9/24/08: FIVE REASONS WHY FEMA ICE MELT MAKES NO SENSE TO IKE SURVIVORS

Contact: Ben Smilowitz: 314-761-7631

Ben@DisasterAccountability.org

For Immediate Release:

September 24, 2008

Five Reasons Why FEMA Ice Melt In TX Makes No Sense To Ike Survivors

Disaster Accountability Project Questions FEMA Leadership As Half Million in Texas Remain Without Power

Unload Ice In Powerless Neighborhoods Instead of Deserted Airstrip 160 Miles from Houston

5) One Half-Million people in Houston still do not have power… that means one half-million people still need ice.
4) FEMA has said over and over that they “don’t do ice” — but now they melt it.
3) FEMA has said over and over that ice is not a necessity — but now FEMA is saying ice needs have been met.
2) This seems like a publicity stunt to show FEMA has enough ice… 11 days after Ike hit — remember the phony press conference?
1) Why take the ice to an airstrip with locked gates (160 miles from Houston) if nobody really needs it? Why not drop the ice in the middle of powerless neighborhoods in Houston?

For background: FEMA Says No to Ice For Hurricane Survivors:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5828158&page=1

“So long as hundreds of thousands are without power, there is a need for ice.” said Ben Smilowitz, Executive Director, Disaster Accountability Project. “Instead of disposing ice on a restricted-access airstrip 160 miles from Houston, why not dispose of the ice in Houston or hard-hit locations still out of power. Send each ice truck to a different neighborhood. The ice would be gone– fast,” said Smilowitz.

“If this is a prop to show that the Federal government is capable of helping survivors of a disaster, it’s disgusting,” said Smilowitz. “11 months ago, the FEMA leadership held a phony press conferences in an attempt to fool the American public. It did not work then, and it will not work now.”

Recap:

– Ice is necessary for prescriptions including insulin, individuals with disabilities and other special needs, food preservation, and heat relief.

– There are still 500,000 people in Houston without power.

– As those 500,000 Americans search for ice, FEMA is sitting on thousands of melting pallets that it deems as ìsurplusî, 160 miles from Houston.

– The ice needs to be distributed to powerless neighborhoods in Houston as soon as possible.

– FEMAís insistence upon terming the unused ice ìsurplusî is reminiscent of a phony press conferences held less than one year ago. Publicity stunts will not change the fact that this breakdown in distribution constitutes a major failure of leadership.

***

The nonpartisan Disaster Accountability Project provides accountability and oversight to the nation’s disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery systems through monitoring and policy research.

A toll-free hotline (866-9-TIP-DAP) is available as a public service for disaster survivors, workers and volunteers to report critical gaps in disaster prevention, response, relief, and recovery services or planning. The group is recruiting a national network of Disaster Accountability Monitors and Bloggers to help report, verify, and publicize gaps in disaster services or planning.

The Disaster Accountability Project’s website is https://disasteraccountability.org