Although the work is not complete in what could be a months-long process of recovery, the response is much improved from the last major storm to make landfall in Alabama, according to U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope).

During an interview with Mobile radio’s FM Talk 106.5 on Monday, Byrne remarked on the efficiency of the response in terms of dollars from the federal government.

He compared Hurricane Sally to Hurricane Ivan, which made landfall just west of Gulf Shores.

“As of Friday, the numbers were we’ve already had 43,000 people from Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia Counties request individual assistance,” he said. “And this early on, they’ve already put out $17.5 million to people, and this is early on. So, there will be a lot more money coming out from there. We’re getting a pretty good response from the National Flood Insurance Program, and believe it or, even SBA is beginning to put out money down here. So I’ve got to say from a federal point of view, FEMA has done everything I’ve asked to do, and the state’s asked to do, and they’ve been pretty timely.”

“There’s no doubt about it,” Byrne replied. “This is a much better, much quicker, more effective response than we had to Ivan, which is the last major storm we had to deal with. We had a lot of flooding from Katrina. But the wind and storm damage really was worse with Ivan. So, I’m pretty pleased with it. I was the state senator for Baldwin County when Ivan came across. And I think we’ve improved both the pre-storm and post-storm actions. Now, nothing is never perfect with a hurricane, after all. But I think they’ve done pretty well at all three levels at the federal and the local level, and I’m very pleased with it.”

@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.