Is FEMA Doing Enough on the Gulf Coast?

Aug. 29, 2007 — -- In the two years since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the federal government has provided Mississippi $23 billion to assist recovery. But tales of hope and renewal are far outweighed by horror stories of crippling bureaucracy and red tape, and residents say FEMA is to blame.

On Monday, Republican presidential candidate Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas joked that FEMA should really stand for "forget expecting meaningful answers." But answers were what we were looking for when "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts spoke recently with the agency's leader, David Paulison.

DeLisle Elementary was one of the few schools in Pass Christian, Miss., to survive the storm, though it was devastated by wind and rain. And when it rains now, school officials said it feels like someone is adding insult to injury.

Now students from three schools attend classes there -- 600 extra students going to class in 60 trailers supplied by FEMA. Because none of the trailers have indoor bathrooms, students must go outside to portable toilets rented by the government.

DeLisle Elementary, which is not connected to the city water system, needs FEMA to help pay for a new well. But approval for the $300,000 system has been bogged down in red tape and regulation for nearly two years.

"I think of FEMA as the Wizard, you know, in the 'Wizard of Oz'," Superintendent Sue Matheson said. "FEMA is out there somewhere behind a curtain, but we just can't seem to get to the right person that will tell us, 'Yes,' and put the water well in."

It is a complaint heard all along the Gulf Coast.

"It is frustrating the amount of time it has taken to get approval for the project," said Kevin Coggin, executive director of the Coastal Transit Authority. He's been trying for nearly two years to get public bus stations and restrooms approved. He said FEMA approved one plan, but then changed its mind.

FEMA, which was blasted for bungling its initial response to Katrina, has come under increasing scrutiny for the way it has handled rebuilding.