FEMA and Ice
Monday October 3, 2005
The "ice story" has become the poster child for FEMA, a clear picture of a dysfunctional agency. Three weeks ago, on 12 September, a Memphis TV station reported that more than "200 tractor-trailer trucks with ice and water for victims of Hurricane Katrina took a convoluted, weeklong trip to a storage depot in Memphis." The US Army Corps of Engineers called it a "miscommunication."
A few days later,
MSNBC reported that trucks were being sent all over the country -- loaded with ice. The official response this time?
That the agency had ordered too much ice. So they were sending it to other parts of the country so it'd be in place for the next hurricane.
A few days later, the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser reported that more than 100 trucks had just headed north to Massachusetts - still full of ice undelivered to those hit by Hurricane Katrina. According to FEMA spokesman Don North, ice is important: "Ice allows people in a disaster area to preserve their food. Ice allows hospitals to preserve medicine. Ice allows nursing homes to hydrate senior citizens."
And yet.
The early story was it was the storm's fault there was excess ice. Now there was a new explanation: Katrina was so bad, and New Orleans so flooded, that ice wasn't needed. (What about Mississippi? What about Rita? She was IDed on 17 September; the Alabama article ran 20 September, the day Rita was named a hurricane. But this ice was headed north.)
The Advertiser:
Wait! There's more! (If this wasn't so sad, and expensive, it might be funny.)
This past weekend, the NY Times reported:
That's because FEMA information technology was broken. Had been broken. Didn't work right in 2004. FCW.com reported today:
When did the IG deliver his report? In June, according to the Committee on Government Reform Minority Office:
Inspector General Report, September 2005 (pdf)
Technorati Tags:
FEMA, Hurricane Katrina, Michael Brown, Politics
That the agency had ordered too much ice. So they were sending it to other parts of the country so it'd be in place for the next hurricane.
A few days later, the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser reported that more than 100 trucks had just headed north to Massachusetts - still full of ice undelivered to those hit by Hurricane Katrina. According to FEMA spokesman Don North, ice is important: "Ice allows people in a disaster area to preserve their food. Ice allows hospitals to preserve medicine. Ice allows nursing homes to hydrate senior citizens."
And yet.
The early story was it was the storm's fault there was excess ice. Now there was a new explanation: Katrina was so bad, and New Orleans so flooded, that ice wasn't needed. (What about Mississippi? What about Rita? She was IDed on 17 September; the Alabama article ran 20 September, the day Rita was named a hurricane. But this ice was headed north.)
The Advertiser:
[Rob Holland, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers] said the ice would be stored in Gloucester north of Boston and be available in case of another natural disaster in the Northeast. He said the Americold Company, which contracted with FEMA to store the ice, didn't have enough room to store it at closer locations...Hurricanes on the west coast? Who knew?
"I know it doesn't make sense on the surface" to ship this ice to Gloucester, he said. "But what you're dealing with is: No. 1, a very dynamic situation; No. 2, they want this ice distributed all over the country, on the west coast and the east coast, because you never know where a hurricane is going to hit."
Wait! There's more! (If this wasn't so sad, and expensive, it might be funny.)
This past weekend, the NY Times reported:
Ninety-one thousand tons of ice cubes, that is, intended to cool food, medicine and sweltering victims of the storm. It would cost taxpayers more than $100 million, and most of it would never be delivered.The reporters detail circuitous routes, frustrated truck drivers, and an agency that truly had no idea what its right and left hands were doing.
That's because FEMA information technology was broken. Had been broken. Didn't work right in 2004. FCW.com reported today:
A year before Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, information technology used by the Homeland Security Department to support disaster management was so disconnected and inadequate that employees needed to develop ad hoc, often paper-based alternatives to supplement them, [the] DHS inspector general wrote last week in a scathing report.The director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency said FEMA had been unable to "meet Alabama's needs for water, ice and food after Hurricane Dennis, which hit in early July."
"Because of the unintegrated IT environment, during the 2004 hurricanes, [DHS] systems did not effectively handle increased workloads, were not adaptable to change and lacked needed capabilities," said Richard Skinner, DHS IG, in the report. Those weaknesses led to operational inefficiencies that hurt the delivery of crucial services and supplies.
When did the IG deliver his report? In June, according to the Committee on Government Reform Minority Office:
In June 2005, the Department of Homeland Security's Inspector General warned FEMA [in a draft report] that its systems for managing the personnel and equipment dispatched to disaster sites were inadequate. Instead of remedying the problems the report identified, FEMA director Michael Brown disputed nearly all its findings.In an August response to the draft report, FEMA's Chief, Michael Brown, asserted that IT systems were "high performing" and "well-managed." Right. That's why FEMA was still ordering more ice as it was shipping ice around the country.
Inspector General Report, September 2005 (pdf)
Technorati Tags:
FEMA, Hurricane Katrina, Michael Brown, Politics