Last week, President Obama pledged federal relief money for Illinois residents with homes damaged or destroyed by floods. The Chicago Tribune Angeline Leventis Lourgos reports an unsettling case where FEMA federal inspectors curiously denied one household flood compensation.

FEMA will spend money on Illinois communities destroyed by flooding, but residents must let the federal government know how much damage was done. The Associated Press reports that 10,000 Illinois residents have applied for FEMA disaster assistance after flooding last month in the West Chicago suburbs. These applications come a week after the Obama administration declared seven Illinois counties -- including Cook County, which contains Chicago -- a federal disaster area. FEMA can help pay for home repairs, temporary housing, unemployment and disaster-related medical and dental payments.

[caption id="attachment_10009" align="alignleft" width="125" caption="Westchester, Illinois"][/caption] FEMA started visiting flooded homes in Chicago's western suburbs like Westchester and Elmhurst yesterday to determine if the area qualifies for federal assistance, reports the Chicago Tribune's Joseph Ruzich.  Cash-strapped Illinois, of course, wants all the financial help it can get to recover from last month's flooding. The best way for a state to get FEMA aid is to prove

Last weekend floods ravaged the Chicago area, causing millions of dollars in property damage -- millions of dollars local and state officials hope FEMA will replace. Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has declared ten northern Illinois counties disaster areas (including Chicago's Cook County) and local officials suggest the storm damage could exceed $17 million. Cynthia Dizikes and John Byrne of the Chicago Tribune report that the disaster area declaration and the

Federal officials are looking to move disaster planners to safer grounds. According to Michael Shaw of the Sacramento Business Journal, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is scouting  for Sacramento area office space where it hopes to relocate a regional office now in Oakland. “FEMA has been reviewing the location of all its offices to make sure they’re in the safest space,” agency spokesman John Hamill said. “And Oakland is on a fault line.”

By Marci Greenstein After a four year stalemate, it took the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals only weeks to decide that the federal government was responsible for rebuilding Charity Hospital in New Orleans, which was virtually destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, according to a report by Kevin Sack in the New York Times.  The contract appeals board was established as part of the Defense Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2006 to decide disputes between government contractors and government agencies.  It is specifically charged with resolving disputes between FEMA and applicants for FEMA assistance for damage caused by Hurricane Katrina and Rita.

Cedar Rapids, Iowa, which experienced major flooding in August 2008, has gotten less help from the government than citizens believe the region is due, according to this report by Susan Saulny of the New York Times, which includes the following poignant words from a local government official: “We really feel ...

Steve Vogel of the Washington Post writes up a Government Accountability Office report on FEMA's reform efforts. The agency was told to overhaul its emergency preparedness efforts after the Hurricane Katrina super-debacle and in many respects they have. But the problem is that ...

FEMA had previously told Hurricane Katrina victims still living in government trailers that they would have to leave those trailers by the end of May. But that's no longer the case, reports the New York Times' Shaila Dewan: many of the 3,446 trailers still in use ...

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter has lifted his hold on the nomination of Craig Fugate to head FEMA, reports Government Executive. Fugate has "broad bipartisan support" so he should be confirmed whenever the Senate feels like it. With a newly nominated ...