County still waiting for FEMA funds
Published 11:00 pm Thursday, May 13, 2010
After having been promised funds by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage to roads sustained in December flooding, the Pike County Road Department went to work doing repairs.
But with the money already spent, the county has yet to see FEMA reimbursements.
“We’re still waiting,” said County Administrator Harry Sanders.
“The last word that we had was that there was a funding bill in the Senate,” he said.
Last week, Congressman Bobby Bright D-Montgomery, urged the Senate to quickly act to pass emergency relief for FEMA.
“On March 24th, the House passed nearly $5.1 billion in emergency funding to help FEMA fulfill its obligations,” Bright said in a speech from the floor of the House. “This money is not allocated for future disasters or for bureaucratic costs, this is money that FEMA has already promised to local counties to help them put their lives back in order after federally-declared disasters. Yet the Senate has thus far refused to act on this important legislation. Our constituents can’t wait any longer.”
But the Senate has yet to reach an agreement on the bill and counties are being forced to wait.
“We’re just hoping that with everything else going on, FEMA will get full funding and we’ll get reimbursed,” Sanders said.