Posted on 12/29/2005 7:22:19 PM PST by systematic
PORTLAND, Maine --The Federal Emergency Management Agency spent nearly $274,000 to store thousands of bags of ice in Portland that were initially bought for hurricane relief efforts more than 1,500 miles away.
In a letter to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a FEMA official said the agency stored 250 truckloads of ice at Americold storage facility in Portland after it was determined that the agency's supply of ice exceeded the demand following Hurricane Katrina.
The agency said it was able to later use the ice for Hurricanes Ophelia and Rita, which came ashore after Katrina made landfall in late August.
By the time the ice was totally removed from the Americold facility in late October, FEMA had spent $273,942 for storage fees, according to the letter from Michael Lowder, deputy director of FEMA's response division.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
Well... so? They shoulda' just let it melt?
Emergencies require making lots of decisions in short order... making preparations, some of which end up being unneeded.
Yeesh. I'm no fan of government agencies, but FEMA can't buy a break from the press.
Now THAT's pork!
We Mainiacs like when folks come in, drop cash, and leave.
The saying goes, "Welcome to Maine, now go home."
Isn't it kinda dangerous to leave that much ice so close to Teddy Kennedy's highball glass?
FEMA doesn't need to give out ice. During Wilma we had our radio commandeered to give out info on distribution points for all this free stuff nobody needed. One day I drove by a long line of cars and went to ther grocery store and bought ice for $1.29.
"Katrina" sure has turned into another Socialist, pork barrel fiasco. But hey! It's only money! Crazy Charlie Rangel would say that the money being thrown at the "Katrina" fiasco is just "chump change."
IMHO, some one needs to go to jail and not pass Go and not collect $200.......
Oh, don't worry. After a Democrat gets elected, FEMA will run smoothly, the NSA won't spy on anyone and the IRS will give you a small piece of candy with every audit.
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Since when did ice become relief supplies? Is it needed for cocktails?
It's stupid beyond belief to even consider ice as something that should be sent to disaster areas. It is so highly perishable that a great deal of attention and care must be given to its handling just to keep it frozen.
What idiot thought of sending ice and not water and other survival foods that do not require refrigeration?
This is so silly it would not be accepted by Saturday Night Live.
Heh. Quite.
Uh... maybe to keep perishable foods cold? What planet are you from?
What is Collins complaining about? After 3 years of disasterous Baldassi economics, she should be damn glad that someone made some money in this state.
Is that so you can cook them with the electricity you don't have.
Many perishable foods do not need preparation to be consumed....um milk comes to mind as one example.
Good grief. Whatever.
Ice is a completely reasonable thing to supply, and I've decided it is simply not worth the effort to discuss the matter.
Good night.
Well, after disasters the lack of refrigeration can really be a problem for some people, diabetics especially must keep their insulin cold. I'm sure there are medicines used to treat other ailments, along with fresh blood needed for surgeries etc.
What I'm trying to figure out is why in the hell they had to haul it all the way to Maine.
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