Gov. Robert Bentley takes lead on tornado recovery, says buck stops with him

Governor Robert Bentley, left, speaks with Alabama Emergency Management Agency director Art Faulkner, left, following a press conference, marking the 30 day anniversary of the killer tornado outbreak, at Lake Martin near Dadeville, Ala. on Friday May 27, 2011.

MONTGOMERY, Alabama — If you have a suggestion or complaint about Alabama's recovery from the deadly tornadoes in April, the buck stops with the governor.
Gov. Robert Bentley said he's not looking to the Federal Emergency Management Agency or anyone else to lead the state's recovery.
"Just like I have taken the leadership role in the disaster, telling FEMA I'm in charge, we will do the same thing in the long-term recovery," Bentley said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.
Bentley actions have included visiting victims in towns large and small; offering economic incentives to try to get Hackleburg's largest employer to rebuild; making plans to install storm shelters at trailer parks; and working on legislation for a homeowners' insurance crisis that has gone from being a coastal problem to a statewide issue.
Bentley said he's determined to get the recovery moving faster than Louisiana did with Hurricane Katrina, and that's why he's not looking to FEMA to take the lead. He said letting FEMA take the lead "causes a mess in a lot of states because they don't know the people and they don't know the needs."
FEMA has been responsive to his approach and to his suggestions when changes are needed, such as rewording its blunt letters to storm victims who are turned down for federal aid, Bentley said.
"I told them from the beginning the governor is in charge of a disaster in the state. We were inviting them in to help us, and that's what they want. They don't want to be the lead agency," he said.
Bentley's recovery plan includes federal funding, help from faith-based and community groups, and private sector involvement. When they can't help, he's raised $4 million in donations for the Governor's Emergency Relief Fund, which can fill the gaps.
The tornadoes April 27 claimed more than 240 lives in Alabama. Bentley has tried to visit every county where people died. It's a chance for the former physician to talk one-on-one with victims, aid workers and volunteers.
Bentley said his hometown of Tuscaloosa has the industrial base and resources to recover from the tornadoes and "is in good shape." He sees the challenges in smaller towns, like Hackleburg and Phil Campbell, where many businesses were destroyed by the storms.
In Marion County in northwest Alabama, a Wrangler jeans distribution center in Hackleburg was demolished, putting 150 people out of work in a town of 1,500. Unemployment in the county rose faster than the state as a whole after the tornadoes, going from 11.3 percent to 11.9 percent.
Bentley said Wrangler's parent company, the VF Corp., has insurance to rebuild the town's largest employer if it wants. Whether it will is still unknown.
Bentley said he's offered the company economic incentives that the state provides for business expansions in hopes it will guarantee a return to the town with even more jobs than before. He's also promoting the area to other companies to try to bring long-term help.
Bentley said he has no idea how much FEMA will end up pumping into Alabama, but he doesn't expect it to approach the $5 billion that Mississippi got after Hurricane Katrina because of the string of disasters confronting FEMA and limited funding.
What he does know for certain is that Alabama will get about $120 million from FEMA to spend on mitigating damage from future storms.
Bentley said he wants to use part of the money to install safe houses in mobile home parks.
"Everywhere we have them, they withstood the storms," he said.
He's also looking at retrofitting schools along the Alabama coast to make them more useful as shelters during hurricanes.
Bentley promised in his campaign last year to call a special session of the Legislature to address rising rates and diminishing supplies of homeowners insurance along the Alabama coast. He formed a commission to come up with ideas three weeks before the tornadoes hit.
The tornadoes changed the commission's scope. Bentley said the tornadoes got every Alabama homeowner interested in the issue because the record amount of insured losses — estimated between $2.45 billion and $4.2 billion — have homeowners statewide worried about the availability and cost of coverage. That's because virtually no area of the state has been spared from either tornadoes or hurricanes since Hurricane Ivan caused $2 billion in damage in 2004.
Alfa, the state's second largest insurer, recently announced it won't renew coverage on 73,000 homes, or about one out of every six policies it has in Alabama.
Bentley said Alabama won't create a state-owned insurance plan like Florida's Citizens Property Insurance Corp., which has faced deficits while becoming the state's largest carrier. Instead, he's considering using about $100 million that Alabama expects to get from BP for the Gulf oil spill and put it in an investment account.
He anticipates homeowners could buy insurance with a high deductible, possibly $25,000, because it would be much more affordable and available. Then they would pay maybe $25 a month to belong to the investment program. If their homes were damaged or destroyed by a storm, they could borrow their $25,000 deductible from the program and repay over it several years at little or no interest.
So far, nothing is worked out with the Legislature, and there is no date for a special session.
"We will not call a special session until we have the problem worked out," he said. "We are not going to waste taxpayers' money by trying to have a special session."