1/4% Will Max FEMA Help

From WBAL in Baltimore
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17424223/
excerpt
"The government has not worked out a way so people can rebuild their homes. It's taking way too long," he said.
Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin said less than 1 percent of the uninsured have received federal recovery money. He estimated that administrative costs average $30,000 per grant applicant.

From the Washington Post through Janet

Dec. 3, 2006 at 3:51PM Fewer than 4,700 families will reach a $26,200 cap on disaster assistance following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the U.S. government says.
The figure amounts to fewer than one-fourth of 1 percent of the 2.6million households that applied for disaster aid. The aid program is set to expire in March, when an 18-month statutory cutoff takes effect, the Federal Emergency Management Agency says.
The figures are surprising, anti-poverty advocates say, given the storms' scope, the incomplete reconstruction of New Orleans and the demographic profile of evacuees, who were generally poorer and less well-insured than other Americans, The Washington Post reports.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition, a housing-advocacy group, is pushing to extend the 18-month federal limit on aid, lift the $26,200 cap and expand a Department of Housing and Urban Development disaster program, as advocates for the poor want.
FEMA Director R. David Paulison defended FEMA's efforts.
"We felt like we did a good job," he said, adding FEMA helped morepeople than it ever has despite overwhelmed systems, huge work volumes and pressure to fight victim fraud.