Congressman Chris Gibson (R) NY-20 was quoted in a YNN in article today:
“I’m now involved leading a bipartisan effort in the congress to make sure that the aid from FEMA continues to flow and I’m confident that will continue to be the case.”
Well, I spent the day along with some friends and family volunteering in Prattsville, NY yesterday, Sunday September 11th, two weeks after the flood, and I can tell you that the FEMA presence in one of the hardest hit towns in the 20th Congressional District amounted to one fat guy in a yellow shirt leaning against a tent flap intermittently scratching his balls and looking bored.
Congressman Gibson, your beloved FEMA is a joke. Additionally, the Guard personnel seem preoccupied with driving around wearing BDU’s and taking pictures of the damage. Volunteer efforts are primarily organized by faith-based groups, many of which are from out-of-state. And, of course, the Salvation Army is serving food.
Saturday there were about 250 volunteers. Sunday, around 50 of us.
Well, and the FEMA guy, scratching his balls.
There is no heavy equipment. There are no construction machines. Volunteers are clearing houses of stinking, sewage-tainted mud with flat shovels and paint cans hauled up from fetid, moldering basements.
In case you’ve forgotten, Congressman, Prattsville NY is in your district. At least according to this map.
Prattsville, NY
So Congressman Gibson, please stop contributing to the illusion that FEMA aid is “flowing”. And maybe tell that FEMA guy in Prattsville to quit scratching his balls and grab a shovel. There’s work to do.
We’ll be back out there this weekend. Join us if you can. Bring flat shovels, sheet rock knives, masks, work gloves, eye protection, and sturdy boots.
Prattsvilly NY Trailer park
On a side note…
Congressman Gibson, next time you’re in D.C. about to vote on a spending bill that’s going to condemn my great-grandchildren to a sad lifetime of debt-slavery…maybe, instead of getting in line behind Nancy Pelosi, sidle in behind Ron Paul and just vote the way he does. Your Big Government, FEMA Dreamer side is showing.
Looks like kind of a disconnet there Chris. I’ve seen the same thing with FEMA in Schoharie.
“I’m with the Government and I’m here to help”.
or scratch my balls! Too funny.
and sadly accurate.
Too bad you didn’t post a picture of the scratching – we could make a poster and send it to all the elected officials who continually say FEMA is there to help. The proof is in the scratching! I’m talking to someone at 11:20 on my show today who went through the FEMA application process and got a whopping $53 for their damage! WOW – wonder how much the man in the yellow shirt is getting paid to scratch his balls – bet it is more than $53.
Wath out how you comment about FEMA, they have a room waiting for you in their concentration camp..
Communities like Prattsville and others throughout the 20th District were hit tremendously hard by Hurricane Irene – and subsequent flooding by Tropical Storm Lee. Towns were completely destroyed, roads and bridges wiped out, and residents lost homes, businesses, farms, and a countless number of personal possessions. Since August 28, Congressman Gibson has spent almost every day he is in the district touring damage, meeting with local, state, and federal officials, and working to get those affected the resources they need. This includes going to Prattsville five times in the last two weeks, including once with his son Connor to do demolition work.
Quite simply, Upstate New York needs FEMA and federal money – our small communities do not have the resources to rebuild homes and businesses or the necessary infrastructure. However, to be clear, FEMA will not be on the ground with U.S. Government construction crews doing the work. The demolition and construction work will, and should, be done at the local level – by volunteers and local construction companies that badly need the business (who employ local workers that badly need the work). The rebuilding model will be neighbor helping neighbor, town and county highway departments fixing roads, charity from individuals and businesses, and private contractors hired.
What FEMA will, and must, do is provide the federal money needed for these projects to go forward. FEMA officials are responsible for ensuring that all claims for grants and loans are expedited. So far, over 18,000 New Yorkers have applied for FEMA aid and FEMA has approved over 6,700 individual applications for a total of over $35 million in housing and other assistance. Without question, there is much more to be done, but the Congressman was encouraged after receiving updates from several constituents in Prattsville last night who confirmed that FEMA aid is already flowing into town and checks have already been cut.
Recovering from the catastrophic damage is going to take all of our best efforts – and countless hours of volunteer work. Our office and staff will continue to be at the disposal of those who need our assistance.
I have a friend whose sister lives in New Orleans and who’s house was completely ruined.
To date they are still waiting for the FEMA monies she was promised from Katrina in 2005.
Tells me all I need to know about FEMA.
Just found this website:
http://dmc.members.sonic.net/sentinel/gvcon6.html
I knew nothing about this.
Scary!
Perhaps someone involved needs to contact the congressman’s office and give them an update.
You may see a bit more action if he knows your situation.
“The rebuilding model will be neighbor helping neighbor, town and county highway departments fixing roads, charity from individuals and businesses, and private contractors hired.”
So like Rep. Gibson and his son, it will be volunteers, buying their own shovels and boots, helping neighbors they never knew evacuate a staggering number of cubic yards of contaminated mud from the collective basements, tear down century old lath and plaster, and so on and so forth. It appears from the statement above, that we sure as he’ll better not rely on FEMA for much of anything, as if we did not know that from Katrina, and if it were not so graphically displayed in Prattsville.
Were it not for Pastor Charlie and his organization, the volunteers from the Southern Baptist Church in Georgia, and many others, the remaining salvageable homes in town would need to be demolished, as basement mud turned to adobe, and mold took over every square inch of each house.
FEMA’s presence is a large spiffy tent, and a most impressive state of the art RV, festooned with a giant satellite dish and fluttering flag. Heaven forbid they should even tread the muddy streets of the town…
So how many other Federal agencies are figuratively, and literally, such bloated leviathans that when real need for their services arises, have the same mode of operation as this sterling agency? I bet the answer is “many”. Probably so many that, excluding, once again, the volunteers of the military, it would be a veritable wiki of Federal Agencies and Departments.
When we don’t see government “in action”, we can at least imagine some modicum of competence. When we actually see their “footprint”, we are reminded just how and why as a nation we have accrued such a crushing sum, estimated at 213 trillion dollars, of combined debt and government obligations.
Since WW2, from “Land of the Free, Home of the Brave”, this is collectively what we have come to fund, and accept, as our national government.
It is just pitiful.
JG
@stephanie
***News Flash***
FEMA is broke and so is the Federal Government.
“Quite simply, Upstate New York needs FEMA and federal money”
You really should know that being in DC and all.
Maybe we can pay with all money we saved shutting down the Federal Department of Education and Homeland Security.
How’s that going, Congressman Gibson?
he got called out for making a stupid, big gov statement just shows how out of touch he really is. So called “Tea party” candidate talking up the virtues of fema. are you kidding me?
i remember now why i quit giving a shit about these things. i wont be standing out in the caold waving a sign in 2012. Murphy-lite at best.
Well, hopefully, the Republican bill to decrease FEMA aid to disaster areas will pass, and then Gibson can stop relying on FEMA to come to the rescue. The commenters above are right: let’s not waste any more time waiting for the government to show up. Besides which, this country is already cracking under the pressure of mountains of debt… no better way to send a message to the duds in Washington than to reject FEMA $$ and show wasteful spenders that people who are truly devoted to their communities can, with hard work and determination, rebuild their communities without government “help”!!
If you’re a true patriot then you will NOT apply for financial assistance from FEMA – we have to find ways to lower the deficit, and this is one of them.