States seek flood repairs in budget
The waters have yet to recede in flooded towns along the Mississippi River, but many are thinking about reconstruction. Jeff Tyler reports repairs will challenge states that already had trouble balancing budgets before.
A house is surrounded by flood water from the Mississippi River in Foley, Mo. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
More on Fed. Budget/Govt. Spending
TEXT OF STORY
Renita Jablonski: The Mississippi River continues to threaten homes and businesses in Midwest. The weather forecast calls for more heavy rains, and that could cause a second round of flooding. While the waters have yet to recede, many are already thinking about reconstruction. Marketplace's Jeff Tyler has more.
Jeff Tyler: The American Red Cross offers more than emergency relief. Spokesperson Laura Howe says the organization helps flood victims identify recovery services.
Laura Howe: If you've never been a disaster victim before and you've never really had to ask anyone for help, you don't know where to go to get it.
For the states, the challenge isn't finding services, but a way to pay for them.
Jared Bernstein: They don't really have the resources available to help them dig their way out of this problem.
That's Jared Bernstein with the Economic Policy Institute. He says states in the Midwest were having trouble balancing their budgets before the floods. Now they're looking at massive infrastructure repairs.
Bernstein: Road repairs, the hospitals, the playgrounds, the schools -- that's where you see state budgets already pinched before this stuff even hit. And I think that's where federal relief will be the most important.
Bernstein estimates that flood damage will run into the billions.
I'm Jeff Tyler for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Chennai, 08/01/2008
I am Suresh from India,interested to work in relief operation works. I have 29 years of work exp. in India and abroad with CARE in logistics and disaster/emergency operation.
regards,
suresh
9840643690
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