Officials Say that FEMA will Soon be Fixing Their Distribution Mistakes

A Federal Emergency Management Agency official Thursday defended the agency’s handling of millions of dollars worth of supplies meant for survivors of the 2005 hurricanes, but pledged to check with states before any future giveaways. FEMA had given away more than $18 million in household goods… amassed to help resettle people who lost homes in hurricanes Katrina and Rita… as surplus property while aid agencies reported the goods were still needed on the battered Gulf Coast.

According to FEMA’s Eric Smith: “The stockpiles that had been sitting in a Fort Worth, Texas, warehouse until February already had been offered to Gulf Coast residents in the aftermath of the storm and were returned to FEMA without being claimed. We didn’t receive them and not issue them. They were returned to us after they were not used from different areas.”

Senator Mary Landrieu said FEMA never told state officials or relief agencies involved in recovery efforts that the “living kits” meant to resettle hurricane survivors were still available. “How can people ask for something they don’t know exists?”

To me, this is an absolute outrage, and I sincerely hope that FEMA is going to make things right. Victims of tragedies such as the hurricanes were should not have to go researching for help. The help should be made available to them. FEMA should have… and hopefully will, in the future… made people aware of what they could do to help them.