Free Republic

FEMA's vaunted "lean forward" strategy that called for advanced staging of supplies for emergency distribution failed to live up to its billing in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. In fact, the agency appears to have been completely unprepared to distribute bottled water to Hurricane Sandy victims when the storm hit this Monday. In contrast to its stated policy, FEMA failed to have any meaningful supplies of bottled water -- or any other supplies, for that matter -- stored in nearby facilities as it had proclaimed it would on its website. This was the case despite several days advance warning...

MOBILE, Ala. -- When Hurricane Katrina knocked out power to Lakeshia Watson's public housing apartment, she opened a window. An air conditioner fell out, and water damaged a mattress and clothing, said the 23-year-old tenant of Roger Williams Homes. "It wasn't bad," she said. "It just was rain coming in." Watson called the Federal Emergency Management Agency and got $2,000 in emergency aid. A bathroom ceiling partially collapsed in the modest house Thelma Robinson rents. A sofa in front of a fireplace got wet, as did other living room furniture, from the family opening the door to watch the hurricane....

Macworld Daily News Wednesday - September 07, 2005 FEMA locks Mac users from hurricane relief By Jonny Evans Mac and Linux-using hurricane survivors are unable to use Federal disaster relief claim form services online. This is because the much-criticized US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has created a service that only works with Windows and Internet Explorer 6. This acts to the frustration of survivors lucky enough to be able to access a Mac or Linux computer, and to the reported consternation of disaster relief teams on the ground. However, some Mac users exploiting the Opera browser (which by default...