PERRY WANTS FULL REIMBURSEMENT FOR RITA

Texas Gov. Rick Perry sent a letter to federal officials requesting that Texas get the same level of reimbursement for Hurricane Rita as for Hurricane Katrina. According to the governor’s press office, Perry joined with Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Robert Eckels in announcing the formation of a task force to examine better ways to handle the evacuation of major metropolitan areas of Texas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) notified Texas that it would approve 100 percent reimbursement of some costs for a 72-hour period related to Hurricane Rita but then would drop to 75 percent reimbursement. FEMA has approved 100 percent reimbursement to Texas on costs associated with assisting victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Perry noted that the shelter Texas provided for the evacuees of Hurricane Katrina affected every aspect of the Texas preparation, response and recovery for Hurricane Rita, which makes the argument for considering these consecutive hurricanes one tragedy.

The governor appointed a task force to immediately begin examining the process by which Texas evacuates major metropolitan areas in Texas.

“Because local officials gave evacuation notice early, despite the agonizing traffic that ensued, we got millions of people out of harm’s way in time,” Perry said. “But by no means did the plan work flawlessly. The purpose of this task force will be to learn from our most recent experience, and to better prepare for the future recognizing another hurricane or tropical storm could threaten Texas in the remaining two months of the hurricane season.”