On Monday afternoon, the parking lot of the Acres Homes Multi-Service Center was completely full. Some people lined the streets outside the center waiting for food and water distribution, others were there in hopes of successfully applying for federal recovery aid after Hurricane Beryl .
“We still don’t have lights at the house, shingles flew out, a fence is down,” said Leticia Lee, a native Houstonian and resident of Spring. “We’ve been trying to find gas and other stuff. Work is out too… we’ve lost thousands (of dollars).”
This was one of a few FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers that had reopened in Harris County by Monday morning. More than 60 individuals and their families filled the waiting area hoping to access some relief.
These centers were opened by the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of the derecho storm that hit Houston in May.
Now, a hurricane later, the centers were reopening slowly. Information was equally slow in getting out. Some people said they only heard about this center through word of mouth, or by trying a different location that was closed.
The wait
By 1 p.m. on Monday, Lee and her cousin Deborah Sanders had waited for three hours to speak to a FEMA representative. They were given numbers 97 and 98, and the last number they heard being called was in the 70s. At least here, they said, they had air conditioning, but the anxiety was building.
Applicants are asked to have their basic personal information ready to apply such as home and mailing addresses, phone numbers, social security numbers, banking and insurance information. Any missing information can be added after the initial application is submitted, according to disasterassistance.gov .
“I just brought some proof of where I live, a light bill, which I can’t afford to pay today,” Lee said.
On Monday morning, FEMA’s Hurricane Beryl page was not displaying any reopened centers. But the agency’s general Disaster Recovery Center locator was fully functional.
At the Acres Homes center, about 17 FEMA representatives helped applicants out of a busy second-floor room. Shortly after 1 p.m., one of these representatives stood in front of the first-floor waiting area to announce that three more centers had reopened for those who wished to go there instead.
People immediately left their seats to grab a printed copy of the list. As of 1 p.m., the centers at the Spring Spirit Sports and Education Complex , the Thomas A. Glazier Senior Education Center , and the Leon Z Grayson Community Center were back online.
“They want you to drive out there and wait, but we’ve been waiting here,” a woman, who declined to be identified, could be heard saying as she stood up to get the list.
It is yet unclear what is determining the speed at which centers are reopening. Janice Neal drove in from Humble hoping to get some answers. She’s been without power since Monday, July 8, and without access to a phone. Her safety net was an electric generator that stopped working shortly after she lost power.
“My casualties are my safety nets,” Neal said. “If they give me $500, or what the news has been saying, $750, I can get me another generator… or a phone, which is now completely dead.”
Most people interviewed by the Houston Landing at the Acres Homes center said this was their first time applying for aid. Most didn’t have electricity or wifi at home to access the online application, some had spent hours on the phone waiting and a few others said they had heard of online applications getting denied and preferred to apply in person.
Navigating FEMA’s system
By Monday afternoon, the FEMA Beryl website stated there had been more than $174,000 approved for individual and household aid due to Beryl. But only 43 individual assistance applications were approved at the time, according to its July 15 update.
“I couldn’t do it online because they wanted me to verify my identity,” said Candace Trammell of Southwest Houston. “I think that’s been happening to a lot of people.”
She has been living out of her car since the storm hit due to her roof being blown off and water coming into her rental unit. She lost food and clothing. Even though power came back, exposed electrical wires created a hazard for her to occupy her home.
Trammell had spent about three hours on a call and was eventually directed to the Acres Homes center. On Saturday, she spent about four hours waiting at the center, only to be told to return Monday with her Social Security Card and government-issued identification.
On Monday, she returned to the center with a priority appointment and had to wait about an hour to be seen. She spent another hour and a half being helped by a representative and left the center feeling somewhat hopeful, she said.
“I know I got lucky,” Trammell said. “I got no answers. I just have to wait for an inspector.”
Local Houston, TX
Most Popular
Comments / 0