After more than a day of silence, the State of San Andreas has finally spoken. And what it said has left evacuees, first responders and even some state employees stunned.
In a statement signed by Harlan J. Mercer, Chief of Staff to the Governor, and issued from a “temporary seat of government” inside the Fort Zancudo military reservation, the State announced that all disaster assistance is suspended with immediate effect, that it recognises only fourteen deaths, and that it takes no responsibility for the evacuation of Los Santos to Paleto Bay.
The Governor, the statement says, is “safe, well rested” and leading the State “from a secure location”.
No aid until “no earlier than” next year
Every form of state help, including emergency grants, temporary housing and recovery funding, is frozen until a “Comprehensive Seismic Eligibility Review” is finished. The State says that will be “no earlier than the second quarter of the next fiscal year”.
The State has also refused to ask for federal help, saying it “would imply that San Andreas is unable to manage its own affairs, and would be seen as a victory for Liberty City”.
Fourteen deaths, officially
Weazel News has reported that at least 600 people are feared dead. The State says it “does not recognise casualty figures circulated by unlicensed media” or “private individuals with telephones”, and puts the verified count at fourteen.
Every other death, it says, is being reclassified by the State Coroner as “pre-existing, lifestyle-related, or firearm-related”. Firearm deaths, the statement adds, are “a local policing matter” and not the State’s responsibility.
Apply in person, inside the zone you are not allowed to enter
Once the review is over, claims will only be accepted in person, on Form SA-1109 in triplicate and blue ink, at the Department of Public Records in Pillbox Hill.
Pillbox Hill is inside the Evacuation Zone. Entering it without permission carries a $25,000 fine, which the State says will be “deducted from any future award”. Anyone who stayed in Los Santos after the evacuation order is ineligible altogether, because they “chose to be affected”.
Captain Kellow’s motel payments “under investigation”
Hours after Weazel News reported that Sheriff’s Captain James Kellow has been paying for evacuees’ motel rooms out of his own pocket, the State has referred what it calls “payments made by a county law enforcement official” to the San Andreas Ethics Commission as “unauthorised expenditure that creates an unfair expectation of public generosity”.
Motel owners in Paleto Bay have been told that rooms booked “outside approved channels will not be reimbursed” and that they should “verify each guest’s ability to pay”. Families we spoke to this morning fear they could be turned out as soon as tonight.
The statement also announces a 22:00 to 06:00 curfew in Paleto Bay, and says any gathering of more than six evacuees now needs a permit.
Your home may already belong to someone else
The most alarming section concerns property. Under what the State calls the Emergency Land Stewardship Act, any property left unattended for more than 72 hours during a declared emergency is “presumed abandoned” and may be handed to the State’s “recovery partners”. Most of Los Santos was evacuated on Friday night. The 72 hours run out on Monday evening.
The partners are Maze Bank, which will offer “Resilience Recovery Loans” at 24.9% APR to people who can prove income “from a workplace that still exists”; Merryweather Security Consulting, hired to guard state and partner property inside the zone and authorised to use “proportionate force”, a term the State says is “under review”; and Dynasty 8 Real Estate, which will lead a “Vinewood Renewal Initiative” to reimagine Los Santos as “a premium, lower-density lifestyle destination”.
Housing campaigners told Weazel News the plan amounts to “the largest land grab in San Andreas history, carried out while the owners are sleeping in motel car parks”.
“Enhanced Civic Supervision”
The State insists there is no martial law in Los Santos, only “Enhanced Civic Supervision, which differs from martial law in name”. On the Mission Row crash, it says: “No aircraft was lost over Mission Row. The State does not comment on aircraft that were not lost.”
An attack on the heroes
The statement goes out of its way to criticise the people this newsroom named as the heroes of the disaster. It accuses “certain broadcasters” of “emotional reporting” and says stories about rescuers encourage “unlicensed rescue activity”.
Fire Chief Cole Walker, who kept pulling people from the rubble after being shot, is not named, but the State says “a senior fire official returning to active duty after sustaining gunshot wounds is a serious workplace safety violation” now under review. It also says it “fully supports” the Los Santos Police Department over the suspension of the officer known as Ethel.
“Those who choose to live on a fault line accept the fault”
The statement ends with a message from the Governor, who calls earthquakes “a natural and much-loved part of life in San Andreas” and says the State “will not be held responsible” for the San Andreas Fault, because it “is named after the State, not the other way around”.
Residents are encouraged to see the disaster as “an opportunity to downsize”. The Governor also announces a limited edition Los Santos Resilience Commemorative Coin, on sale now for $49.99 plus shipping, with proceeds going to the review that is holding up the aid.
The next update, the statement says, “will be issued when the review permits”.
Reaction
“They’re calling my brother a lifestyle death,” said one woman at an evacuee centre in Paleto Bay. “He was under a building on Vespucci. What lifestyle is that?”
A motel manager on the Great Ocean Highway, who asked not to be named, said: “I’ve got forty families here. The Captain paid for the rooms. Now the State says I should check if they can pay. They can’t. They’ve got nothing. Am I supposed to put kids in the car park?”
Weazel News has asked the Sheriff’s Department, the Los Santos Fire Department, Maze Bank, Merryweather and Dynasty 8 for comment. The Governor’s press office says replies to its statement “are not monitored”.
