I went with a group of guys from my church from Austin to Rockport to help out over Labor Day. We served with Operation Blessing. They provided a brief summary of FEMA disasters that I had not ever heard anywhere else and thought it was worth sharing.

When FEMA declares a disaster area, the feds will pay for 75% of the damages, the state 12.5% and the local city/municipality 12.5%. If you show up as a volunteer and work 8 hours directly helping a family, that is awesome. You directly aided someone in need. But if you first sign up through an organization, they will then track the hours that you work and the type of work you performed, and will submit it to FEMA. Based on the type of work you do, you "earn" a wage. There is a basic wage for general cleanup, a higher wage for operating a chainsaw, and an even higher wage for running heavy equipment (e.g. a bobcat). All of the wages "earned" through volunteer hours go towards the local city's responsibility when it comes to their financial obligation.

So, by signing up through an organization, you not only provide that direct aid to a specific family but you also are helping the community at large meet their cost requirements. This complicates things somewhat if you are trying to help a specific friend - now they would have to register as being in need with an organization, then you would volunteer through that same organization to get the double credit, but it may still be worth doing when looking at the big picture.

Thanks for stepping up and volunteering.

But on the gov't side, that kind of arrangement sounds like an unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.

Like having to get a building permit for your ark.

Can you elaborate on what constitutes an "organization"? I was originally helping through a church group, but when they left on a Saturday to go help areas south of us with more urgent needs, our neighborhood formed its own "organization".

And how the heck can anyone keep up with what volunteer is doing what job? I've spent the last four days coordinating volunteer efforts (and I use the term "coordinating" loosely). Basically, I'm just trying to get people who want to work into the houses with the most need. I can't tell you the names of most of the volunteers I've met in the past week, much less tell you what job they did or equipment they handled when they got there.

Wish I could answer your questions Transplant. Op. Blessing took care of the admin work, although they did recruit a few volunteers who showed up to work in the field to stay and help with paperwork. They sent out a simple form with spots for each person's name, and then columns under cleanup, chainsaw and heavy equipment where you entered the number of hours that each person performed for each of those tasks. We wrote the work order number on top of that sheet and the folks at "headquarters" stapled the work order and the hour log together. This is then somehow submitted to FEMA.

The work orders were created when residents either showed up in person requesting help or called in what help they needed. That way the coordinators knew what type of crew to send (cleanup crew, chainsaw crew, roofing/tarping crew, or heavy equip.). This group goes around the country doing this type of work so they are a well oiled machine. I understand it must be very difficult doing it on your own. Other than calling an established organization to get tips, I'm not sure how else to help.

I didn't create the red tape, nor do I agree with the details as it does seem like a massive headache, I am simply trying to spread info that will help our local communities in the most effective ways possible.