Posted 9/25/2008 05:30:00 PM by Douglas

Does FEMA stand for Fuck-up Every Major Accident?

Thousands of pallets of ice, originally dispatched for areas ravaged by Hurricane Ike, melted in the sun today on a runway at Randolph Auxiliary Air Field here, with more trucks lining up to unload more ice.

But it's not indicative of poor planning by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, a spokesman said. In fact, it's just the opposite, evidence that FEMA was well prepared for Ike.

Of course it wasn't. It's a sign of what an excellent job they did predicting the requirement for solid water surplus, right Brownie?

"That ice is surplus ice from the original requests from state, county and local authorities before the scope of the hurricane was known," said FEMA spokesman Richard Scorza. "We try to anticipate the needs for various commodities. The good news is it addressed the immediate needs of the population and there are no shortages."

Ok, fair enough. Too much is better than too little. At least they're being open and speaking to the public with honesty and candor.

FEMA officials and security personnel at the airfield, an annex of San Antonio's Randolph AFB, refused to allow reporters onto the property, and initially objected to a reporter standing on a public road near the fence to try to interview truckers inside the fence.

When some truckers consented to an interview, a man wearing a FEMA shirt arrived on a golf cart within moments and threatened to have the truckers fired.

"This conversation is over," he told the truckers. "Or you guys will not be here any longer."

A security guard at the gate said the truckers had all signed an agreement not to speak to news media.

Don't let the public know how much we fucked up! It could hurt our already horrible image.

One trucker, contacted by phone, agreed to speak if his name was not published.

He said he picked up his 40,000-pound load of ice in Maryland last Wednesday and arrived in Houston near midnight Saturday, where he sat until he was sent to Sequin today to have the ice unloaded.

He said he was frustrated and upset at the turn of events, estimating the cost of the ice and his trip to be at least $12,000. He said he had seen at least 125 other trucks at the facility unloading.

125 trucks, 40,000 pounds of ice, 3,000 miles to Maryland. Don't make me do any math tonight. My favourite FEMA related picture, from Galveston, no less:

God Bless Texas!