FEMA Gave $31 Million in Aid to the Unqualified

The Federal Emergency Management Agency handed out more than $31 million to thousands of people in Florida who may not have qualified for any disaster aid after Hurricane Frances. The finding was one of several from a federal audit.

The Associated Press' Laurie Kellman is reporting that the findings were released to a Senate committee last week, which claimed the agency granted aid requests in Florida's Miami-Dade County on verbal assurances, without asking for proof of damage.

"It was a pay first, ask questions later approach," Sen. Susan Collins R-Maine, chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told Kellman. "This issue has ramifications that are relevant to future disaster relief efforts in all regions of our country."

FEMA chief Michael D. Brown told the committee he regretted the findings, but he was quick to say such problems are not widespread in the agency. "While sadly in every disaster there will be those who attempt to abuse or defraud FEMA, I am pleased by the report's findings verifying our own initial conclusions of nothing widespread," Brown said in a prepared statement.

Last fall, FEMA designated Miami-Dade County as eligible for individual assistant grants without a document assessment of damages or analyses of the impact of Frances, which did not fully hit the county.

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