- Another FEMA Disaster

Written by Ann Shibler

Wednesday, 17 September 2008 14:04

Michael Chertoff flew to Houston Wednesday, September 17, to supervise yet another government-sponsored disaster, not Ike, but the resulting massively funded mess, as thousands of people complained about the lack of supplies and supply centers.

If private interests, charitable organizations, and local governments had been allowed to direct the relief efforts in the first place, instead of the gargantuan Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency, that has yet to demonstrate it can manage any emergency relief efforts effectively or efficiently, things would probably be further along in the process to clean up and start over in Houston.

Calling FEMA’s lack of action a “misstep,” Chertoff was planning to meet with local officials about the situation, and to correct the missteps. However, the Mayor of Houston, Bill White, and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, had already taken things into their own hands by the time he arrived in town.

On Tuesday evening White and Emmett started directing the distribution of millions of pallets of water, food, and ice, along with tarps to protect roofs. By ordering trucks to drive through the night, they had the goods arriving in the city by daybreak on Wednesday morning so distribution could begin. They declined to talk about the specifics of the delay and poor management by FEMA.

Online bloggers from the Houston area tell of fights with FEMA. They insist a FEMA rep sent the refrigerated trucks away from the area and that the Mayor was getting the FEMA rep’s name in order to assist him in seeking “alternative employment.” Other bloggers are seeing to their elderly neighbors, furnishing them with potable water and food, as they should. Others speak of a media blackout on the worst hit areas.

Yet Chertoff still insists there have been no delays in getting people the supplies they need, but the evidence tells a different story. The storm hit on Saturday morning, the supply trucks only rolled into Houston because of White and Emmett, on Wednesday morning, so his figuring might be a little bit off. He was rightfully pinned and intensely questioned by reporters, so much so that he finally refused to give specifics about further supply arrival times.

Chertoff’s tough talk — “not afraid to kick someone in the rear,” — while crude, will achieve nothing. Instead, he should remove himself from the area, the state, and the agency, leaving it to die a mismanaged but final death.