by Lisa Myers, NBC News
Sept. 16, 2005
Initially, after Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, was slow in getting ice and water to victims. NBC News decided to look at the ice situation now, as a microcosm of the relief effort, and found that FEMA ordered plenty of ice -- but getting it to those who need it has been chaotic.
Outside New Orleans, Lori Rosete waited an hour to get ice to preserve food and chill her mother’s insulin.
“We just need this to keep coming,” said Rosete, “and do what we have to do, you know? Ration until we can't ration no more.”
Friday, NBC News located hundreds of trucks full of ice sitting around the country: in Maryland, Missouri, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana. Some had been on trips to nowhere for the past two weeks.
Elizabeth Palmer is a truck driver in Carthage, Mo.
“We really don’t understand,” said Palmer, “why FEMA is sending to all these different locations and just putting us in cold storage.”
Dan Wessels’ Cool Express ice company has worked with FEMA for years. He says he's never seen anything like it -- only one-third of his trucks have actually unloaded the ice that FEMA ordered.
“The left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing,” said Wessels. “The right hand is telling us to go to the left hand. We get to the left hand, they tell us to go back."
For example, one truck of ice left Oshkosh, Wis., on Sept. 6, and went to Louisiana. Then it was sent by FEMA to Georgia but was rerouted before it arrived to South Carolina, then to Cumberland, Md., where it has been sitting for three days at an added cost to taxpayers so far of $9,000.
Multiplied by hundreds of trucks, this sort of dispatching could mean millions of dollars are being wasted.
"From a trucking aspect, I'm happy. Keep it coming," said Wessels. "From a taxpayer aspect, it's sick."
A FEMA official says, in the rush to respond to Katrina, the agency ordered too much ice. Rather than let it melt, they sent it to other parts of the country to be ready for the next hurricane.
But Wessels says FEMA just ordered more ice and re-routed some of his trucks again -- to Idaho.
As originally published
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There's much more than this at Unknown News.
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Aug. 29, 2005:
As Katrina strikes, FEMA urges first-responders not to respond
Sept. 2, 2005:
Who is this incompetent doofus running FEMA?
by Rachel R., Unknown News
Sept. 2, 2005:
Emergency crews turned back by FEMA:
They lacked "the required paperwork"
Sept. 2, 2005:
FEMA won't allow airboats to rescue Katrina victims
Sept. 2, 2005:
Troops sent to New Orleans for "combat operation"
with comments by Rebecca and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
FEMA chief had to be 'asked to resign' from previous job with horse club
Sept. 3, 2005:
FEMA turned back 500-boat rescue flotilla
Sept. 3, 2005:
Bush declares "zero tolerance" for New Orleans
survivors seeking food and water
Sept. 3, 2005:
Thousands of New Orleans refugees held at gunpoint,
not allowed to leave growing hell of Superdome
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
Homeland Security stops Red Cross from bringing food for New Orleans
with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 3, 2005:
Police official says Nat'l Guardsmen 'played cards' amid New Orleans chaos
Sept. 4, 2005:
Red tape keeps hundreds of doctors from helping hurricane survivors
Sept. 4, 2005:
Homeland Security Chief says New Orleans disaster couldn't have been predicted
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 4, 2005:
College sophomores used fake press passes to circumvent FEMA's rescue roadblocks
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 4, 2005:
Navy hospital & water purification ship anchored on nearby coast, underused
Sept. 4, 2005:
FEMA turns down water, fuel for New Orleans, cuts area's emergency communication line
Sept. 5, 2005:
FEMA "dragging its feet" as businesses try to help hurricane, flood victims
Sept. 5, 2005:
Firefighters waited five days for FEMA's OK to enter New Orleans, then gave up, returned to Houston
Sept. 6, 2005:
Now is the time for pointing fingers
by John M., Unknown News
Sept. 6, 2005:
No food drops planned for New Orleans
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
U.S. military smuggled white vacationers out of New Orleans Superdome squalor
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 6, 2005:
As New Orleans waits, FEMA sends firefighters to seminar, assigns them to hand out fliers
Sept. 6, 2005:
New Orleans during the disaster:
Police lied to survivors, blocked escape from city
by Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, EMS NetworkFrom inside New Orleans as the crisis worsened, these survivors found that the authorities were never any help, and often an ugly enemy. =H&HH= | LINK
Sept. 6, 2005:
FEMA head specifically ordered lackadaisical response to "near catastrophic" Hurricane Katrina
Sept. 7, 2005:
International offers of help came immediately, but U.S. approval was delayed by days
Sept. 7, 2005:
FEMA's top-level management stacked with Bush's cronies
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 7, 2005:
Navy pilots reprimanded for rescuing huricane victims
Sept. 8, 2005:
FEMA contractors arrested for looting
with comments by Underground Panther in the Sky
Sept. 8, 2005:
Katrina survivors "evacuated" at the point of a gun
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 8, 2005:
Canadian search-and-rescue team first to reach New Orleans suburb
Sept. 9, 2005:
"Mission accomplished" in New Orleans
by Harry Highwater, Unknown News
Sept. 9, 2005:
Homeowners' guns confiscated in New Orleans, police threaten evacuation by force
with comments by Sir J and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 10, 2005:
FEMA sent back German plane carrying fifteen tons of food for hurricane victims
Sept. 11, 2005:
"Area's power restoration was set back days"
In devastated Mississippi town, Cheney made restoring oil pipeline's pumping power "a presidential directive"
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 11, 2005:
New Orleans doctors had to kill their patients
Sept. 11, 2005:
Sheriff threatens to arrest FEMA officials
Countermands FEMA order that stores remain closed
Sept. 11, 2005:
Bush signs executive order lowering wages across Katrina-devastated areas
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
Drug Enforcement Agency plays key role in door-to-door searches of New Orleans homes
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 12, 2005:
Racist police blocked bridge and forced evacuees back at gunpoint
with comments by Chris M. and Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 13, 2005:
Chertoff delayed federal response to Katrina disaster, memo shows
Sept. 13, 2005:
As bodies are recovered, reporters are threatened: 'No photos, no stories'
Sept. 14, 2005:
Feds delayed Nat'l Guard's hurricane response for days
Sept. 16, 2005:
Mayor of Gretna says “whole community” backs bridge-blocking racist police
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 16, 2005:
Doctor says FEMA ordered him to stop treating hurricane victims
Sept. 19, 2005:
Bush OKs racial, other discrimination in rebuilding of shattered Gulf Coast
with comments by Helen & Harry Highwater
Sept. 20, 2005:
New Orleans homes searched by "task force" after residents have been evacuated
with comments by Bruce, Rebecca, and Helen & Harry Highwater
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