May 18, 2013
Some county leaders in Alabama are turning down tornado assistance from the federal government.
Their message is, ‘if you don't have enough to share with everyone, then leave your handouts at home.’
Often, a typical $20,000 grant is only enough to help a few people build storm shelters, and many more are left out. So rather than help a few people and anger the rest, officials in Colbert and Lawrence County turned away the money.
In Lawrence County, 22 people applied for grants but not all of them could be accommodated.
In all, 37 counties were selected to receive $2 million from FEMA to help pay for storm rooms.
Some counties did take the money and helped as many people as they could.
In Lauderdale County, officials decided to approve 10 applications for $2,000 each. EMA Director George Grabryan said, "if it saves someone's life, it's worth it."
