HumidCity

Well, after the single most peculiar site move I’ve ever experienced it seems we are stable and on our new servers at Green Tangerine Media. These folks saved our site today by being willing to jump in and do the relocation on a bare few minutes notice.

You see today Alan Gutierrez, who has presented himself as ThinkNOLA since the storm, decided that the proper response to my inquiries about the multiple and highly unreasonable hold ups was to punch me in the face twice, in public, at a new media conference.

Out of respect for the organizers I laid it out that I would not press charges if he would release our database and allow Green Tangerine to relocate it before leaving the building. He did so, I am not pressing charges, and HumidCity is now safely out of the burning house of cards that was ThinkNOLA. This altercation will be the subject of a future posting once my temper has cooled enough to do it properly.

In the meantime I cannot thank Jennifer at GTM enough. I’m sure this was probably the weirdest work call she has received. I mean how often do hosting companies get emergency/move it now/ violence and police based requests from their new clients? The speed and kindness of their assistance has assured me that this is the right place for our little bunch of Internet misfits. Instant response, great communication, rapid implementation, and a cheerful attitude are all traits that seem to be hallmarks for Green Tangerine.

If you enjoy HumidCity join us in saying thank you for their emergency save by leaving a comment here. They really came though  like champs!

Coming soon: Drinks with the Inspector General, Fisticuffs on the Convention Floor, a Blog Carnival Post from Greg Peters of Suspect Device, and a sincere question about parking legalities.

-Loki, HumidCity Founder

Time for our resident engineer to share some news with us again. Ladies and gentlemen, humidcity is proud to once more present the epistles of Matt McBride:

Dear New Orleanians,

This afternoon, FEMA posted the press release announcing the changes in the Relocation Assistance program. You can find it here:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=41323

This is the program that pays up to $4000 for moves and other relocation expenses for Katrina and Rita victims who have been displaced.

When the program was first announced on August 27th, FEMA only paid for moves between February 1, 2006 and Feb. 29, 2008. The reason for this was purely bureaucratic.

After a nearly instant outcry from many individuals that FEMA was penalizing early returners, the process for revising the program guidance began. Now, the opening dates have been moved back to the dates of the storms (8/29/05 for Katrina and 9/24/05 for Rita). This means that anyone who moved back after the storms may now be eligible.

The new press release does not make mention of the fact that this is a revision of the program, probably to prevent bringing up their error. That’s okay. What’s important is they made the program fair to all.

Also not mentioned in the release are the following points:

1) Acceptance of the relocation assistance means the ending of rental assistance. I suppose this could be controversial.
2) On the hotel room reimbursements (they pay for hotel rooms during a move), if the household has more than four persons or the hotel has occupancy restrictions, they will pay for additional rooms. Also, for each additional 400 miles travelled, they will pay for another night of hotel stays.
3) It’s not clear exactly what they are referring to when they say they will reimburse for “mileage,” in addition to gas & taxes.
4) They mention the cap on Individual & Households Program assistance, but do not provide the amount. It is $26,200.

As of today, the (800) 621-FEMA hotline now has a recorded message about this program. The recording mostly covers the stuff in the press release. As always, you should call the 800 number to register for the program and to get all the official information. Ask to be transferred to a Relocation Assistance specialist. FEMA has specifically trained personnel to process this paperwork and answer aid recipients’ questions.

Matt

ADDENDUM (2 hours later):

FEMA just placed another webpage about the Relocation Assistance program up:

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=41326

They refer to this one as a Fact Sheet. It rejiggers the information in the earlier press release to make it more readable.

Matt