FEMA Team: We're here to support New Mexico

An emergency disaster assessment team from the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Regional office in Denton, Texas began working in New Mexico on Friday afternoon.

“We’re here to support New Mexico,” FEMA's spokesman Brad Craine told reporters who toured several damaged buildings with the team in downtown Albuquerque.

"The whole reason of coming in and doing a preliminary damage assessment is to simply find out just how much damage was done to the infrastructure," Craine said.

They found heavy industrial heater fans still churning inside the Bernalillo County District Court seven days after water caused damage to walls and carpet.

Across the street at the District Attorney's office, the team heard stories from employees who used personal hair dryers to recover documents ahead of trials and hearings on Monday.

“We literally walked across the street to District Court in some cases with wet, dripping papers that we needed to file” DA Spokesman Pat Davis said. No cases were affected by the flooding and resulting water damage according to Davis.

FEMA's team will focus primarily on publicly owned buildings and infrastructure in counties affected by the severe arctic weather that moved across the state last week causing water pipes to rupture and natural gas to stop flowing to thousands of customers. Craine said individuals and private businesses will have to prove significant losses before they can get relief from FEMA.

He encouraged them to work with their insurance companies and file expedited claims with the New Mexico Gas Company.

After their work on the ground, the team will file their findings with Gov. Susana Martinez, who can then request a declaration. Only then will recommendations for assistance be made to the White House, where President Obama will make the final determination on what financial aid will be given to the state.

On Saturday, the FEMA team will head north to Santa Fe, Espanola, Taos and Questa.

Insurance Companies Warned

New Mexico State Insurance Superintendent John Franchini has issued a directive to all insurance companies warning them not to cancel, refuse to renew, or raise customer policies.

Current statutes forbid them to make any changes following a natural disaster.

“We are advising all insurance companies that we do not expect policyholders to receive any type of premium increase due to claims filed as the result of the severe winter weather or natural gas outages,” Franchini said. “We will personally review any premium or rate increase a New Mexico policyholder sustains to ensure that the increase is fair, not based upon a natural disaster claim and conforms to current State regulations and guidelines.


Individual Claims

While the gas company is processing individual claims, state and federal agencies are still determining how to assist employees who lost wages and businesses who lost sales after having to temporarily shut down.

Many of the assistance programs previously in place, outside of the funds established by New Mexico Gas Company, are programs that have income or amount-of-loss thresholds.

For instance, State of New Mexico Human Services Department has LIHEAP, can often help with heating issues based on an income threshold. Information here.

The Small Business Administration has programs to assist merchants.

In order to qualify for FEMA assistance the team will have to determine more than $2.4 million in losses was incurred statewide before New Mexico can receive recovery reimbursements.

Some state funding has been allocated to the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority (MFA) to help income-qualifying customers with these needed repairs on their natural gas-burning appliances, as well as with weatherization services. Assistance applications are available online.

Terry Brunner, USDA Representative, said grants and low interest housing and business loans may be available for home repair and upgrades, but will depend on income levels.

Water utilities assistance is available to repair broken water lines.

Grants are available to repair or upgrade community buildings or services.

The Rural Energy Program offers rebates for energy efficiency upgrades. USDA also offers assistance in cases of crop and livestock weather-related losses.

Frank Padilla, a Housing and Urban Development representative said a total of $200,000 has been made available for immediate assistance for emergency repairs, but must be distributed through local government. And, vouchers are available for residents of uninhabitable homes to stay at a motel for up to 3 weeks.

There is a home program for more extensive repairs through the Mortgage Finance Authority and the NM Energy Smart program can provide assessments and energy efficient upgrade rebates.

The Small Business Administration reported it is only offering its normal services, but continue to assess the situation in New Mexico.

New Mexico Gas Company claims can me made online here.

Martinez okays $750K for recovery

After receiving disaster declarations from 13 local governments, Governor Susana Martinez signed an executive order on Wednesday night releasing up to $750,000 in state emergency funds for costs incurred during the statewide natural gas crisis.

“In order to facilitate the quickest possible recovery and reimbursement process for local governments, we have been responding to their requests and working with FEMA from day one to evaluate damages and follow necessary steps to make state and federal funds available," Governor Martinez said in a news release.

With the gas restored to most residents and businesses, the governor said her team is now focused on providing aid to local communities and preventing future outages.

Damage assessment teams from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) began arriving in New Mexico yesterday to conduct a detailed accounting of the uninsured costs incurred by state and local entities including the extent of business losses, infrastructure damages, deployment of response resources, and impact on critical facilities.

Those teams efforts will aid work already being done by another FEMA representative, who has been in place at the State Emergency Operation Center in Santa Fe since Monday.

The Martinez Administration said it has been in contact with FEMA since the first day of the natural gas crisis, and the Governor anticipates that damages will rise to the level of a Presidential Disaster Declaration.

At that point FEMA will be authorized to reimburse state and local entities for costs associated with uninsured damages and response efforts during the state of emergency.

The governor’s office Thursday morning that 50+ National Guard troops remain in each of the communities of Taos and Espanola to continue their work with technicians to restore heat to homes where owners have been repeatedly found not to be home; crews are also helping with recovery efforts and safety checks throughout Taos and Espanola neighborhoods.

At least five other local governments are expected to file additional declarations.

Individuals may file a claim directly with the New Mexico Natural Gas Company online. Officials with the company said they have set up an expedited claim process.

U.S. Rep. Lujan urges Martinez to request FEMA assistance

After last week's gas outages in New Mexico, U.S. Rep. Ben Lujan, Jr is urging Gov. Susana Martinez to quickly request assistance from FEMA's Region Six. He says federal money may be able to assist individuals and small businesses.

Lujan, who spent the weekend touring his hard hit congressional district, says he saw elderly people shivering in their homes -- in Northern Taos County -- without heat waiting for crews to relight their furnaces.

At a VFW Post in Questa, he talked to veterans about their concerns regarding frozen water pipes.

Lujan told us Martinez’ State of Emergency declaration doesn’t go far enough and he's urging her administration to ask for federal aid now.

He spent the morning in the New Mexico House Energy and Natural Resources committee listening to testimony from New Mexico and El Paso Corp. officials and Martinez’ Homeland Security Secretary designate Michael Duvall and Martinez Chief of Staff Keith Gardner.

Duvall says the state is still assessing whether it has met the monetary threshold needed to request FEMA assistance.

Gardner said the administration's first priority is getting every furnace relighted and getting the New Mexico National Guard into the field to assist technicians.

Gas utility officials told committee members they cut off service to portions of New Mexico last week because they feared of losing control over their distribution system and having uncontrolled outages across the state.

New Mexico Gas Co. Vice President Ken Oostman said customers in northern New Mexico and parts of southern New Mexico were cut off when the utility faced a rapid drop in gas pressure in its lines.

Without that, he told lawmakers, pressure would have continued to drop and uncontrolled outages would have happened in homes and businesses.

Shortly after the cutoff, Martinez declared Taos County, Santa Clara Indian Pueblo and Taos Pueblo have all officially declared a State of Emergency due to the disruption in natural gas service in Northern New Mexico that occurred on February 3, 2011.

Lujan, Jr., said FEMA can provide mobile telecommunications, operational support, life support, and power generation assets allowing on-site management of disaster and all-hazard activities.

New Mexico Gas company officials told state reps that they have pre-ordered enough gas for a new storm expected to hit the state on Tuesday and Wednesday and hope to have all remaining 21-Thousands homes without supply relight by late today or tomorrow.

They said crews have been authorized to relight substandard furnaces if they can get them to a minimum “safe state.”

Vice President and Chief Legal Council for the New Mexico Gas Company Thomas Domme told committee members that the company is setting up phone lines to expedite customer claims for damages they incurred after the supply shortage -- mostly for frozen pipes. He said he claim will have to be individually analyzed.

Domme said no serious injuries have been reported.

Visit this link for the gas relight schedule.

To file a damage claim check this link at the New Mexico Gas Company’s website.

Lujan, who extended his visit to New Mexico to attend this morning's hearing in the Roundhouse, returned to Washington, D.C. this afternoon.