Help Is On The Way For Evacuees At Camp Edwards
WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 – President Bush Wednesday declared a federal emergency for Massachusetts due to the commonwealth’s ongoing Hurricane evacuee relief efforts, making it the 29 th state, along with Washington, D.C., to be given federal aid.
The move means that evacuees at Camp Edwards, on Cape Cod, will get a federal boost as they start to rebuild their lives.
“The federal assistance offered would be to supplement the local, state response efforts,” said Barbara Ellis, the public affairs officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
The emergency declaration makes available federal assistance to cover all of the costs incurred by the state and local governments on housing and caring for evacuees. The assistance is retroactive to Aug. 29.
Gov. Mitt Romney requested such a declaration from President Bush on September 9. In his letter, Romney specifically asked for temporary housing assistance, disaster unemployment assistance, legal services and crisis counseling and training assistance. The governor’s request was sent to a FEMA regional office, which then considered the information and made a recommendation to the White House. Further details of that process were unavailable because the process is confidential, Ellis said.
“The New England tradition of neighbor helping neighbor is alive and well,” Rep. William Delahunt said in a press release. “As we care for people whose lives were so disrupted by Hurricane Katrina, we’ll continue to pursue reimbursement for communities that opened their hearts and homes.”
To expedite the appeal, the Massachusetts congressional delegation followed Romney’s request with a letter of support on Tuesday.
“None of us, be it residents of the upper cape, the governor or anyone else involved, waited for paperwork because there were lives at stake, period,” Steve Schwadron, Delahunt’s chief of staff, said. “Having said that, it is also our belief that we are entitled to reimbursement for doing the responsible thing and in the process, absorbing significant financial obligations.”
In addition to the efforts by state and local governments there is an enormous outpouring of support from local citizens.
“Everyday another restaurant in town has come forward with lunch,” Dave Pollock, a Red Cross volunteer at Camp Edwards, said. He described the efforts of Red Cross and other federal and state agencies, but also mentioned children who are running lemonade stands.
“It seems to me like everyone is pitching in,” he said.
###
