Questionable Purchases in Katrina’s Wake

We never were offered any beer brewed by the Coast Guard. Or saw any dogs with booties on. We did hear about the boat issue to my understanding they were paying boats an unbeliveable amount to go out and look for bodies in the Gulf. Also another big money maker here was transporting campers and setting them up which was done by Becthel Corp. for a cool $50,000,000.00 in September of last year and we still everyday hear of some lucky family just getting there camper and here it is 11 months later.

There has been a tragic and criminal amount of funds wasted that should have gone to helping those who need it.
However, I personally don’t object to the money spent for the dog booties. Although it’s a shame they weren’t used, the dogs deserved the opportunity for protection.
My dogs have been on numerous S&Rs, and their feet would have been torn to bits on some of them without the protection of the booties. These wonderful animals will give heart and soul — and their lives — to rescue people. I think $68K is a small price to pay for that kind of dedication.
I don’t think the dog booties fall into the category of wasted Katrina funds — investing money in protecting these noble animals is a very small payback for the service we receive from them. Think about it — how much is your life worth, or that of your spose or your children? Would you give up your kid’s life to save $68K?
Cutting government waste is a good thing, but lumping every dollar spend into the same category is simply the product of immature and non-critical thinking.

Steve, what a dumb comment, honestly. I’d give $100 BILLION to save the life of any member of my family, no matter what. That doesn’t mean that the spending of that much money is automatically justified.
The bottom line is, since those booties went ENTIRELY unusued, someone apparently didn’t think the necessity of that purchase all the way through. That means wasted funds and it deserves inclusion. I think it’s misplaced concern when you’re trying to forgive $68K that was spent potentially to help a dog – and didn’t – when it could have been used directly to help a human being.

AMAZING!!! Homeland Security… Talk about Oxymorons. Makes you wonder who is in charge… apparently no one.

Why don’t you write a story about some of the items the “victims” bought with their FEMA cards?

After Katrina hit and many evacuees came to live in other cities, it was upsetting to watch them shop at jewelry shops in the mall with their Red Cross Cards. I mean really, is buying a new gold or silver chain on your priority list when you have no place to stay? Not mine! I think those cards should have only value or be blocked to purchase unless used for food, shelter or water….the basics. And what are venders supposed to say…sorry I can’t let you make this purchase. Highly unlikely. I had a friend who lost a lot from her house when it was damaged from Ivan. She had to then ring up a customer who was using her Red Cross Card to buy costume jewelry in the store we worked at in the mall.

The dog booties aren’t truly “waste”. They can stay in storage until the next disaster. And there will be one … the odds say so.

Jim – I hope you’re not in any way implying that the spending by some crooked, so-called “victims” could even hold a candle to the corrupt, wasteful spending that our government demonstrated in this case alone.
Waste is waste, but I’m less concerned about the few poor crooks blowing a few tax dollars than the rich ones that blow millions.

This is what happens when you have the government in charge of something. They take our money (tax dollars) by force and then waste it because there is no accountability. They don’t have to do a good job and convince us to keep funding their programs, they can do a lousy job and just keep taking our money. This is why these types of situations are better handled by private charities and other aid organizations that have to compete for donations by being efficient and doing a good job. If they screw up and waste the money that is donated, they know they will lose their source of funds and this is why that rarely happens with a legitimate private aid organization. They have an incentive to do a good job whereas the government and those that work in government agencies have no incentive because there’s almost never a penalty for doing a poor job. Do you think any of the people involved in wasting all this money lost their jobs? They were probably promoted. The free market is always the best vehicle for dealing with society’s problems, and the Katrina disaster is a prime example of this.

I was outraged to learn that homeland security officals used taxpayers money to purchase items that made their life styles better, yet katrina victims are still homeless and displaced over the region. This is just another way for the government to tell blacks in America that they are unwanted and deserve to be in proverty. If we as American citizens would have done what those officals did we would be labeled as a thief or criminal and be facing charges that would altimiately result in becoming a felon. This is what I as well as others I’ve talked to think should be the finial result of punishment for homeland securiy officals that purchased those items. We the People are the government and they should fear us but the role has been reversed. In short, lock their ass up and make them pay back all expenses.

I was proud of the way that people of all races came together and donated thier time, money, clothing, shelter and hearts to the people displaced by Katrina. The motel where my wife works took in several families right after they arrived here in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. A local radio station was doing a live remote broadcast at a nearby location and mentioned that hurricaine survivors were starting to arrive in town. Within 30 minutes people started showing up at the motel delivering clothes, toys, food, toiletry items, offering to pay for their rooms, offering to put them up in their own homes, a couple of the families were even given nice used cars. We had to call a local charity to come pick a large part of the stuff up because we had filled up two rooms plus the employee’s break room with the donations, there was no more room to hold it. Other motels in the area reported the same thing. If you didn’t somehow participate in the relief effort, SHAME ON YOU!!! These people are our brothers and sisters, our fellow Americans. I don’t care what race they are, what there income level is. We the People, NOT THE GOVERNMENT, should have taken care of these people and in many cases we did. If you need to point a finger of blame, start by pointing it at yourself!!!

I am tired of hearing that we should be rebuilt by now – or quit wasting OUR tax money….
Every one of my neighbors with the exception of 1 (who was busy rebuilding her elderly parents home)has rebuilt or is near finished rebuilding their house. Of course we are one of the fortunate neighborhoods because we only had 4 feet of water to come home to after Katrina.
After spending almost $1800 to evacuate (not to mention lost wages) that $2000 we got from FEMA to cover our evacuation expenses, left us a big $200 extra … sure got me some nice breast implants – please give me a break and my husband loves his season tickets – he got box seats … oh wait thats right my husband didnt get a dime from FEMA.
He got a whopping $12,000 from State Farm. His entire 3 bdrm 2 ba fully furnished home with a 2 car garage and a huge shed out back (which actually blew or was sucked away when the water receded)was completely ruined by the 4 feet of water that was in his house. (yes his house … we were not married until after Katrina) No, he did not have flood insurance – he lived far from the beach – far from any water. Up by HWY 90 – look at the map… water NEVER should have come to his neighborhood! He was ADVISED not to purchase flood insurance when he bought the house in 92 by the agent who sold his homeowners policy to him. It’s less than $300 a year for $150,000 policy – you dont think everyone here would have bought it had we even thought for one second that we would ever need it? And that our homeowners and hurricane insurance policies would be denied for HURRICANE DAMAGE.
Ok, now try to imagine – lets just say you have a nice 3 bdrm home – fully furnished… modestly – with moderately priced furniture. Nothing extravagent. But think about everything you have in your home. I mean everything. From the major appliances down to the bar of soap in your bathroom drawer and every little thing in bewtween. Every piece of silverware, every utensil, all of your tools, your computer and software, every mattress and boxspring, all of your towels and wash cloths, your clothing, shoes, small appliances – I mean EVERYTHING ruined. Completely beyond salvage. Dont forget your AC unit outside the house and if the water reached higher all the duct work too – another $3000 – $8000 minimum to replace. Then you have to completely tear out all of your flooring, your cabinets, countertops, toilets, all of the sheetrock and insulation. Everything must be thrown out completely, due to the thick coat of mud and mold left behind. My husband did this HIMSELF. He tore out everything on his own. No volunteers came to help. He waited in line and got his free bottled water and ice because there was no running water at all – and if there was it was contaminated. He also received MREs … he had no choice. All of his food either flooded or rotted after the storm. There was no electricity for weeks and in some parts of town, months. He was one of the fortunate ones, he had 2 vehicles and evacuated in 1 so he did have a car. He could have driven 80 miles or more to go get his own groceries and water, but there wasnt a gas station left in town. Every pump was destroyed. Not that he could have gotten gas anyway – remember the shortage? So he was at the mercy of the government. No one had a way out of town once they came back to see if they had a home left standing. We were all at the mercy of the government just to get the basic necessities to survive. He then cut down 4 trees blocking the driveway and around the house just so he could push out his vehicle that was completely ruined after floating in 4 feet of water in the garage. It was 100 degrees and we were in a major drought.
Now imagine trying to replace everything. Try imagining it with $150,000 the very few lucky ones got. Try to imagine doing it with $50,000. Try imagining doing it with the $27,000 FEMA could give IF you quilified at all (which most did not by the way)Try imagining doing it with the $12,000 my husband got. Now imagine doing it with nothing but your savings and the income you bring in weekly. This is the reality of most people down here. If you say you could have done it- you are lying. You know it, I know it and so do the rest of the readers.
The people who wasted the money they got from FEMA are the same people who take their welfare checks and go buy crack or meth or whatever they do to waste government money on a monthly basis. Yes they do exist. They exist here is MS. They exist in LA. And guess what … they also exist in FL, in IN, in MN, in OH, in IL … and I could go on and name every single state in this country. They exist in every state. But the majority of the people here used that money in a useful constructive way.
We didnt even ask for the money people!!! The government decided that they were giving this out!! We never called and asked for it – guess what… we had no phones, absolutely no way to communicate with the outside world. Our cell phones worked maybe 3-10 minutes a day at best. And that was if you could get to a place where you could get a signal (the Bay Bridge). I personally had no phone service for almost 2 weeks (with a couple exceptions of a signal for maybe 60 seconds at a time) then over the next 3 months my service was spotty at best. FEMA could never get through to me so I was always put back to the end of the list or shuffled off to another adjuster.
For those of you who think we didnt have insurance you are very ignorant. Do you not know that mortgage companies require insurance? Do you think everyone in MS just outright owns their homes and no one has a mortgage??? Just like the rest of the country we have mortgages to pay and are required to have insurance.
Three days after Katrina hit we drove back to MS from Destin FL. There was almost no gas to speak of but we were lucky enough to fill up at one of the few stations that still had gas before we left FL. I had my minivan with my 3 children and we each had 3 changes of clothing.
We came home to nothing. Our home was leveled to the slab. We lost absolutely everything we own. I had just moved back home after living in MN for 15 years. I was renting a house right off the beach. It was a beautiful 4 bdrm home and I had over $15K in brand new furniture I had just bought 5 weeks before Katrina hit. I had over $8K in new dishes, towels, tvs and just basic household items needed for a family of 4. I have a teenage daughter – and if you have/had one you know the expense involved in just clothing alone! Plus 2 other children. I also work from home and lost ALL of my computers and software … very spendy!! I had over $5K in samples, catalogs, merchandise for my business – lost. I estimated approximately $50,000 total lost in all. I was a renter. I had been in the house 7 weeks. I was busy setting up house, enrolling my children in new schools, just running around trying to get settled in. I had not gotten my renters insurance. It was my fault. I know that, but I was very busy and hadnt slowed down to get it squared away. I was told later by my daughters volleyball coach (also the local state farm agent) that my renters insurance wouldnt have covered it anyway… nice. At any rate, I did get FEMA money. I got $18,360 in all and a FEMA camper. I am grateful. Extremely grateful. (and one of the lucky ones because I had trouble proving my income based on commission and SBA was wary of approving me for a loan after losing 90% of my customer base) But could I start over with it? No. Absolutely not. No one could- I had 4 bedroom sets, diningroom, livingroom, 2 baths, clothes, shoes toys etc for 4 people. No one could ever begin to replace everything they own with $18K especially if you have children. I work 100% on commission and sell to businesses. I lost 80-90% of my customers in the storm. Imagine living off 10-20% of your income. I was a single mom with 3 children and no place to live. No way out of town (no gas remember). It was a complete and total nightmare. My parents got 200 gallons of gas, loaded up the back of my dads truck and drove down from MN. Drove straight through. We drove back to MN. I was in shock. I was devistated. My children were in shock. My parents were scared out of their minds because they were unable to reach us by phone but took it upon themselves to drive in and find us. They knew we were in trouble and they just came. My now husband … didnt want to lose me. He asked me to marry him. We pooled our resources and rebuilt his house. My children stayed in MN for 4 months because they had no schools here and it was not safe for children down here at the time. I flew back and forth between MN and MS for 4 months helping rebuild the house. We did most of it ourselves. We had to pay $8000 for a new roof, $3000 for new AC unit, $3000 for the sheetrock to be floated professionally … but everything else was done by me, my husband and sometimes friends came to help with some of the major stuff. But my husband completely gutted his house and dragged everything out himself…down to the bare studs. Then he stood in line again to receive his free bleach. He bleached every bare stud. He did this AFTER he worked a minimum of 8 hours a day at his regular job. Then he slept on the cement floor for over 7 weeks until he could get a mattress. Which he then slept on (still on the cement floors) for a couple more months until my FEMA camper arrived.
You people have no idea how hard it was to get materials to rebuild our homes. We had very little gas available – yes the shortage was over – but our gas stations were gone. We had to drive so far just to get anything – and even then most places were sold out of supplies for hundreds of miles away.
This is how most of us lived here. This has been our reality for a year now. So go ahead and say you need to do this or you should have done that – but you cant possibly begin to know what we did or what we could not possibly have done. Most things were out of our control, but if it was humanly possible to do it – most of us did.
I am not saying it was all bad. Some good did come of Katrina. We learned how to survive. We learned we do not need all the extras. I got married and now we have a beautiful 1 month old daughter. So yes some wonderful things happened as a result of Katrina. But do not minimize what we have been through – do not call us lazy as you sit there in front of your computer probably never having to endure a fraction of what we have been through. How dare you. You have nerve telling us how to live our lives. Most Americans could not have endured what we have been through. So go ahead and say what you must in order to feel high and mighty… but we know the truth. The wonderful volunteers know the truth. You others, you know absolutely nothing.
I had to take my 1 month old infant to a heart specialist because of the wonderful FEMA camper we had to live in while I was pregnant. Apparently the fumes effected my unborn child. But yes, I am still so grateful for everything from the government… and no to all of you who are worried about YOUR tax dollars – I am not suing anyone. (we do pay taxes down here too by the way … its OUR tax dollars as well – but I thought I would just throw that in there since so many of you complain that WE are wasting YOUR tax dollars)