Kestin and O’Matz did not know when FEMA’s ZIP code data would arrive, but they knew that federal agencies routinely took weeks or even months to process FOIA requests. However, their story had momentum now. In the absence of new information from FEMA, what could they cover? Should they simply select Miami-Dade neighborhoods at random and try to find aid recipients by knocking on doors? Did it make more sense to wait for FEMA’s data and concentrate on another angle of the story, and if so, what angle?

On Monday, October 11, the team met to discuss their options. They decided that Kestin and O’Matz should write a follow-up article tracking reactions to their first story from both Florida legislators and FEMA officials. The two spent the day conducting phone interviews. A spokeswoman for FEMA’s southeast region suggested that Miami-Dade households could have sustained unobservable damage—that perhaps power surges had destroyed appliances, or residents had damaged their vehicles while attempting to flee the storm. She also claimed the high amount of aid to Miami-Dade County could simply reflect a high concentration of uninsured homeowners there. FEMA covered only uninsured losses. It was possible that more homeowners in counties nearer the storm’s landfall had insurance, resulting in fewer claims to FEMA even though storm damage in such counties may have been more costly. Several congressmen meanwhile told the reporters that they were concerned enough by the questions the paper had raised that they would seek federal investigations into FEMA. Representative Clay Shaw (R-Fort Lauderdale) told the reporters that immediately after he had read about the Miami-Dade claims in the Sun-Sentinel , he had written to FEMA Director Michael Brown to say that he was “disgusted” with the agency and had enclosed the October 10 article with his letter.

Michael Brown: Amerca's Investigative Reports.
© Exposé 2006

As Monday wore on, the reporters realized they were close to having enough material for a follow-up story. Kestin and O’Matz had interviewed FEMA representatives who defended the agency. However, as Representative Shaw had specifically mentioned FEMA head Brown, O’Matz felt obliged to give him an opportunity to comment in advance of publication. It was Columbus Day, a federal holiday; he was not at FEMA headquarters. So she tracked him down at home. “It is a little tricky to find a phone number in the Washington DC area for a Michael Brown,” O’Matz noted later. ^[23] She enlisted the help of a Sun-Sentinel library researcher, who managed to find his phone number in a specialized database that provided personal and professional details that confirmed his identity. “He was quite upset with me,” O’Matz said later of her brief conversation with Brown. “He did not answer any questions in that call... He hung up.” ^[24]

Second story. The Sun-Sentinel published its second story on Tuesday, October 12, two days after the first. It detailed lawmakers’ reaction to the suspicious Miami-Dade damage claims, as well as FEMA representatives’ explanations for what might have happened. The same day, NBC Nightly News Correspondent Kerry Sanders interviewed O’Matz and Kestin on national television. He built on their reporting to draw attention to the likelihood that Miami-Dade residents were defrauding the federal government on a massive scale. ^[25]

NBC Nightly News: Hurricane Loophole

Though they had published only two stories, O’Matz, Kestin, and Maines had been working long hours for weeks to scrutinize the available data and to get as comprehensive a picture as possible of Frances’ effects on Miami-Dade. Demma, too, had thrown himself into the investigation, guiding the reporters, suggesting sources, and pushing them to publish. The NBC story was a satisfying recognition of their work. “It was crazy,” recalls Kestin. “We were working at least 10 hours a day. But it was so much fun. We had this huge adrenaline rush going... We were on national TV already.”

The national exposure brought immediate rewards. Within 24 hours, several area residents had contacted the paper with information about the Miami-Dade claims. As the reporters considered in which direction to pursue the story next, one phone call yielded a tip that could prove critical—if the reporters could prove it. A Miami-Dade resident called to suggest that they scrutinize the county’s low-income public housing. The anonymous tipster, Kestin recalls, said: “Everybody in the projects is getting FEMA money.”