See all in The Document

See all in The Document

The Document

FEMA was FUBAR

In the wake of FEMA’s piss-poor response to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina, the agency repeatedly insisted it had been prepared for the disaster. But back in June 2005, well before Katrina turned New Orleans into a symbol of bureaucratic incompetence and neglect, the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security audited FEMA and warned the agency that its systems were, to put it mildly, inadequate.

In particular, the report noted that FEMA could not track “essential commodities, such as ice and water, needed by disaster victims,” and was hindered “from providing the appropriate number and combination of people and supplies to meet the level of need.”

• FEMA
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• Hurricane Katrina
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• Accidents and Disasters
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Then-FEMA director Michael Brown responded in August, rejecting the IG’s audit report as “unacceptable.” He further complained, “The overall tone of the report is negative.” The two-page “fact sheet” from Democrats on the House Committee on Government Reform, attached here, provides the details of this exchange; or you canIG's full report at the Committee’s web site.

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