Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

First Katrina. Then the "fake" press conference at the SoCal fires. Now the Katrina trailers are hazardous -- not only a hideous danger to the people in them, but a HUGE waste of money!!!

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

I'm out of the loop -- dangerous for employees or for people without housing?

Dangerous either way I suppose but that would suck to lose your house and then be in a hazardous trailer.

[DCJenn]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

as in not actually liveable dangerous/hazardous.

and you know, as a former Fed, this shit just pisses me off because I don't actually KNOW any ineffective feds. Maybe they're the people they just kept promoting because they couldn't fire them. (now, the military? I could streamline those guys...)

Jenn

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

as in not actually liveable dangerous/hazardous.

toxic levels of formaldehyde. they're saying that the ones people are living in "aren't as bad" b/c they get aired out occasionally. the ones that are admittedly toxic are the ones they never gave to anyone that have sat in the sun closed up and baking. so there's $$$ wasted, too. and apparently inhabitants of the trailers in use are also complaining of symptoms that can be attributed to formaldehyde exposure. FEMA is buying back trailers they've recently sold to other agencies / some Katrina victims. It's a huge clusterf*ck.

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

What a mess.

[SuzySunshine]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

Oh great, I think some of those trailers went to families just south of us that lost their homes to flooding a few months ago.

:huh:

[poky]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

and you know, as a former Fed, this shit just pisses me off because I don't actually KNOW any ineffective feds. Maybe they're the people they just kept promoting because they couldn't fire them. (now, the military? I could streamline those guys...)

DH is on the Oregon Disaster Medial Team, which is part of NDMS. He's a communications officer for the team. The feds he works with in that capacity are a mixed bunch; there are some that will actually listen and address issues, etc., but they're not the majority by any means, and oh, man, the stories he can tell about the waste and inefficiency and sheer idiocy he's had to deal with....absolutely unbelievable.

[GrayMatterWife]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

Ronald Reagan once said that the nine most terrifying words in the English are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

[houseelf]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

Grey Matter Wife wrote:

I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

So incredibly true...I hadn't heard this Reagan-ism before.

I should serve as an example of this warning, I worked for the Man in various capacities (State and Federal) for almost a decade.

Kelly

[planet]

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

I realize I really shouldn't step into territory where I know so few details involved...nonetheless, when I was researching redoing our kitchen I did learn that formaldehyde is commonly found offgassing from particleboard and fiberboard products like those used in cabinet construction. The issue here sounds like these trailors were small and closed up so that the gas build-up was far more extreme than is generally found under more normal circumstances. I'm not saying that FEMA didn't mess up or isn't disorganized, but that this one thing sounds to me like something that could easily not be considered. Once the problem is discovered it would be pretty shady to send the trailors out without airing them first.

Re: Which agency gets to rescue FEMA?

I realize I really shouldn't step into territory where I know so few details involved...nonetheless, when I was researching redoing our kitchen I did learn that formaldehyde is commonly found offgassing from particleboard and fiberboard products like those used in cabinet construction. The issue here sounds like these trailors were small and closed up so that the gas build-up was far more extreme than is generally found under more normal circumstances. I'm not saying that FEMA didn't mess up or isn't disorganized, but that this one thing sounds to me like something that could easily not be considered. Once the problem is discovered it would be pretty shady to send the trailors out without airing them first.

that is true, however it appears that even the lived-in trailers have elevated levels of formaldehyde and people are experiencing physical symptoms that can be traced back to formaldehyde exposure.

what irks me as far as the closed up / unused trailers is that there were still people who needed homes! Why are the unused trailers just sitting around, baking in the sun ... UNUSED?