FEMA spent nearly $274,000 to store relief ice in Portland (Maine)

[MaineDem]

PORTLAND, Maine — The Federal Emergency Management Agency spent nearly $274,000 to store thousands of bags of ice in Portland that were initially bought for hurricane relief efforts more than 1,500 miles away.

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a FEMA official said the agency stored 250 truckloads of ice at Americold storage facility in Portland after it was determined that the agency´s supply of ice exceeded the demand following Hurricane Katrina.

The agency said it was able to later use the ice for Hurricanes Ophelia and Rita, which came ashore after Katrina made landfall in late August.

By the time the ice was totally removed from the Americold facility in late October, FEMA had spent $273,942 for storage fees, according to the letter from Michael Lowder, deputy director of FEMA´s response division.

http://news.mainetoday.com/apwire/D8EQ5M90L-362.shtml

But that doesn't take into consideration the cost of transport and the waiting the truckers had to do. Fromt he end of the article "The drivers said they were getting paid $2.50 a mile while driving, and $800 to $1,000 a day while waiting at a location to be loaded."

[yardwork]

1. Imagine the outrage if Bill Clinton had been president

Really, when are people in this country going to wake up?

[NanceGreggs]

2. Your tax dollars at work!

Considering what a f#ck-up the Katrina recovery was, they would have been better off making a few hundred thousand Daquiris with the surplus ice, and handed them out to survivors - the last bit of 'cheer' any of them will ever see ...

[ny_liberal]

11. Someone should be FIRED for this

eom

[Up2Late]

3. I bet they spent at LEAST $1,000,000.00 ($1 Million) on trasportation...

...I remember hearing about how they drove it down from the Mid-West, then the drivers made about a dozen stops before they ended up taking it up to Maine. :wtf:WTF was that all about?

[mom cat]

4. Thank you George Bush for cutting spending on unnecessary things

like housing, food and medical care and using it to help truckers. :sarcasm:

[ny_liberal]

12. LOL

[aquart]

5. Exceeded the demand? People were desperate for ice.

Define "demand."

Do all truckers make that kind of money?

[RedEarth]

6. Americold storage a repuke donor????

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if they were........

[high density]

8. That's what I'm wondering

Though the $274k figure is much less than I was expecting, to be honest.

[EFerrari]

9. Nothing under that name at OpenSecrets.

Are they part of a larger group?

[HysteryDiagnosis]

7. They could have spent much less to store it in Alaska. nt.

[shenmue]

10. Nowhere near the site of the problem!

Brilliant B*** administration thinking!

:sarcasm:

:puke:

:dunce:

[ngGale]

13. Hummm....

Bright bunch in office!:argh:

[JPZenger]

14. Truck Drivers Were Angry at the Waste

Right after Katrina, there were several articles in newspapers about how truck drivers were very irritated at FEMA. The truck drivers were doing their best to get FEMA's ice from the Northeast US to the Gulf Coast victims as soon as possible. But then, most of the way there, FEMA told them to turn around and go back the way they came. They drove hundreds of miles towards the Gulf Coast and then had to drive hundreds of miles back to a storage warehouse in the northeast US, including rental storage in eastern PA.