FEMA rant

[PrincessFiona]

My brother went down to New Orleans 3 weeks ago. Initially, he was told that he would need a tent, etc...Then he was told that Fema would find them an apartment, so to forget the tents. When he got down there it turned out that they did need the tents because FEMA had apparently forgotten that they sent him down. He has been camping out in a church parking lot for 3 weeks helping out there in exchange for food. Now, FEMA finally remembered that he's there and doesn't have the apartment...soo...he has been asked to move his tent to a wal-mart parking lot where he can be guarded by the national guard...and...he had to purchase his own construction equipment to start his job today..... WOW!

[Meenah]

I'm not surprised at all. How sad.
Luanne

Has he been paid at all for the three weeks he has been there? Yikes.

I have a friend whose husband is a firefighter on the west coast and was possibly going to be sent to New Orleans. He would not be doing firefighter work but rather helping people get services. I guess he already knows about some of that stuff and other background training is already done? He would be there for 3-4 weeks and FEMA would pay him for every second he was there. Given the overtime involved, he would have been paid over $20K. He ended up not going because his boss didn't get the paperwork in on time. I wonder what kind of conditions he would have been provided.

[migirl]

Sadly, I'm not surprised to hear this at all. I've heard numerous similar stories, where people go to help and then get the runaround about where they're supposed to be, what they're supposed to do, etc. It's pathetic.

[PrincessFiona]

He won't be paid for the 3 weeks that he sat around... but...at least he's working now. He is so pumped up and excited about it. I am so proud of him. I think this could really be a life-changing experience for him!

kris