In November, FEMA’s electronic ZIP code data arrived, a full two months after Kestin had first requested it. Database Editor Maines immediately got to work. “It’s like Christmas when data arrives like this for somebody like me,” Maines later recalled. ^[33] It would be Maines’ job to analyze the data so that the team could report to its readers what FEMA’s money—by then $28 million—was buying for the residents of Miami-Dade County.

But Maines found that the data was arranged in a way that would make it difficult to interpret. Maines recalls: “It was actually not one table of how much money goes to the ZIP code... It’s 12 tables total... and a little bit complicated determining what it was that FEMA paid for.” Maines was confident, however, that within a few days he could determine how to use the spreadsheets.

When he did, he found to his gratification that the data were quite detailed, showing how much money FEMA had dispatched to each claimant—identified only by claim number—and for which specific damaged items, such as furniture or appliances. By far the most frequently occurring item on the list was televisions—FEMA had paid for 5,260. Maines also added up 1,440 air conditioners, 865 refrigerators, and a host of other items including toys, clothing, furniture, and washers and dryers. ^[34]

Maines Analyzes the Data

The figures also showed that FEMA had paid for a funeral. Since the reporters had had a difficult time locating any storm-damaged property, Kestin and O’Matz doubted the storm had caused any deaths, and verified this easily with a phone call to the Miami-Dade County medical examiner’s office. Maines found that FEMA had dispensed $7.9 million worth of rental assistance, in some cases to individuals whose only listed damage was a broken television or radio. According to the reports, inspectors had even blamed damage on tornado winds, ice, and snow—laughable claims in Miami-Dade County after Hurricane Frances. ^[35]

The data allowed Maines to produce a color-coded map of aid distribution by ZIP code in Miami-Dade County as a guide for the other two reporters on the team. Kestin and O’Matz had previously provided isolated examples of generous FEMA aid in poor areas of Miami-Dade, but FEMA’s data offered proof that the agency had dispensed disaster relief money primarily in low-income ZIP codes. Maines showed that seven low-income ZIP codes had received more money than the other 67 Miami-Dade ZIP codes combined. ^[36]

Kestin and O’Matz again ventured into Miami-Dade neighborhoods to interview residents, this time with a clearer idea where they would most likely find aid recipients. The manager at a check-cashing liquor store, who was also a landlord, recounted cashing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of FEMA checks, including one for over $4,000 for damage at one of his properties. “I own the place and I know there wasn’t... damage,” he told O’Matz. ^[37]

The data also showed the standard amount FEMA paid for given household items—$347.34 for a television, for example, and $181.75 for a microwave. O’Matz and Kestin thought it would make an interesting story to report what one could buy with FEMA’s standard grants. Visiting local retailers, they showed that in many cases FEMA’s standard payout was several times the cost of the original damaged item. They found that one could purchase nine phones for what FEMA gave to replace one. ^[38]

On Sunday, November 21, 2004, the Sun-Sentinel published a three-story package about FEMA. Part One gave the results of O’Matz’s and Kestin’s continued reporting in the poor ZIP codes that had received the most money. Part Two was a list of the number and types of items FEMA had paid to replace in Miami-Dade. And Part Three detailed the disparity between predetermined FEMA aid money for several items and the amount that such items typically cost at local retailers.