FEMA under fire for handling of disaster claims.

Byline: Sally Kestin and Megan O'Matz

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. _ From Mobile, Ala., to Detroit to rural eastern North Carolina, the federal government has approved millions in assistance to areas largely unaffected by disasters, even after local officials warned of possible fraud.

The $29.2 million sent so far to residents of Miami-Dade for Hurricane Frances, the Labor Day storm that struck 100 miles to the north, is not an anomaly, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel found in its continuing investigation.

"It's just the same nationwide," said Paulette Williams, emergency management director in Mobile County.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency gave Mobile residents $29.5 million for flooding last year, despite repeated calls and letters from Williams saying that the county suffered no damage.

In southeastern North Carolina, FEMA has approved thousands of Frances claims in counties where the storm caused only minor problems.

"We didn't have any damage," said Mitchell Byrd, emergency management director in Bladen County, where residents have collected $2.5 million. "We've got the biggest case of fraud you've ever seen."

Officials in Wayne County, Mich. learned from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that more than 30,000 of their residents collected $33.9 million for storms in May and June.

"That's just staggering," said Mark Hammond, Wayne County's deputy director for homeland security and emergency management. "I could see 2,000 homes, but not 30,000."

A city councilwoman in Detroit, the biggest city in Wayne County, barely remembered the storm. "I know it happened, but I…