Katrina - Simply unacceptable!!

[Flasch186]

It shouldnt be soo long ago that we have moved on. The government (whichever one that is) needs to get their heads out of their proverbial asses. The FED should step up and take charge...frickin drive the trucks to the Superdomw, frickin drive the trailers to the designated areas, frickin cut the checks for the trailers (that are cheaper), just make shit happen....finger pointing instead of action is silly in this regard.




Katrina victims: 'Living in barns'
Parish president blasts FEMA over temporary homes

Tuesday, December 13, 2005; Posted: 12:38 p.m. EST (17:38 GMT)



(CNN) -- More than three months after thousands of people lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina, local and federal officials are trading blame over the slow delivery of trailer housing.

"We got a serious situation in St. Bernard Parish," its president, Henry "Junior" Rodriguez, told CNN on Tuesday.

"We got people living in tents and automobiles. We got people living in barns. We got people living in their houses -- in tents," he said on "American Morning."

"This is the beginning of winter. This is unacceptable."

Tuesday morning, it was 41 degrees in New Orleans.

A site with 50 to 55 trailers is operational, Rodriguez said, and another may be able to handle 45 trailers within a couple days. But the 100 or so trailers fall far short of the 12,000 trailers needed for the number of people estimated to return home, he added.

Adding to Rodriguez's frustration is the fact that 1,400 trailers are sitting unused in St. Bernard Parish. The parish ordered them from a private contractor days after the hurricane hit on August 29, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has not agreed to pay for them.

There are also more than 5,000 FEMA mobile homes in Arkansas sitting unused, CNN has learned.

FEMA responded Tuesday, telling CNN it is ready to deliver 125,000 trailers to the area but that parish officials "still have to identify places to put them."

The agency said that St. Bernard Parish "has identified 1,000 sites for trailers ... 500 of them have already been installed, and the rest are in the works."

"It is understandable that the process can be frustrating, given that basic services, including electricity, were just recently restored," FEMA's statement read.

"While most of the housing stock in St. Bernard's was decimated by Katrina, several options exist to ensure that people have a safe, warm place to stay."

The dispute over the trailers is the latest in a long line of bitter battles between local, state and federal officials over who bears responsibility for a breakdown in services that left people stranded, homeless and sometimes dying in the wake of the storm.

St. Bernard Homeland Security Chief Larry Ingargiola said he calls FEMA representatives three to four times a day and cannot persuade the agency to move faster in paying for the trailers. "If they don't pay for the trailers, I can't put the trailers out," he said.

Rodriguez said he and other parish officials identified 6,500 trailers, each at a price $1,500 less than what FEMA is paying for trailers of the same type. Another list he provided had 4,500 trailers that are $3,000 cheaper than what FEMA pays, Rodriguez said. And FEMA hasn't talked with the contractor in charge of the cheaper trailers, Rodriguez added.

Meanwhile, the private contractor whose unused trailers haven't been paid for told CNN that they can't stay in St. Bernard for ever.
Returnees pitch tents

A couple from St. Bernard, Wayne and Charlene Conrad, have decided not to wait any longer and bought a tent to pitch in what is left of their living room. A couple of longtime friends have pitched a tent there, too.

"You call, and you call, and you call, and you call -- and it's busy," said Charlene Conrad. "And finally when somebody does answer, it's a recording. You gotta push this button. I don't know what to do. All we ask is to get a trailer."

A FEMA spokeswoman in Washington said the agency is not to blame. "So far, FEMA has provided rental assistance for more than 500,000 families and housed more than 40,000 in travel trailers," Nicol Andrews said.

On Monday a federal judge in New Orleans extended until February 7 a FEMA deadline on Katrina evacuees to leave hotels. Judge Stanwood Duval's temporary restraining order prevented FEMA from ending on January 7 the program that pays for evacuees' hotel rooms. (Full story)

His ruling skewered the agency's actions concerning the program, describing them "notoriously erratic and bumbling."

[Kodos]

Bring back Mike Brown!

[KevinNU7]

I understand your frustration but it isn't a matter of just driving them down. that many trailers in one location will take up alot of room. Land needs to be cleared. Plumbing and electricity needs to be set-up for the location of each trailer. It's alot more the just getting 12,000 trucks to drive 12,000 trailers down to NO

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Flasch186

There are also more than 5,000 FEMA mobile homes in Arkansas sitting unused, CNN has learned.

FEMA responded Tuesday, telling CNN it is ready to deliver 125,000 trailers to the area but that parish officials "still have to identify places to put them."

Them there sure would be some g'ol darn big convoys!!

[oliegirl]

Is it possible that because of the sheer amount of water that was in those areas, that the land is not safe for those trucks to drive in on and place a heavy trailer on? Maybe the ground is still saturated and it wouldn't be safe to place them...I am not defending what is going on, but I am sure there is more to the story than what is conveyed in that article.

[Schmidty]

Everytime I see this thread's title I think of Robert Palmer.

[stevew]

There's no telling where the money's gone!

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

Is it possible that because of the sheer amount of water that was in those areas, that the land is not safe for those trucks to drive in on and place a heavy trailer on? Maybe the ground is still saturated and it wouldn't be safe to place them...I am not defending what is going on, but I am sure there is more to the story than what is conveyed in that article.

I drive on water all the time. Truckers can do anything. We are like Jesus in that way.

[Glengoyne]

I'm wondering if previous Hurricane relief efforts have gone this way. Last year there was all of that destruction in Florida. I don't recall hearing about how people there were left to pitching tents in what used to be their front yards. Was Katrina significantly different? Was it THAT much bigger/more destructive?

Also is this an indication that FEMA isn't doing its job, or that there is a disconnect between local officials and the Feds?

[JPhillips]

The trailer idea is terrible to begin with. Once those trailers go up people will stay in them until they fall down. The housing problem should have been dealt with through housing vouchers. This was supported by prominent Dems and Repubs but got blocked at the White House. The trailers will make some contractors a lot of money, but next to doing nothing they're the worst possible idea.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

I'm wondering if previous Hurricane relief efforts have gone this way. Last year there was all of that destruction in Florida. I don't recall hearing about how people there were left to pitching tents in what used to be their front yards. Was Katrina significantly different? Was it THAT much bigger/more destructive?

Also is this an indication that FEMA isn't doing its job, or that there is a disconnect between local officials and the Feds?

Im guessing a lot more of the florida people actually owned their houses and werent on public assistance, maybe?

[cougarfreak]

What's the local gov't. doing?

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

I'm wondering if previous Hurricane relief efforts have gone this way. Last year there was all of that destruction in Florida. I don't recall hearing about how people there were left to pitching tents in what used to be their front yards. Was Katrina significantly different? Was it THAT much bigger/more destructive?

Also is this an indication that FEMA isn't doing its job, or that there is a disconnect between local officials and the Feds?

Yes, Katrina caused significantly more damge than the Florida hurricanes last year. I think the it caused more damage than all four Fl. storms combined.

At least for the city, they are having a hard time finding places to put the trailors. You can't put them in front of peoples houses because electricity has not been restored to most of the harder hit areas. Entergy, the utility company, has to rebuild much of the cities electrical grid. Unfortunately, they had to declare bankruptcy and had to send some crews from other states home since they could no longer them (by the way, the feds have yet to offer Entergy the same assistance they gave Con Ed after 9/11).

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

I'm wondering if previous Hurricane relief efforts have gone this way. Last year there was all of that destruction in Florida. I don't recall hearing about how people there were left to pitching tents in what used to be their front yards. Was Katrina significantly different? Was it THAT much bigger/more destructive?

Also is this an indication that FEMA isn't doing its job, or that there is a disconnect between local officials and the Feds?

Also, the same hurricane hit the Mississippi coast and they did not have any problems with FEMA. The local and Fed agencies worked very well together.

What the heck is a judge doing deciding to use taxpayer funds to provide ongoing hotel bills?

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Grammaticus

Also, the same hurricane hit the Mississippi coast and they did not have any problems with FEMA. The local and Fed agencies worked very well together.

What the heck is a judge doing deciding to use taxpayer funds to provide ongoing hotel bills?

Although I have not followed the stories in Mississippi as closely, I have seen several reports of people in Mississippi complaining that FEMA is focusing on New Orleans and forgetting about them.

[Masked]

Originally Posted by Grammaticus

What the heck is a judge doing deciding to use taxpayer funds to provide ongoing hotel bills?

What do you do with the people living in the hotels now though? They can't go back to N.O. - there is very little housing available and what is available is very expensive. The communities these people are in now do not want them simply kicked out with no place to go either since that might create problems locally. Leaving them in hotels may be the cheapest and easiest solution for now.

This also avoids dealing with the much harder social issues which may be best for now since there are so many other pressing problems.

[Grammaticus]

Originally Posted by Masked

What do you do with the people living in the hotels now though? They can't go back to N.O. - there is very little housing available and what is available is very expensive. The communities these people are in now do not want them simply kicked out with no place to go either since that might create problems locally. Leaving them in hotels may be the cheapest and easiest solution for now.

This also avoids dealing with the much harder social issues which may be best for now since there are so many other pressing problems.

All good points for a reason that you may want to use tax payer funds to cover the hotel bills. But not good reasons for a judge to decide that. At some point people are going to have to realize that uncle sam cannot cover all of their catastrauphic expenses. I know to some it sounds heartless, but there are a lot of people who think they have a good reason to use community money. Bottom line is, there is money being handed out and that is not an incentive to move on and make changes in your life.