RGV officials urge FEMA to raise disaster declaration to ‘category C'

Despite FEMA's declaration of the Rio Grande Valley as a federal disaster area in the wake of Hurricane Dolly, the agency said Friday that individual assistance would not yet be available to homeowners

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said that some Valley residents have been calling with expectation of quick reimbursement for damages, but individuals will not be eligible to receive aid unless FEMA declares the Valley a category "C" federal disaster area.

A full damage assessment is needed before the classification may be changed.

"Anytime there's a disaster, people call in and don't understand that there's a process (before funding is distributed)," FEMA spokeswoman Patricia Brach said Friday. "If individuals have insurance, insurance is the first recourse."

Although Brach, who was en route to the area on Friday, said that funding would not yet be dispersed to homeowners, city officials throughout the Valley requested that residents call FEMA's hotline at (800) 621-3362 to provide the organization with a detailed picture of local damage.

"I suspect that a lot of (Harlingen homeowners) are going to be counting on FEMA assistance," Harlingen Assistant City Manager Gabriel Gonzalez said. "Whether they receive it will be another matter.

"Especially with these difficult times, with gas prices going up and commodities like food getting more expensive, people are going to be pinched from every direction. Damage to their homes makes a bad situation worse."

Brownsville Mayor Pat M. Ahumada Jr. said that 75 percent of the expenses incurred during the city's response to Hurricane Dolly would be reimbursed by FEMA.

"The remaining 25 percent we have to fork out takes away from services we are able to provide to Brownsville residents," he said.

Ahumada hoped FEMA officials would compensate the city for the expense of draining resacas, a measure that provided relief from flooding by allowing water to run off into the empty basins.

City officials across the Valley encouraged homeowners to keep detailed records of property damages by taking photos and keeping all receipts.

Homeowners with insurance should first contact their insurance companies before reaching out to FEMA. Depending on an individual's coverage, they may still be eligible for FEMA aid even if they also have homeowners insurance.

Speaking from one of the region's most devastated areas, Melissa Zamora, the deputy emergency management spokeswoman for the town of South Padre Island, said that FEMA aid was essential to Island homeowners, especially in light of the recession.

"(FEMA aid) will be of the utmost importance to individuals," said Zamora. "We are all exhausting our resources - local, regional, state and federal. We are urging officials to declare a category C disaster so that individuals can begin to seek FEMA assistance."