Florida officially recorded 123 fatalities from last year’s hurricanes, but the federal government has paid funeral expenses for at least 315 deaths, including those of a man who shot himself and a stroke victim hospitalized more than a week before the last storm hit.
In one case, a Federal Emergency Management Agency worker tried unsuccessfully to persuade a coroner to count among the hurricane casualties a “morbidly obese” heart patient who purportedly was “scared to death.”
“If you were to call around to all the medical examiner offices, people would say, `No way did we have as many deaths as FEMA is saying,'” said Dr. Stephen Nelson, head of Florida’s Medical Examiners Commission. “It’s just an incredible number–a difference of 192. This is the Free Funeral Payment Act.”
The discrepancy is even greater because the families of some victims counted as storm casualties by the medical examiner said they received no help from FEMA, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found.
FEMA officials declined requests for an interview, instead releasing a statement: “FEMA is in Florida to help the victims of the worst series of hurricane disasters in over 100 years, including helping those families who have suffered the loss of loved ones to this disaster.”
Funeral eligibility is “not based exclusively on medical or coroner reports,” FEMA’s statement said. “FEMA may contact organizations like the Red Cross, hospitals, coroners’ offices, police and fire departments, and/or ambulance companies for additional details.”
The newspaper’s analysis of FEMA claims in Florida shows the government paid $1.27 million for storm-related funerals as of March 10. The agency refuses to identify recipients of disaster aid, citing privacy laws. The Sun-Sentinel has filed a federal lawsuit to force release of the names.
The state’s medical examiners said their records constitute the official death toll from the storms. “We’re the keepers of the count,” Nelson said.
In Palm Beach County, where FEMA paid 39 funeral claims from hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, the medical examiner recorded a total of eight storm-related deaths.
“I don’t know where [FEMA] came up with those numbers,” said Dr. Michael Bell, the county’s medical examiner.
In Miami-Dade County, where FEMA’s payment for a funeral last fall fueled suspicions of fraud, the agency has since approved four more funerals from Frances. The Labor Day weekend storm made landfall 100 miles to the north, and the county medical examiner recorded no Frances-related deaths.
After learning of the number of funeral payments statewide, Nelson said he will urge the Medical Examiners Commission at its April 27 meeting to press for information about the death claims.
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“What kind of proof are they [requiring] to disburse federal funds?” Nelson added. “Can I just call and say Aunt Myrtle’s death was hurricane-related?”
The agency’s hurricane payments already are under investigation by a U.S. Senate committee. Last month, 14 FEMA aid recipients in Miami-Dade County were arrested on fraud charges.
“Disaster-related deaths are not limited to only those deaths that occur during the actual event,” FEMA said in its statement. “Someone may die of a heart attack while cleaning up heavy disaster debris, from injuries sustained in a fall while repairing a damaged roof, or trauma suffered from dangers.”
Medical examiners use the same criteria, Nelson said.