Other members of Congress will need convincing that the crisis is as bad as N.C. officials say and that the dollar amount is justified, said Rep. Cass Ballenger, R-N.C., of Hickory. We have to remind them that one day this could be in their back yard. Many members, including Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Bob Etheridge, said that when disaster strikes abroad, the U.S. seems to muster the energy and money to help . Helms' office was jammed with callers applauding Helms for taking the Senate floor Monday night and saying that foreign debt shouldn't be forgiven when U.S. citizens are in crisis. But some delegation members are quietly concerned that some of Hunt's requests don't appear to qualify as emergencies.
Disaster relief works in a complicated way.
FEMA covers costs after they've finished the cleanup. The president and Congress have to agree on the amount of money to pump into FEMA's budget to cover the disasters nationwide that year. That total includes money given to the Army, Coast Guard and National Guard to reimburse them for rescue operations. It does not include the money they will give the state to reimburse state and local governments for emergency operations during the first 72 hours of the disaster. The money Hunt is requesting is on top of the immediate FEMA assistance.