| Page 2 of 2 < |
Storm Victims -- and a FEMA Representative -- Plug In at Kinko's
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"They want everything via the Internet and e-mail," Pellerin said. So he came to Kinko's to scan his résumé into a computer.
Meanwhile, another man sat at a laptop docking station in the store. His cell phone rang furiously.
"Yes, ma'am," he said. "I'm at a fax machine right now. Send me your information and you should hear from FEMA within three to seven days."
He was a FEMA representative, using Kinko's as an office like everyone else. The man, who declined to give his name because he said it was against policy to talk to the media, collected information from flooded homeowners and entered it into a federal government database on a small laptop.
"You have to keep calling until you get through. I'm getting 300 calls a day," he told one man sitting in Kinko's who wanted to know how he could get FEMA assistance too.
For hours, the Kinko's cashiers brought stacks of faxes over to the FEMA representative's desk as homeowners submitted copies of driver's licenses and other documentation for claims.
At lunchtime, the man gathered his laptop and supplies and scribbled a note on a piece of paper that marked his desk as among the most valuable real estate around.
"This station," it read, "is being used by FEMA."
