{"id":22892,"date":"2025-04-21T11:12:37","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T18:12:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/?p=22892"},"modified":"2025-04-21T11:13:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T18:13:09","slug":"living-through-a-low-attention-disaster-mountain-fire-survivors-recover-in-las-shadow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/living-through-a-low-attention-disaster-mountain-fire-survivors-recover-in-las-shadow\/","title":{"rendered":"Los supervivientes del incendio de la monta\u00f1a se recuperan a la sombra de Los \u00c1ngeles tras una \"cat\u00e1strofe de poca atenci\u00f3n"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the AP Times.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SOMIS, Calif (AP) \u2014 The ashes of Hatim Naim\u2019s burned home lie just a few dozen miles west of the Los Angeles areas destroyed by January\u2019s Palisades<\/a> y Eaton<\/a> fires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But because the Mountain Fire<\/a>, which destroyed 182 houses and other structures in Ventura County last November, was not a federally declared major disaster, recovery for Naim and his community looks different than it does for their Los Angeles neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They can\u2019t access the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) programs available to those impacted by the LA fires. Nor have they benefited from anything close to the hundreds of millions of philanthropic dollars pouring into<\/a> LA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The husband and father of three said it stings not to get the same level of help.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey have their cutoffs for where they declare their disaster, but it\u2019s still a disaster for me,\u201d said Naim, 60. \u201cI lost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those impacted by the Mountain Fire are regularly reminded of the contrast. There is no federal funding for disaster case managers, legal services, or mental health programs. Survivors don\u2019t qualify for quick cash relief for essential items, temporary housing assistance, or up to $43,600 to repair or replace homes. Small things \u2014 like\u00a0extensions to file federal taxes<\/a>\u00a0or waived fees to replace passports \u2014 aren\u2019t available.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe kind of feel like we\u2019re the forgotten fire a little bit,\u201d said Keith McNett, whose Camarillo home a few miles south of Naim\u2019s also burned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials and nonprofit leaders in the largely agricultural county of 835,000 people worry there aren\u2019t enough resources to help residents with long term recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe low-attention disasters are the toughest because then it really comes down to what are the resources you can locally marshal,\u201d said Anne Whatley, facilitator for the Ventura County Long Term Disaster Recovery Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a challenge experts say more communities might experience if the Trump administration dismantles or overhauls FEMA, options both the president and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have floated in recent months<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Compounding disasters<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Ventura County Long Term Disaster Recovery Group, Interface 211 Ventura County, and the Ventura County Community Foundation (VCCF) have been supporting the roughly 750 people impacted. They distributed up to $2,750 per household for immediate needs. But raising funds for long-term recovery has been difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe dollar amount that\u2019s needed, philanthropy really can\u2019t compete with,\u201d said Vanessa Bechtel, VCCF executive director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After devastating fires ravaged the county in 2017<\/a> y 2018<\/a>, the foundation gave households as much as $75,000 to help rebuild. This time, it\u2019s contending with donor fatigue and waning attention. \u201cThe difference between what we did for households for the FEMA wildfires is night and day,\u201d said Bechtel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The region\u2019s already squeezed rental market is even more strained after the LA fires, so aid partners are focusing on helping families with deposits and first month\u2019s rent. \u201cThe only thing available is way more expensive than what they had before,\u201d said Whatley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With no federally supported disaster case management program, families are guided by volunteers. Whatley asked national nonprofits activating in LA if they could join case management trainings there. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping we can kind of piggyback,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soaring rebuild costs<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To rebuild, Naim had no other option but to take out a $600,000 loan from the Small Business Administration (SBA). He canceled his insurance policy after the annual premium reached $19,000. \u201cIf I paid them $19,000, I think they would have raised it to $40,000,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His premium with California\u2019s insurer of last resort, the FAIR plan, nearly doubled too. \u201cWe did not want to pay the money because we thought, \u2018It\u2019s going to be the same story: Next year it\u2019s going to double,\u2019\u201d he said. He canceled four months before the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As insurance becomes harder to obtain<\/a> y afford in the state<\/a>, the number of Californians on the FAIR plan has more than doubled since 2020, to 555,000 policies<\/a>. But even those with ample coverage are concerned it won\u2019t be enough with the soaring costs of labor and material, now exacerbated by the Trump tariffs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe numbers being thrown around are just so crazy,\u201d said Rachel McNett. She and her husband Keith McNett got an SBA loan in case their insurance payout wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The McNetts fear that with more than 16,000 structures destroyed in LA County, they\u2019ll have to compete for resources to rebuild. \u201cMy heart goes out to everybody, but it\u2019s just a new worry,\u201d said Rachel McNett.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Calls for support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Former FEMA officials say it would be impossible for the agency to aid<\/a> in every disaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d be broke as a nation,\u201d said Peter Gaynor, a former FEMA administrator during the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He estimates that one in four disasters get a federal declaration, a decision based on economic formulas<\/a> and whether states and their local counterparts have the resources and capacity to respond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven though it may appear traumatic to the community, the numbers aren\u2019t there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s up to state and local resources to respond in those cases, but how much help they provide varies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDisasters that are beyond the capability of the local government to address and less severe than the federal government would support \u2014 that is an area with a lot of potential pain,\u201d said Chris Smith, who directed FEMA\u2019s Individual Assistance program from 2015 to 2022 and is now with disaster management firm IEM.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

County Supervisor Jeff Gorell, whose district encompasses the Mountain Fire zone, said his community needs more help from the state. He\u2019s asked California Gov. Gavin Newsom to extend some of the same accommodations made for those impacted by the LA fires, like suspending certain permitting requirements<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI recognize the massive scale of the LA fires, but really in many ways they\u2019re connected,\u201d said Gorell. \u201cWe\u2019re in the same family of devastation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gorell also asked the state to fully reimburse the county for its debris removal program. It otherwise pays 25% of the cost, which he estimates to be $5-$7 million. \u201cThat would be devastating for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A spokesperson for the governor\u2019s office of emergency services said that while accommodations like environmental permitting waivers don\u2019t apply to the Mountain Fire, the state has provided support through securing federal resources to help with firefighting, opening a local assistance center and giving technical assistance on debris removal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, Ventura County\u2019s board of supervisors endorsed a bill introduced by Assemblymember Jessica Caloza of Los Angeles to create a state individual assistance program<\/a> for when FEMA assistance is not available. Several states have individual assistance programs, including Arkansas<\/a>, Iowa<\/a> y Alaska<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFeeling so impotent to be able to help when FEMA doesn\u2019t step in, this seemed like a logical thing to do, to support the creation of a similar program,\u201d said Gorell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Community-led recovery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Nearly six months into their recovery, Mountain Fire households have been aided by neighborly support. Over 800 local donors contributed to the community foundation. The nonprofit Local Love Project regularly hosts a popup \u201cstore\u201d offering free essentials. Past fire survivors offer rebuilding advice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VCCF and its partners are organizing the faith community to \u201cadopt\u201d households, helping them as needs arise. It\u2019s a previously untapped resource, said Bechtel. \u201cWe start to have to be really creative in how we help people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2013\u2013\u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP\u2019s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP\u2019s philanthropy coverage, visit https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/philanthropy<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article was originally published by the AP Times. SOMIS, Calif (AP) \u2014 The ashes of Hatim Naim\u2019s burned home lie just a few dozen miles west of the Los…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-coverage"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22892"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22892\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vccf.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}