the obligatory political post

[mamajoan]

My flist is exploding with links about the evilness of FEMA, and generally speaking the disorganized/ineffective nature of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort; and I thought I'd try to collect those links here in case there's anyone who's still in the dark about some of this stuff.

From Daily Kos: 1000 highly trained firefighters come down south thinking they're going to be helping rescue people. Instead, they find themselves doing "community relations," i.e., handing out the FEMA 800-number and helping Dubya look good. And here's a link to the original story in the Salt Lake Tribune.

From the Washington Post: Lots of foreign countries offered aid immediately after Katrina, but much of that aid has yet to be delivered because FEMA bureaucracy hasn't "processed" it yet.

From CNN: FEMA mistakenly transports evacuees to Charleston, West Virginia, instead of Charleston, South Carolina.

From the NY Times: Two Navy helicopter pilots are reprimanded for using their copters to rescue stranded victims. (if you don't want to register with NY Times, bugmenot.com is your friend)

From Reuters: FEMA doesn't want reporters photographing the recovery of dead bodies.

From Boingboing: FEMA to non-Windows users: Drop dead. The bottom line: If you don't have IE6 on Windows, you can't file a claim for disaster assistance on FEMA's website. Also, xochiquetzl points out that the FEMA website is also in violation of federal legislation requiring federal websites to be accessible to the disabled. So blind Katrina victims can drop dead too, as far as FEMA cares.

From MSNBC Katrinablog: Katrina victims seeking FEMA help can go to FEMA's website or call an 800-number to get a claim form. Given that many such victims don't have access to phones or the Internet, that's bad enough. But here's the kicker: After you call or get to the website, FEMA will ... mail a claim form to your home address. That's right! Even though the USPS may have suspended all mail delivery to your area (map showing status of USPS delivery in Katrina-affected areas) and in fact your entire home may currently be completely submerged underwater, FEMA will mail you a form! Which you can then fill out and return at your leisure! Lucky you!

Another Daily Kos post giving a laundry list of FEMA incompetencies including:

FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations
FEMA turns away experienced firefighters
FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks
FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel
FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food
FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans
FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck
FEMA turns away generators
FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"

I think that's enough for now, don't you? Are you all nauseated right along with me yet? OK, good.

Just one more. If you want to help and have stuff to donate: http://wheretosenddonationsforkatrina.blogspot.com/

Comments

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

In the words of Kennis Koldewyn: Incompetance anywhere is a threat to everyone everywhere. In this case, it's just much more clear.

If CNN were covering some of THIS rather than 24/7 about grief that I already know about, I'd feel better about the coverage... But then again, we already know that I am cold and uncaring...

[hawkeye7.livejournal.com]

Foreign Aid the the US:

It seems that there was initial reluctance to accept aid from other countries which the State Departmnt swept away after a few days. Now we have the spectacle of the US receiving aid from countries like Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

In the wake of the Tsunami in Indonesia last year, Australia pledged 1.3 billion dollars. A little over a tenth of this has been received (pretty good by disaster relief standards: the town of Bam in Iran was promised $1 billion a few years back by the world and got only $1 million) but Indonesia has decided that it doesn't have to be spent in Tsunami devastated areas.

[kneidlach.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for that link. I've been frustrated, because I'm going to donate some money but I have so much STUFF I could donate, too. Glad to know there are places that can use it. The moment we announced we were starting to TTC, friends gave us so many hand-me-down baby clothes. I'm going to send most of them down to NOLA/Mississippi and probably will buy a bunch of bottles, wipes, and other baby-related stuff at the dollar store to send down, too.

[muscadinegirl.livejournal.com]

And they cite gangs as the reason. Bull. Even if it is true, if they had responded quickly and confidently enough, no "gangs" would ever have gotten the idea that they could get by with anything. They knew the storm was coming; they could have had people set on ready before the levee ever broke. They complain that NO officials waited two days after the storm; it was two days after the storm before the levee broke.

I have relatively little experience with hurricanes and storms, but remembering the flooding in my own part of the world, I could have told them that the worst would come from the run-off from north of the city. Idiots.