Why FEMA sucks

Close to four years post Katrina, FEMA continues to demonstrate their unending ineptitude.

Recently Jim Stark, assistant administrator for FEMA's Gulf Coast Recovery Office, did not mention Slidell specifically when he told a newspaper this week that officials in communities impacted by Hurricane Katrina are wasting time "trying to wring more money out of the federal government" when funding might not be available.

Stark told USA Today on Monday that rebuilding projects related to public safety, health and education are not proceeding as quickly as people in southeast Louisiana would like.

Slidell Mayor Ben Morris is seething over a top FEMA official's criticism of local governments for delays in repairing hurricane-ravaged municipal buildings.

"That is the most incredible bull---- statement I've ever heard in my life," the Slidell mayor said Thursday afternoon at a press conference in the trailer office he has used since Hurricane Katrina destroyed Slidell's City Hall almost 3 1/2 years ago. "I'm not trying to wring any money out of the feds that's anything more than we deserve."

FEMA recently has given a new reason as to why it won't pay to demolish and rebuild the building.

The agency told him that it believes the flooding in Olde Towne resulted from a rain event, and not the storm surge that is widely considered to have destroyed south Slidell, and, hence, FEMA isn't required to pay for the rebuild, he said.

However, the seven minute video at this link clearly shows Lake Pontchartrain's waters in downtown Slidell on August 29, 2005.

People affected by Katrina know how dysfunctional FEMA is. After reading the above referenced article, I hope others understand as well.