CNN: Attention FEMA & State of Mississippi; we are not impressed
Source: CNN
First there are the fine folks at FEMA who need to explain a few things:
A Democratic congressman from Mississippi plans to hold a hearing into how millions of dollars worth of supplies meant for Gulf Coast hurricane survivors ended up being given away as surplus property.
People check out the second story of a home sitting on the ground in Biloxi, Mississippi, after Katrina in 2005.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, called the situation "a debacle."
In June, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had warehoused $85 million worth of household goods for two years before giving them away to federal agencies and 16 states. But Thompson said there is still a great need for basic supplies in Mississippi.
"We just think that FEMA needs to come and tell the committee how such a debacle could occur, and in the process, what are they going to do to assure Congress and the taxpaying public that it will never happen again," Thompson said.
Then there are the fine folks at the State of Mississippi:
Thompson said he was stunned at how Mississippi officials made "a mockery of the whole process."
"I'm disappointed that my state decided that prisoners had a higher priority than Katrina victims and has made no effort to correct it even when this mistake was made," he said.
"Any time items intended for victims of Katrina end up in the hands of the Department of Corrections or state employees, then clearly, Mississippi dropped the ball."
The response? "We just didn't know....":
Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened there. But spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said the agency was not told the items were still needed -- a statement that didn't sit well with groups working to rebuild the stricken coast.
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Bill Stallworth, executive director of the Hope Coordination Center in Biloxi, said he and other community leaders would have begged for the FEMA stockpiles had they known they were available.
"When I hear people stand up and just beat their chest and say we've got everything under control, that's when I just want to slap them upside the head and say, 'Get a grip, get a life,' " said Stallworth, also a Biloxi City Councilman.
I do hope many many people lose their jobs over this one.
