A year and a half later, Left with tornado damage, Ala town blaming FEMA

[link to hosted.ap.org]

CORDOVA, Ala. (AP) -- Main Street in this old mill town looks about the same as it did the day after tornadoes killed about 250 people across Alabama a year and a half ago: Battered red bricks and broken glass litter the pavement, and the buildings still standing are rickety and roofless.

The entire one-block downtown, still deemed unsafe, remains sealed off by a chain-link fence. City officials blame the Federal Emergency Management Agency, saying the money to demolish skeletons of the old buildings is mired in miles of red tape.

When one request for photos or historical documentation is met, FEMA makes another, the mayor and others in this town of 2,100 say. One crop of workers is replaced by another, forcing locals to constantly explain their problems to new people.



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So the FEMA delays with Sandy are really more the norm than Obama would have us believe. This in Alabama happened under his watch as well and we are still waiting after all this time.


FEMA apparently likes to claim building have some historical value or meaning as an excuse for not supplying the funding they normally do for demolition. None of these were listed in any historical register and yet the funds are still withheld for 2 years.