Only about one-fifth of applicants for federal disaster assistance from Texas’ Kerr County have been deemed eligible to get financial help so far, leaving hundreds without governmental aid more than three months after deadly floods ravaged the county on July 4.
As of October 11, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials had referred only 46 percent of Kerr County applications for its Individuals and Households Program to the next stage, where they are evaluated to receive money, a Texas Tribune analysis of federal data shows.
That means 1,749 applications out of 3,228 still hadn’t been reviewed past the initial stage.
And among those from Kerr County that officials did review for specific funding, FEMA found only 704 applications eligible — or about 22 percent. The agency denied 775, largely because people weren’t responding or were withdrawing their applications.
By comparison, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace researcher Sarah Labowitz found that foll... Read more
