Over two months since Hurricane Ike hit the Texas coast, there is still substantial damage and many state authorities are accusing FEMA of dragging its feet. Texas Governor Rick Perry has even announced he’s giving up on waiting for FEMA and will pay for the cleanup out of state coffers. He plans to stick FEMA with the bill later.

The problems aren’t just from Ike. Hurricane Dolly left its own trail of destruction along the state’s coastline near Mexico and officials there are also complaining that FEMA has done far too little, far too slowly.

The main complaint is the mountains of paperwork FEMA requires before providing aid. FEMA claims they are just protecting against fraud but that reasoning isn’t sitting well with counties where debris still litters the streets and snakes and alligators are moving in. The general consensus is FEMA is disorganized and bureaucratic to the point of being paralytic. Once again, FEMA has become a synonym for what’s wrong with government disaster relief.

In a perfect world, we wouldn’t need FEMA. States and localities could handle disaster relief themselves. The problem is, the cost of cleanup and aid is so immense that only the federal government has the kinds of resources necessary to provide adequate assistance. Without federal help, disaster-struck states and cities would go broke.

But, if we have to have a FEMA, can’t we at least make the organization more agile and more responsive? Obviously, there is no perfect disaster relief and those effected by calamity are always going to be impatient to get their lives back to normal. FEMA will never be loved. But can’t it at least be more efficient? One of the Texas counties hit by Ike just got the first part of a promised $3 million in aid — for cleanup after Hurricane Rita. Certainly FEMA can find a way to disburse funds in less than three years.

The Bush Administration became known for its inability to adequately manage the federal government. Hopefully Barack Obama and his appointees can better handle the complicated assortment of departments, programs and resources that make up the executive branch. One of the first priorities has to be reforming our disaster relief system.

Evacuation plans are in effect for New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast and no one from President Bush on down seems to be taking this threat lightly. Hopefully, Gustav will miss any heavily populated areas, but a hurricane of this size, even if it weakens before hitting our shores, is likely to do serious damage.

We can only pray mother nature is merciful and hope our local, state and federal governments are prepared.

We talked about this in July 2007, and now FEMA has finally issued a warning that people need to move out of their FEMA-issued trailers because they could be bad for their health.

From USA Today:

NEW ORLEANS — Paul Stewart knew as soon as he moved into his government-issued trailer in December 2005 that something was wrong. He said it wasn’t long before he started waking up with a scratchy throat. His wife, Melody, woke up with bloody noses.

The couple, who had lost their home in Bay St. Louis, Miss., during the Gulf Coast hurricanes, said they asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for a new trailer. But they were refused.

On Thursday, FEMA admitted what the Stewarts and thousands of other displaced Gulf Coast residents have feared all along: their government-issued trailers were toxic. The revelation came after months of congressional hearings and allegations by whistle-blowers that FEMA suppressed evidence of formaldehyde fumes.

Here’s what was revealed about FEMA’s knowledge of this last year…

Dozens of pages of internal FEMA emails released by the committee revealed the agency’s deliberate ignorance of field staff who were concerned about formaldehyde gas being emitted in trailers housing displaced residents. The documents revealed an agency that seemed more concerned with preventing potential lawsuits than with the health of those living in their mobile homes. “Recently discovered documents make it appear FEMA’s primary concerns were legal liability and public relations, not human health and safety,” said Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, a Republican. FEMA administrator R. David Paulison, who received stern questioning from both sides of the aisle, admitted that, “in hindsight, we could have moved faster to address [concerns].”

[...] Yet, in response to complaints, FEMA’s legal department advised that testing “would imply FEMA’s ownership of the issue.” Another read, “Do not initiate any testing until we give the OK…Should [tests] indicate some problem, the clock is running on our duty to respond to them.”

Disgusting.