FEMA agents survey worst-hit Hidalgo county neighborhoods

SCISSORS -- Don't tell Graciela Ramos that just because her home was 25 miles from Hurricane Dolly's strongest wind and rain that she was far enough to avoid any damage.

Water from a nearby canal went up to Ramos' knees last week when she walked through the conglomeration of plywood and concrete blocks she calls home.

The water weakened the floorboards and left white mold that continues to grow on the thin plywood walls today.

By Monday, the floodwater finally receded from her home, which she shares with her six children in the small community of Scissors south of Donna.

But when - or even if - she sees any help from the federal government for repairs isn't clear.

"I hope they can help," said Ramos, 51, in Spanish on Wednesday.

Colonias

Federal Emergency Management Agency inspectors began their damage assessments across Hidalgo County on Wednesday - facing sweltering heat and blood-thirsty mosquitoes.

About 200 federal inspectors are canvassing, house-by-house, in neighborhoods across the county to find out whether they should tell President Bush to authorize assistance for individual homeowners who suffered damage because of Hurricane Dolly.

Surveying means FEMA inspectors have to slowly drive or walk through neighborhoods.

FEMA spokeswoman Sandra Martin said the inconsistent layout of many area colonias - where a brand-new brick home may stand down the street from a converted trailer with plywood floors - has made the assessments more difficult than other areas of the country.

"Unless I really can tell from the road, I have to get out and look," said Brenda Potthast, a FEMA disaster recovery specialist. "It's real important our numbers are accurate, so if we have to walk blocks, that's what we do."

The only immediate assistance FEMA agents gave Wednesday were much-needed cans of insect repellant.

After Hurricane Katrina hit Louisiana and Mississippi in 2005, officials approved the individual assistance for the area without much damage surveying.

"They knew it was a catastrophe," Martin said.

With Dolly, the damage isn't so clear cut or widespread, so federal and state officials cannot pull the trigger without surveying.

Priority first

Dolly hit the Lower Rio Grande Valley worst, so FEMA's examinations began in Cameron and Willacy counties on Saturday and have nearly wrapped up. Potthast said so far she has seen "pockets" of severe damage in those areas.

The group of inspectors who started their day south of Donna found a mostly dry neighborhood. But the dark water lines outside and moist walls inside many homes made it clear the neighborhood had been much worse in the days before the inspectors arrived.

"You can pretty much tell," said Gerry Stolar, a FEMA coordinating officer helping to assess the area.

Aleyda Salinas, 26, lives with her parents and two children down the street from Ramos.

Unlike her, the floodwater failed to reach Salinas' knees - it only was about five inches high on top of the plywood floors - but even with that, damage was done.

"We barely (make) our payments on this," Salinas said of her family's modest home before it was damaged.

Salinas said she currently is unemployed, but plans on moving in with her sister in Louisiana to find work, send money home and help her family rebuild, even if FEMA does not.

The FEMA agents said they would continue canvassing the county until dark Wednesday - and every day thereafter - until they finish their survey. State officials said they expect the Hidalgo County inspections to last up to a week.

"As long as we don't get carried away by y'all's mosquitoes," Potthast said as she examined a fresh bite on her arm.
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Jared Taylor covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4439.