All towns hit by flood deserve aid

5/16/07
In a bizarre turn, the Housatonic River has come to divide the deserving of aid from the undeserving, at least according to Washington.
Communities on one side of the river are eligible for federal relief from last month’s flooding, but the other side is not. With calculations based on county markers, Derby, Seymour and Oxford may lose out on funding even though they were hit just as hard as towns on the other side.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, not really known these days for its managerial skills, makes the determination of aid eligibility based on per-capita damage in each county. Because the flooding river had an impact on only a few towns in New Haven County, the per capita level wasn’t high enough to trigger the financial response. Fairfield and Litchfield counties, though, did make the cut.
Oxford alone sustained about $1 million in damage from the April storm, but was unlucky enough to be part of the wrong county. Gov. M. Jodi Rell should file an appeal with the federal agency and make sure aid is sent where it is needed.
And another request should be made to stop, at least in Connecticut, doling out relief on a countywide basis. It makes no sense. There are no county governments, and residents could be forgiven if they’re not even sure which town is in what county. No one knows because it doesn’t matter.
There’s also the question of proportionality. A county has to have damage up to a certain per-capita level to qualify for aid. But what if only, say, Oxford was damaged in the flood? It’s a small town, so a lot of damage there might still be swallowed up by the rest of an undamaged New Haven County, thereby keeping the per-capita numbers low. It’s a system that makes no sense.
So the governor should appeal, but FEMA should change its ways. Given its performance on a national stage in the past few years, no one is holding his breath on that one.