You could hear Fort Myers Beach residents cheering as Congressman Byron Donalds, Lee County Commissioner Brian Hamman and Sanibel resident Chauncey Goss unloaded their frustrations about FEMA’s Hurricane Ian response at a Congressional Committee hearing Thursday.
The hearing was held by the House of Representatives’ Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Congressman Byron Donalds is a member of the Oversight Committee and requested the hearing which was held at Lakes Library in Fort Myers.
The hearing was the first step in determining what changes need to be made at the federal level to help communities recover quicker from a major disaster. Only Hurricane Harvey in 2005 and Hurricane Katrina in 2017 caused more damage and wreaked more havoc than Hurricane Ian. Fort Myers Beach, Sanibel and Pine Island took the biggest punches from Ian, however, all of Lee County experienced Ian’s wrath.
The high winds and extreme storm surge changed communities forever. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or damaged, businesses were wiped off the planet, bridges were uplifted, nearly every traffic light was broken, and boats were tossed around like they were toys. Lee County suffered an estimated $112 Billion in damages.
From the beginning many Fort Myers Beach residents experienced an inadequate response from FEMA. The government agency, with one responsibility; to manage emergencies, quickly became the joke of the beach when it was clear they were very good at being bureaucrats, and shuffling paperwork, and very bad at delivering results for the people.
Many beach residents were hoodwinked into believing they were going to get a trailer to live in only to be told by another FEMA department it was a no-go because they lived in a flood zone. And that was after FEMA came out to their property and measured them for a trailer.
Congressman Donalds latched right onto the trailer issue when the hearing began. After FEMA’s Hurricane Ian Coordinator Tom McCool told the committee there was a 45-day turnaround for residents to get a FEMA trailer, Donalds wanted to know why it took so long. McCool said, “I don’t think we could have worked any faster. We talk to each survivor 22 times before we move them in.” They were not the answers Donalds wanted to hear. And, many Fort Myers Beach residents would dispute his answer that they were housed in a trailer after 45 days. Many just gave up on FEMA and went out and got their own trailer.
Sanibel resident Chauncey Goss went through the same situation many on Fort Myers Beach did. Goss lost his home and everything in it. When FEMA approved and measured his property for a trailer in December of 2022 he was hopeful he’d be in one by the holidays. They even showed him exactly where the trailer would go. December went by, then January, then March. When Goss finally heard from FEMA they said they would deliver the trailer in April but would have to take it back when Hurricane season began. Goss, now totally frustrated, told FEMA to take him off their list. He said he even went to the FEMA trailer on Sanibel and could never get an answer from anyone.
Goss didn’t have much better news about his experience with the Small Business Administration. He told the committee he was approved for a loan in one week, then spent the next four months trying to get them the paperwork they kept requesting. Then, he said, the SBA reduced his loan amount from $205,000 to $40,000 because he received flood insurance. “I don’t know anyone that has a loan from the SBA. That process is clearly broken,” Goss said.
Goss told the committee FEMA and the SBA “need to put brains on the ground, not just boots. They need to be like a swiss army knife or don’t have them here. Take high level decision-makers and get them outside their comfort level of the Washington beltway.”
Lee County Board Chairman Brian Hamman continued the FEMA onslaught. He pointed out to the committee how Lee County has to wait months and months for an inspector to show up and look at damaged structures and inoperable traffic lights or they run the risk of losing federal reimbursement money. He used the Lynn Hall Park restrooms as an example. “We’re told not to touch them until they’re inspected.” And, as we all know, the Lynn Hall Park restrooms still have not been touched, more than 10 months after Hurricane Ian destroyed them. Fort Myers Beach went through exactly what Hamman was describing, having to wait over 10 months for the final OK to tear down Town Hall.
It was a very rough day for FEMA’s Thomas McCool, who many times defended the response to the Hurricane and at other times seemed unprepared and no answers for the committee.
What happens next is anyone’s guess.
Watch the full hearing from Thursday HERE.
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