FEMA officials say they have a solution for apartment renters in the city of Washington following the November tornado. Many of the 200 people from Georgetown Common apartments were denied by FEMA because inspectors couldn’t access the units and determine damage. Donald Keldsen is FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for Illinois. He says FEMA staff will reach out to apartment residents to better process applications:
“We’re going to look on our side at the cases and try to resolve them as soon as possible, get check out to people. Again it might take several days because we’re talking about lots of cases and we might need to contact people for more information if we need to verify some information in terms of what did they have in that apartment.”
Many Georgetown Common residents expressed frustration after the storms about getting caught in bureaucratic red-tape when applying for low interest loans and other help. FEMA officials announced the work-around to hundreds of Washington residents last night during a community meeting.
