by the Way . . .

I think I’m gonna be sad,
I think it’s today, yeah.
The girl that’s driving me mad
Is going away.
She’s got a ticket to ride,
She’s got a ticket to ride,
She’s got a ticket to ride,
But she don’t care.

The Beatles, being from across the water rather than under it, were not referring to FEMA. Many evacuees are upset because they think FEMA is trying to change the ticket in midstream, telling many recipients of long term housing vouchers they are going to have to pony up for utilities. It is really just a big misunderstanding.

You see, FEMA has two programs for rental housing. The voucher ride provides free housing and utilities "for up to a year", and you can get it regardless of "need" if you hail from a disaster-stricken area. The other program, the "individual assistance program", just sends you a check for your rent. So what, you say, so its just utilities? No, no, no, that program has a couple of much nastier drawbacks. First there is the matter of need. If your home wasn't damaged much, or your insurance covered all the loss, you may be ineligible for free rent. That was no problem under the voucher ride. Worse, there is that $26,200 limit on the total FEMA can provide a family. Well, the voucher ride doesn't count, but the individual assistance does. And it is really not fair, because all those trailers (100,000 so far) don't count either. FEMA officials say the trailers don't count because they are not as "comfortable" as apartments. "Say what?" you say. No, if you think about it you can see why FEMA has to be able to pick what counts and what doesn't. I mean, you really couldn't charge folks for the boat ride or the Superdome seat. So judgment is required.

Naturally, people on the voucher ride understood that they were promised a whole year. FEMA says "up to" means could be less, and the recipients, as well as landlords and state and local officials, say it means all the way up to. They have a point. If you are "up to" your neck in do-do, it isn't just waist deep.

And naturally again, there are some communication problems. Many of the cut-off letters gave as a reason category "ineligible - other". According to the NYT, one poor lady had put the insurance proceeds from her destroyed house into investments that matured at the end of her free year, and here came the cut-off letter. She would like to appeal, but the letter gave no reason, saying she was "previously notified of the reason". Pshaw! Why doesn't she go ahead and appeal and in the space for reason, just put "previously notified".