FEMA Ice

Got a call from a friend who is currently deployed by FEMA on Katrina duty. He’s in, of all places, Albuquerque, New Mexico. He reports that when the New Orleans contingent of evacuees arrived at that location the Native American residents looked upon them as — food.

Seriously, the evacuation/resettlement effort is proving not to be one of our nation’s finest hours. The bungling which undoubtedly led to loss of life, and which continued through the director of FEMA being sacked, continues.

Remember folks, this is not play money we’re talking about. It’s YOUR money, but I digress.

For a couple of days now there has been this story floating around about a convoy of ice-laden trucks that have been wandering about the country like a tribe of lost Israelites. Seems somebody high up in FEMA ordered too much ice and wouldn’t admit to it, so the trucks have been moved about under the pretense that they’re doing something useful.

Now, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins is asking questions. Her letter is so well put that I’ll just reprint it here. Read it.

Sen. Collins' Letter To FEMA's Acting Director

The following is the letter from U.S. Sen. Susan Collins to acting FEMA director R. David Paulison and Lt. Gen. Carl Strock, of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
September 20, 2005

Dear Acting Undersecretary Paulison and Lt. Gen. Strock:

I am writing to request that you inquire into an apparent decision to send ice initially designated for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts to cold storage in Portland, Maine.

My office has been contacted with information that the federal government paid truck drivers $800 per day to haul bags of ice to the Gulf region for Hurricane Katrina victims, only to order them to turn around, leave the Gulf region, and drive to Portland for storage of the ice at a refrigerated storage facility.

More than 200 trucks reportedly might arrive in Portland this week to store their loads of ice. As a result, the resources spent to procure this ice and retain these truck drivers will have been diverted from Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

If accurate, this situation raises concerns about whether the federal government is using relief resources efficiently in order to provide maximum benefits possible to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Please let me know as soon as possible: (1) how may trucks carrying ice intended for Hurricane Katrina relief have been diverted to Maine; (2) why the decision occurred; (3) who made the decision; (4) how much it is costing the federal government to transport and store ice in Maine; and (5) why substantially more ice than was needed was purchased in the first place.

Sincerely, Susan M. Collins Chairman