Posted on 01/17/2009 1:24:05 PM PST by BBell
BATON ROUGE -- Nearly five months after Hurricane Gustav, the public relations battle between Gov. Bobby Jindal and FEMA continues over who was to blame for the exasperating depletion of emergency food and water supplies soon after the storm.
At stake is a clear understanding of how to prepare for disasters.
FEMA's argument, contained in a retort to comments made by Jindal last week, is that basically the responsibility for the problem lies with the storm victims of Louisiana, who gobbled up food and water at an "extraordinary" rate after Gustav swept through.
The federal agency said it worked closely with state officials to pre-position what was believed to be an adequate supply of Meals Ready to Eat packets, water bottles, ice and tarps, but the actual demand was far greater and resupply efforts stumbled.
"FEMA brought up this same assertion during the storms, and the governor made it clear that it is nutty to tell the people of south Louisiana that we are simply eating too much and are choosing MREs over our terrific local cuisine," Jindal's spokeswoman Melissa Sellers said.
The renewed flap apparently started when Jindal on at least two occasions in the past week brought up the post-Gustav supply problem.
"FEMA took too long to replenish the MREs, the water, the tarps that were in desperate need by our people," Jindal said Wednesday at the grand opening of the National Guard Readiness Center in Reserve. "Victims should not have to worry about delays in FEMA shipments of food, water and emergency supplies.
In a "Fact Sheet" released Friday, FEMA described a massive program of emergency supplies for Louisiana and Texas both before and after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike struck in September. FEMA said it had more than 1.4 million meals, 4.5 million bottles of
(Excerpt) Read more at nola.com ...
Some people lost their homes. Other people got a lot of free stuff.
Stolen and sold on eBay.
how about this idea - if you chose to live in a hurricane prone area, YOU plan ahead and ensure that you have essential supplies rather than relying on the rest of us to save your bacon for the umpteenth time....
Wait a minute. I thought all the Southern states took NO federal aid. This must be a misprint. All the complaining from the southern politicians, shouldn’t they be getting their aid from their German and Japanese masters?
Illegal aliens.
Kinda shows how stupid you are.
It amazes me that I am better prepared for the aftermath of a hurricane than a large percentage of those who live near the coast.
I live in East Texas - they have no excuse.
And how do you know that?
Hate it when your own words are thrown back at you. Although, I do not think your stupid, just misinformed.
Maybe it’s just me but the numbers don’t seem to match,also,
If somebody got the MREs(24),Ice and Water one day and
went back the next day they got the whole thing again,,,?
That's an old idea and how it's supposed to work....four days food and water. Of course, some poeple who prepare have it all washed or blown away with the storm.
I guess things changed with/after Katrina.
All the FEMA ambulances were parked in LA before Gus. If it had turned and come more into TX, we'd have been up a creek...don't say "If you need an ambulance, get your own," because FEMA has them all.
Because I have food and water set aside for such an emergency.
If everyone prepared on the coast before the storms the grocery stores would not sell out of food nearly as quickly and there would be many fewer people asking for food/water aid.
Unfortunately it happened here. When they started handing out supplies after Katrina there was no accountability. Some people would load up, go home and unload, and come back for more. It was bad. I don’t know what happened after Gustav, I don’t live where it hit.
Sounds like your neighbors properly considered the risk of living next to the coast. If “People in my neighborhood either prepared themselves or left”, what is Bobby J. fussing about?
If I decided to live below an avalance chute here in colorado, whay happens to me would be my own dang fault.
Those words you were throwing were no one else's besides your own, and they were intended to anger and offend.
How about stating your opinions in a straightforward and respectful manner instead, so that we might have a productive exchange regarding public policy and not just a region vs. region slanging match.
In other words E Pluribus Unum, baby! It's the Free Republic way, after all.
I think you have pegged it right; people taking more than they need and either hoarding or selling the remainder.
Please don’t let ill-mannered, wrongheaded people drag you down. I expect challenging times ahead. Let’s buck up!
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