A member of the House of Representatives has called for the resignation of the Federal Emergency Management Agency director as well as a full-scale Congressional investigation into the National Flood Insurance Program.
Using strong language, New Jersey Republican Tom MacArthur criticized FEMA for its performance following Hurricane Sandy and cited new revelations from whistleblowers that the agency’s efforts to re-examine claims from the Storm following allegations of fraud had itself become subject to fraud.
The investigation looked into complaints that engineering companies had altered reports on property claims to eliminate flooding as the primary cause of damage.
“I have seen doctored engineering reports with my own eyes,” MacArthur said Thursday. “I have seen doctored adjusters’ reports with my own eyes, where an adjuster wrote something was caused by flood and somebody else inserted the word ‘not’ caused by flood.”
MacArthur said he had been provided by three affidavits outlining the accusation, written by people who had worked on the review process set up by FEMA, one of whom joined him during his congressional address.
An experienced claims adjuster, Jeff Coolidge reviewed roughly 1,000 flood claims while working as a contractor for FEMA last fall. Coolidge said that despite his findings, he was required to either deny or underpay nearly all of those claims.
“I left the Sandy review process because it is a sham,” Mr. Coolidge said. “I was literally losing sleep because I didn’t want to be a part of that fraud anymore.”
Nearly 142,000 homeowners filed claims with FEMA following the 2012 storm. Though FEMA denied deliberate wrongdoing, it did say its handling of the claims may have been flawed and announced a new review for affected property owners.
Now, MacArthur wants more.
“I called for the resignation of the FEMA director, and I call for it again today not because I want a scalp but because there has to be accountability,” he said. “There has to be. Somebody has to answer for this.”
MacArthur also pushed for a House or Senate investigation into NFIP – something New York Senator Chuck Schumer echoed.
“[These are] very serious allegations of fraud and criminal activity,” Schumer said. “I think FEMA has an obligation to get to the bottom of them quickly and take strong action.”
And though FEMA stressed it had “absolutely no incentive” to cheat homeowners on their claims, several lawmakers have supported a reform to NFIP – even one that would include removing private insurance companies from the program.
“They’re still on the job in these places,” said Schumer, who claimed private insurers were “in cahoots” with assessors. “And that’s a disgrace.”
