FEMA Contacting 1.2 Million Disaster Applicants In Florida About Court Order To Release Personal Information
Release Date: August 16, 2007
Release Number: HQ-07-164b
Florida Counties/Applications Numbers Affected by FOIA Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is in the process of making telephone calls and sending letters to up to 1.2 million Florida applicants for disaster assistance to inform them that a recent court order has directed the agency to send the addresses of their disaster-damaged homes to certain newspapers in Florida that sued FEMA to get the information.
FEMA will comply with the court order; however, the agency will continue to protect the names and addresses of disaster victims in the future under both the Privacy Act and the personal privacy exemption to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
The federal appellate court order affects Floridians who applied for assistance following hurricanes Charley (242,880), Frances (409,153), Ivan (128,747) and Jeanne (326,012) in 2004; Hurricane Irene in 1999 and storms/flooding disasters in 1998, 2002 and 2003. The ruling is related to a FOIA request from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, the Pensacola News-Journal and The News-Press of Fort Myers, Fla. The newspapers requested information about applicants who received disaster assistance following the 2004 Florida hurricanes, including their names and addresses.
The Sun-Sentinel also filed a FOIA request for the same information for disaster applicants in an additional 27 Presidentially declared disasters in eight states from 1998 to 2004. The states are Alabama, California, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio and Wisconsin. The News-Press also requested the same information for claimants who received flood insurance payments from the National Flood Insurance Program following the 2004 Florida hurricanes.
In response to the FOIA request, FEMA supplied a breakdown of the types of assistance provided to individuals and households by FEMA application number and state, county and zip code, but refused to produce names and addresses by invoking the Privacy Act and the FOIA exemption for personal privacy. The media organizations appealed and the court ordered the agency to release the addresses, but allowed it to withhold the applicants’ names.
However, the detailed information previously released under the FOIA request, matched with the addresses, would reveal in great detail, information about individual applicants, such as the amount of assistance provided, insurance status, eligibility determinations and Small Business Administration application status. The same details were provided for those persons who filed flood insurance claims under the National Flood Insurance Program after the 2004 Florida hurricanes.
FEMA had originally planned to release the information starting Aug. 14, 2007. However, the federal court has not yet issued a mandate that implements its June 22, 2007 opinion, and FEMA must postpone its original release dates until after the federal court issues its mandate.
Furthermore, on Friday, Aug. 10, 2007, the Sun-Sentinel requested that FEMA provide the information in a format different from the one FEMA had planned to use in releasing the information. FEMA will accommodate that request; however, that will delay the initial releases. FEMA will provide the News-Press the same information in connection with the 2004 Florida hurricanes at the same time it provides the information to the Sun-Sentinel.
FEMA takes seriously its responsibility to protect the privacy of each applicant for disaster assistance and will not release other kinds of Privacy Act information including applicants’ names and Social Security numbers. The court made its decision based on the unique circumstances surrounding the 2004 Florida hurricanes, and determined that the public interest in FEMA’s disbursement of disaster aid in those circumstances outweighed the privacy interest of the individuals who received disaster assistance and flood insurance payments.
Additional information is available on the FEMA.GOV Web site at www.fema.gov/individual/privacy.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency coordinates the federal government’s role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.
Last Modified: Friday, 07-Sep-2007 11:51:12