Congress sees room for improvement in FEMA

The lack of disaster relief for victims of Hurricane Katrina were "a failure of the public sector," said Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) in a hearing. The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee met to discuss how disaster relief went after hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said that while there were major improvements in the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), some aspects of the response were not good enough. She said that 1,000 of the poorest citizens were put on buses with no idea where they were going before Hurricane Gustav hit. She said that FEMA and the Red Cross were unprepared for a "large-scale disaster."

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said that preparations for Hurricane Gustav were an improvement on Hurricane Katrina. She said that 97.5 percent of the population evacuated New Orleans this year while only around 90 percent were evacuated before Katrina. He also said that New Orleans was repopulated only four days after the disaster. However, he did mention that the city ran out of supplies that FEMA was supposed to provide including water and food. He said the United States was still playing "Russian roulette" with the lives of its citizens in the New Orleans region.

Deputy FEMA administrator Harvey Johnson said that Hurricanes Gustav and Ike posed "a worst nightmare scenario." Johnson said the response by FEMA as well as state governments restored the confidence of U.S. citizens in disaster relief.

Americans “deserve a better FEMA”

Almost three years after Hurricane Katrina, the government is still discovering critical governmental flaws, according to Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) at a hearing before the Joint Homeland Security Committee to discuss the delivery of donated goods to catastrophe survivors. Thompson said that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not properly manage and distribute the donated supplies after Hurricane Katrina.

Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said that it was important to ascertain why some goods purchased for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief were supposedly never delivered and failed to be used for their intended purposes. Landrieu conceded that FEMA has made some progress but said that FEMA must learn to be proactive and more collaborative. Landrieu said that Americans “deserve a better FEMA.”

Eric Smith, Assistant Administrator of Logistics Management at FEMA, said that there have been inaccurate reports of the lack of distribution of relief goods. According to Smith, the materials and supplies held in storage and deemed to be in excess of FEMA’s needs are valued at $18.5 million and not $85 million as reported. He attributed the error in value to a manual miscalculation. Smith said that FEMA continues to provide livings kits to help those in transition out of FEMA housing.

Carlos Castillo, Assistant Administrator of Disaster Assistance of FEMA, agreed that FEMA has encountered uncoordinated shipments and volunteers. Castillo attributed this to the volunteers being overwhelmed and the fact that many states may not have the proper infrastructure to support large donations. Castillo said that even with FEMA’s shortcomings, it has distributed more than $50 billion since Hurricane Katrina and has provided more than 90,000 units of temporary housing. Castillo added that FEMA remains committed to those affected by the disaster.