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Fifteen months after Hurricane Katrina, some people are still fighting FEMA to get benefits.

KHOU-TV

Vernon August communicates to FEMA through an interpreter online.

It can be a challenge to navigate through the bureaucracy -- much more so if you have a disability.

If you look closely at Adrian Monguia’s hands you can pick up some of the intensity.

“We had two days, we were waiting for the helicopters.  I was just crying.  I thought we’re going to die.   No. No. No.  We’ll be Ok.  We’ll live,” the Katrina evacuee recalled through an interpreter. 

But it takes the voice of the deaf sign interpreter to make clear what really happened as she escaped New Orleans and when she arrived at the Dome in Houston.

“We had so many problems with communication,” Monguia signed.

In fact she and Vernon August are still having problems.

“I’ve been trying my best to see how I can get the best I can do.  Communication with FEMA, I need a person.  I need a place to live.  I’ve been trying to get through the system,” August explained.

On the day 11 News was there, August tried communicating to FEMA through an interpreter online.

He wanted to tell someone that he believes he and Monguia are properly certified but somehow the apartment isn’t getting the money.

He was told there is a computer problem.

According to officials, the computers were down for an upgrade.

When 11 News contacted FEMA, someone there offered to work with the couple.

But one advocate for the deaf insists each step has complications, including the paperwork.

“The English language, most culturally deaf people, meaning that sign language is their first language, are not proficient in written language, in written English.  You’re looking at maybe second or third grade level,” explained Detra Stewart, deaf advocate.

They just want some sign things are getting better.