FEMA red tape persists after Rita, Texans say

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas — The day after Hurricane Rita battered his town, Nederland Mayor Dick Nugent called the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a simple plea: Bring us two generators.

Instead, FEMA showed up with a four-stall temporary shower. No generators.

Throughout Jefferson County, where Rita downed power lines and trees, knocked out communications and damaged homes and oil refineries, mayors and local officials this week voiced similar complaints. They said FEMA failed to keep its promise to deliver emergency aid and avoid making the same mistakes that followed Hurricane Katrina.

"There was a lot of frustration on all our parts," said Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, who spoke with President Bush on Tuesday when he toured the Jefferson County town of Port Arthur. "And hopefully our government will take a look so no American city will have to go through this."

In southwestern Louisiana, FEMA appeared to be doing a better job distributing essentials, residents and officials said. But many people complained they weren't receiving financial aid quickly enough.

David Passey, FEMA spokesman in Texas, yesterday defended the agency's efforts.

"Part of the whole week has been an understanding process for many of these mayors — understanding how the emergency-management system works," he said.

Requests go to the state and then to the federal government, he said, and some requests for generators may not have been passed to FEMA.

In addition, he said, before installing a generator, a team must make sure that the building is safe and that the generators are appropriate.

The mayors of Nederland, Port Arthur and Port Neches, all in Jefferson County, said they had encountered too much bureaucracy while trying to obtain basic supplies from FEMA.

Griffith said Thursday that FEMA workers were in the area trying to deliver aid.

"People are on the ground busting their tails off, trying to do as much as they can, and I believe supplies are starting to flow in, but there have been problems," he said.

Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz, who escorted Bush and Texas Gov. Rick Perry on a tour of his city, said he was upset at the lackluster federal response.

"FEMA has once again dropped the ball," Ortiz said. "They make a lot of promises that they cannot deliver, and then you have to go through so much bureaucracy."

Ortiz said his personal requests for emergency resources were answered with demands for paperwork. He was told his town would have a "point of distribution," where FEMA would provide military meals, water and ice. Port Neches Mayor Glenn Johnson said he expected the same.

But the distribution points never opened, the mayors said.

Passey said FEMA now has 32 distribution points in Texas, at locations determined by the state. He said a distribution point has been established in Port Arthur, but he could not confirm whether the state has requested that any materials be sent to it.

Ortiz, whose home was destroyed by Rita, said Thursday that the most FEMA had done for the community was to deliver two truckloads of fuel, which he said was gone after six hours. He thanked Valero Energy, a regional oil refiner, for helping with fuel needs.

"I've had to call FEMA's director to help get my people food and housing vouchers," Ortiz said. " I mean, come on, I'm in the state of Texas and I can't feed my people."

"It's baffling," said Port Neches' Johnson, who also asked FEMA for generators that never showed up. "They want you to fax requests to them for the things that you need, and it's like faxing it to a black hole.

"I know they are out there doing things, and I don't want to play the blame game, pointing fingers. But obviously there's a breakdown in the system, and it needs to be fixed. I've given up on them."

The picture was better in southwest Louisiana, where many National Guard soldiers and federal troops, already staged for Katrina, were ready to distribute basic supplies.

Residents and local officials said speedy handouts of food, water and ice were welcome in the days after Rita.

FEMA, however, is trying the patience of residents trying to get new roofs and financial aid.

Sulphur, La., lawyer Jim Hopkins said he was told that the wait for a temporary roof from FEMA was two weeks.

"This isn't Phoenix, Arizona," Hopkins said. "It's going to rain within two weeks."