix most of the damage to their home in DeQuincy, La. NPR Donnie Speight, 77, and her husband, Stephen, survived Hurricane Laura in 2020. ![]()
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