Office of the Independent Blogger

Good morning, new FEMA — say hello to the old FEMA.

OFFICIALS AT the Federal Emergency Management Agency are patting themselves on the back for a deal they reached with Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe (D) to give some of the agency trailers that have been rotting in the great outdoors in Hope, Ark., to people displaced by tornadoes that ripped through the state 14 days ago. Spokesman Aaron Walker told us that this was “indicative of the new FEMA.” He’s got to be kidding.

Mr. Beebe asked for emergency relief in a letter to the president three days after the Feb. 24 twisters, and all he heard back were the sounds of crickets. This was especially galling since Alabama and Georgia, also ravaged by tornadoes on March 1 and 2, got federal disaster designation within 48 hours. So, Rep. Mike Ross (D-Ark.) began making some noise. He took to the floor of the House three times this week to decry the lack of federal response and to call on FEMA to make 150 of the 8,420 never-used, post-Hurricane Katrina trailers in Hope available to families in nearby Dumas.

When we reached Mr. Walker on Thursday to ask what was up, he had news to share: 23 refurbished trailers and seven “travel trailers” (something like campers pulled behind a car) would be made available to the state. And that underwhelming generosity came with a catch: Arkansas was on the hook for hauling and installing the mobile homes. Mr. Beebe has budgeted $100,000 in state funds to bring the trailers from Hope to Dumas and set them up with electricity, sewer hook-ups and other necessities.

Meanwhile, late Thursday, the agency rejected Mr. Beebe’s request for emergency relief. Among the reasons cited for this action, including the Dumas disaster being deemed “small,” was the state’s $844 million budget surplus. Never mind that Alabama and Georgia also have multimillion-dollar surpluses. We give you all these details of one state’s tussle with FEMA because it suggests that the “new” FEMA is no better than the old one. The agency that bungled the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and that promised to step up its game is giving itself high-fives for nickel-and-diming people in need.

Bush should bring back the legend of James Lee Witt. Barring that, Congress should tear FEMA down from the ground up and rebuild it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 10th, 2007 at 7:58 am and is filed under Outside Retort (Current Affairs).