Chaos

We've all seen over the past week ample evidence that FEMA should be renamed the Dept of Chaos.   I have yet to read one article about anything these people have done right.  Last night I saw a story about private citizens who got together donations, loaded them on trucks and drove to MS.  The people were in tears when they saw these trucks arrive.  They were the first people they had seen since the storm hit.  When the gov of MS says the help in his state has been great, he's lying.

Below is what prompted me to write this

My city and many of the surrounding cities in Texas have been taking in storm victims.  We have people who fled before the hurricane hit and people who rode it out and found their way here.  The cities, large and small, have been asking for donations of food, clothing, school supplies and a long list of other basic needs.

People in cities who have no storm victims have been collecting to try and help.  One such city is Waco, TX.  They have shelters set up, but no one has contacted the city about taking people.  The city has been collecting supplies to help.  FEMA wants money instead.

While the city witnessed an outpouring of affection Thursday and Friday through food and clothing drives, city leaders in contact with the Federal Emergency Management Agency encouraged monetary donations rather than food and clothes.

"At this time, neither FEMA nor the state of Texas has the resources logistically to transport any of these goods," said Frank Patterson, coordinator of Waco-McLennan County Emergency Management.

"They do not have the warehouse capability. This is an unprecedented situation, one that has far exceeded all of the planning efforts we have done over the years in the state for hurricane preparedness. Currently I encourage that we try to avoid the collection of clothes and food. There's nowhere for it to go right now."

Patterson said the time will come when food and clothes are needed. Right now, such items may well be lost.

"They are dealing with this right now at the Astrodome," he said. "(On Thursday) a large donation of clothing showed up and was dumped right out into the parking lot. And now the shelter has a real situation trying to deal with all these items they were not prepared to deal with."

I have heard similar stories about people trying to drop off things at the local Red Cross and other shelters and they've been turned away.  Instead of things being more organized as time goes by, it seems to be less so.  If your city is not taking in storm victims and you want to donate items, you should check to find out what will happen to those supplies.

The article states that cities need to know that when they set up shelters, they need to think in terms of months and maybe years, instead of weeks.  The Salvation Army seems to be the only organization with a plan.

While acknowledging the need for cash, Larry Root, area director of development for the Salvation Army, said the national office of the Salvation Army has asked the Waco office to start stockpiling certain items for when refugees are settled.

Among the items: cases of bottled water, industrial-size containers of food, new clothing, toys, coolers and ice chests, insect repellent, hygiene items, work gloves, socks, underwear, feminine hygiene items and baby items such as diapers.
Waco Trib

People here have talked about talking up donations and delivering them to the victims or to shelters.  If you are going to take them to a shelter, you need to call ahead to see if they will accept the stuff.  Hopefully the cities are better prepared than FEMA.