TXBatman, I did wonder when I saw that in the news... were the FEMA personnel from Harris and Galveston Counties?? I lived in League City/Friendswood for just over 8 years and I remember how difficult traveling in the area could be back then (1986 -1994). I can only imagine how difficult it could be now for anyone not from the area...even with a GPS!

About the "Bottom line" portion of your post... you are right on target!! During my hubby's military service, he has worked with many government agencies and EVERYTHING you stated has been his experience as well... so frustrating.

You've made some very good points about FEMA and government agencies in general. The news media will sensationalize every chance they get just to get the story...and we all know they don't always get it right...they just get it.

Look at all the flooding in the Mississippi Valley this year - was there any coverage of the good things FEMA did? Of course not. Do any of you remember those stories? What about the ice storms in Oklahoma? Was there much screaming or complaining from the people in Oklahoma for Federal Assistance? Remember all those pictures?

Moral of the story - FEMA will always do a bad job when the News Media covers the story. FEMA will never be able to act quickly enough or do enough things right to suit those that want to find fault. Yes, working with government agencies is a pain; but I have had similar experiences with financial or telecommunications companies (want to hear my horror story with Verizon recently?). They (FEMA) must have a paper trail.

We have allowed ourselves to be sucked into the sensationalism of our culture, the human interest stories do not sell. We are apathetic and have very short memories.

Your comparisons with the governmental entities are correct. But if Houston was so prepared why did they need FEMA to help!!!

Just food for thought, not meant to start an argument. ;)

I totally agree that what they do well never gets the news it deserves. The problem I have seen in my dealings with them is that when they screw something up, they rarely do it in a small way.

As for why Houston needed FEMA help...FEMA has set aside certain roles for themself in disaster planning nation wide. It isn't practical for the city of Houston to set aside 5+ million MREs and 20 million cases of bottled water and 40 million pounds of ice when we take a storm like this on average about once every 20-25 years. FEMA on the other hand, responds to a storm like this about once every 2-3 years...whether it be florida, north carolina, texas, or louisiana.

So it is practical for FEMA to stockpile the extra food, water, ice, etc. that is needed to bridge the gap between what people stockpile for themselves and what retailers can bring in once the damage is clear and they can reopen their stores. FEMA's role in the emergency planning is to get those supplies to locations specified by the local emergency response coordinator as soon as possible after the storm has passed.

In the case of Houston, the local officials had the locations where aid was needed the most identified and supplied the locations to FEMA within about 6 hours after the storm passed. FEMA had the trucks staged in San Antonio waiting to head this way. The national guard was at the distribution points ready to secure the trucks, provide traffic control, and assist in passing out supplies within about 18-24 hours after the storm had passed, and the city, county, red cross, etc. had crews of volunteers at the PODs within 18-24 hours as well. All that they were waiting on was for FEMA's trucks to make the 3-4 hour drive in from San Antonio. It took FEMA roughly 48 hours to get the first trucks to the PODs. That is 24 hours longer than it took everybody else to be ready. And FEMA had the easiest job of all. Send trucks from point A to point B. Yet it took them twice as long as it took anybody else to do their job.

I am glad FEMA was there with supplies and eventually got it right, and I am sure the truck drivers are not to blame...but somehow, for an agency whose JOB is disaster preparedness and response...FEMA is just terrible at post-disaster logistics, despite having more practice at doing it than any other agency other than the red cross. To be honest, I have believed for a long time that we should simply give FEMA's budget to the red cross.