FEMA Says No to Ice For Hurricane Survivors [View All]

[The Straight Story]

FEMA Says No to Ice For Hurricane Survivors
Under New Policy, FEMA Says Ice is Not Its Responsibility


Hurricane survivors are being put at risk in Texas and other hot weather states because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is no longer providing ice in relief situations, say watchdogs, relief workers and local leaders in Hurricane Alley.

Chad Lavergne searches through his home, destroyed by Hurricane Ike, in search of documents and personal items, in Bridge City, Texas, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. Hurricane survivors are being put at risk in Texas and other hot weather states because the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is no longer providing ice in relief situations, say watchdogs, relief workers and local leaders in Hurricane Alley. Collapse
(Eric Gay/AP Photo)

"It's frustrating that the government can deliver $85 billion to bail out AIG, and they can't deliver ice in Texas," said Ben Smilowitz, executive director of the Disaster Accountability Project (DAP), a nonpartisan organization that monitors the nation's disaster response system.

In fact, while the federal government can deliver ice to disaster areas, it's chosen not to, under newly-revised FEMA rules. Instead, individual states and local governments are now tasked with purchasing, delivering and storing ice, even though they face tough logistical challenges in doing so, according to critics of the new policy.

"FEMA is effectively saying we can't guarantee you ice," said Mike Womack, director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5828158&page=1