Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Saturday, February 09, 2008

Flood relief: So close, yet so far

By the Daily News editorial board

Recently, a volunteer helping with the flood recovery efforts in Rushford, Minn., wondered aloud whether people didn’t think everything in Rushford was back to normal. She worried that because victims weren’t on the television, because pictures of destroyed houses and communities weren’t on the front page, that somehow the average citizen believed everything was solved.

In other words, out of sight, out of mind.

But taking a drive through any flood-affected community and talking to officials and residents will yield a much different picture. While many have been helped, the finish line is years away.

The problem is made worse by a bureaucracy of red tape and a mountain of federal and state rules.

The procedure goes something like this: If you applied for Federal Emergency Management Agency money and got it, but needed more than the $28,000 offered, then you had to apply to the Small Business Administration for a loan. If you got money there, you must take the full amount at the terms offered in order to be eligible for further funding from the state of Minnesota’s Quick Start program (or you had to be denied by the SBA).

Therein lies the problem.

SBA loans, federally funded loans, were loans with less favorable terms. Most folks also qualified for a lot more money than they needed. The money set aside by the Legislature, which was often forgivable, could not be disbursed if a person qualified for SBA loans. Federal rules prohibit duplicating “unmet needs,” so once a person is eligible for a loan, no matter the terms or the amount, the need — in the eyes of the government — is met.

It’s good that government has rules. No one wants to see a millionaire made out of a disaster like a flood, especially on the taxpayers’ dime. While FEMA and the state have put in a lot of rules meant to safeguard the flood money from abuse, they haven’t figured out how to make sure it gets to everywhere there’s a need.

The problem is that many folks are being offered loans they can’t afford. Older residents simply don’t have the income to afford large, long-term loans. Other residents know the amount of money they’d need to rebuild, they’d never be able to repay.

Too much state money continues to sit on the shelf, in part hampered by some cumbersome guidelines. To be fair, most states that are hit with things such as floods and tornadoes, rarely step in to help residents like the state of Minnesota helped its own. Unfortunately, it came so close, but missed the target by so far.

Instead of figuring out a way around the federal rules in order to help those still in need, state officials have been all to happy to pat themselves on the back. They don’t seem as eager to deal with the frustration that’s still being felt by those whose lives were rocked and ruined by the flood.

Some leaders, such as Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Wabasha, have discovered the flaw and have advocated a change. For example, state law may prohibit giving Quick Start loans to folks who’ve qualified for SBA loans, but nowhere would it prohibit putting state money toward SBA loans.

We hope people have not forgotten about places such as Rushford, Stockton, Minnesota City, St. Charles and Goodview — all places hurt by the August floods.

Most importantly, we hope that state officials have not forgotten the system that’s been set up still doesn’t work.

Meanwhile, more and more residents are walking away from these communities, some never to return.

By Darrell Ehrlick, editor, on behalf of the Winona Daily News editorial board, which also includes publisher Rusty Cunningham and online editor Jerome Christenson. To comment, call (507) 453-3507 or send e-mail to letters@winonadailynews.com.