The survivors of Hurricane Katrina all have one thing in common. They would all
unanimously say that FEMA is one big joke. Logic would agree that $87 million and
2 years later the agency would be on top of things. Well obviously Washington
does not function on logic. If you’re depending on FEMA to help in the event of a
major catastrophe, I would not suggest holding your breath.
The agency that all Americans trust in and depend on is out of sync. The Federal
Emergency Management Agency’s wheel of action is broken and is in desperate
need of repair. You would think that two years later FEMA would have gotten their
stuff together; and if you are on the other side of the fence you may be surprised
to know that nothing has improved at FEMA’s headquarters.
While the victims of Hurricane Katrina waited for government assistance FEMA was sitting on $85 million in
household goods that was meant to be distributed to needy victims of the hurricane. Talk about waste!
Material such as basic kitchen goods and sleeping necessities sat in warehouses for two years before FEMA
finally gave it away. Two years… And what’s worse, the government was spending $1 million a year to store
the material in a warehouse that was scheduled to be torn down. So that is a whopping $85 million in goods
and another $2 million to store them for two years.
I am a Katrina survivor from New Orleans and like many
other survivors I never saw any of these so called give-
away goods. When I was airlifted and brought to Arm-
strong International Airport I received one case of water
and two packs of Army rations—one for me and one for
my wife.
Most of the items meant for Katrina survivors was dished
out to dishonest people who didn’t really need the support. The people
that represent us in Washington has been bad managers of the average
American taxpayer’s money when they allowed conn artists to walk in
without proper identification and walk away with thousands of dollars. In
essence the conn artist got conned. The agency that we all put our
trust in after a disaster such as Katrina was not prepared for thousands of dishonest people who saw the
Katrina disaster as a way to get over on the government. Many American citizens gave from the kindness of
their hearts to the victims of Katrina but their gifts never reached the people who needed them the most.
Though the tents in tent city are disappearing, thousands of people are still living in abandoned buildings. It
seems that the honest people got shafted while the dishonest and money hungry—people who know how to
work the system got the royal government hook-up. Pallets at the Fort Worth warehouse were piled high with
boxes of buckets, boots, cleansers, mops and brooms. There were stacks of tents, lanterns and camp stoves
for people still displaced, as well as clothing, bedding, plates and utensils.
FEMA confirmed that it had kept the merchandise in storage for the past two years and then gave it away to
cities, schools, fire departments and nonprofit agencies such as food banks. In all, General Services
Administration records show, FEMA gave away 121 truckloads of material. This is one of the reasons why many
victims of Katrina say that hand-outs from Katrina was racially censored. Rather than give the items to those
poor black people, who needed them, FEMA decided to sit on the material for two years and then give it to
anyone other than the people it was meant to be given to.
Eric Dunbar may be reached at Eric@vinepublication.com
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