FEMA overpaid $12 million for hurricane relief in Florida, agency says

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Mon, Jan. 10, 2005


FEMA overpaid $12 million for hurricane relief in Florida, agency says

BY MEGAN O'MATZ AND SALLY KESTIN

South Florida Sun-Sentinel


FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - (KRT) - While defending its handling of disaster assistance in Miami-Dade County, Fla., the Federal Emergency Management Agency revealed Monday that it overpaid $12 million in hurricane relief to 3,500 Floridians and is trying to recoup the money.

The agency blamed the problem on a "computer glitch."

Four days after a U.S. Senate committee announced an investigation into allegations of fraud and abuse in FEMA payments throughout the country, the agency went on the defensive.

In a telephone news conference, FEMA officials said they have done a good job responding to the unprecedented four hurricanes that hit Florida last year and have found no fraud in Miami-Dade. The agency paid out nearly $30 million in damage claims in the county for Hurricane Frances, the Labor Day storm that made landfall more than 100 miles to the north.
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http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/nation/10612919.htm