FEMA packs up from North Carolina, leaving behind a whopping 19 trailers for survivors.  Is it that hard to deliver small trailers for survivors of a monstrous hurricane?  Well, to FEMA, Joe Biden's emergency management agency it is.  Here are the sorry leavings:  [Tweets]  Investigative reporter James O'Keefe said there was remarkably little done in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina, this, even after bad publicity hit the agency for its inadequate response.  Since then, there has been clear evidence of political favoritism, first in Florida, and later in North Carolina. [...] Any corporation with a record like FEMA's would rapidly be out of business.  But it's business as usual with these guys.

FEMA is giving illegal migrants over $10,000 dollars while offering Hurricane Victims $750.  "I was able to get to a figure in excess of $10,000 for an individual — That as a citizen of a foreign country, how would I explain to a taxpayer, that a taxpayer, a citizen of the United States, is eligible for $750, yet citizen of a foreign country under your agency is still eligible for assistance of $10,000.  How would I explain that to somebody?  I'm really struggling with [this] as I understand is that in North Carolina, for example, where I visited, you can have a flood or disaster victim that could get a check for $750.["]  [Video clip]

FEMA RV trailers sit empty while homeless NC hurricane victims face snow and freezing temps: report.  As North Carolina Hurricane Helene victims continue to struggle, FEMA reportedly refuses to deploy empty RV trailers to help them.  According to an unnamed N.C. lawmaker, FEMA has multiple empty RV trailers sitting in the N.C. town of Hickory — trailers that critics say could be used to provide housing to those who've lost their homes. [...] "Don't use my name, but a constituent called me yesterday asking about all the FEMA housing units and trailers that are staged in Hickory," the lawmaker wrote in a private message to Cassie Clark, an N.C. influencer.  "They've been there for a few weeks.  I asked FEMA what they were and confirmed they indeed are housing units staged for inspection waiting to be sent out to 'qualifying counties.'  I asked for a timeline.  Attached is the response.  Very disappointing," the lawmaker added.

North Carolina Whistleblower:  FEMA Has Housing Units but Has No Timeline to 'Release' Them.  Helene continues to be a homewrecker.  The hurricane that swept through western North Carolina in October, ravaging towns, destroying roads, burying people, and ruining lives, continues to haunt North Carolinians.  Is the government doing what it should to help?  It doesn't seem so.  We tend to forget unless reminded, but people are still suffering in North Carolina.  America was assured that FEMA was there to help.  And maybe they were, but we were also told that claims of FEMA slow walking desperately needed help and aid were nasty, baseless rumors.  Until they weren't rumors.  A FEMA crew leader told her team to avoid houses with Trump signs.  She was fired, but she had a lot to say.

New FEMA whistleblower backs allegations of political discrimination against Trump supporters:  Rep. Comer.  House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.) announced on Tuesday that another whistleblower has come forward to accuse the Federal Emergency Management Agency of political discrimination.  The new development followed a House Transportation and Infrastructure hearing where Congress members grilled FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell about a now-terminated hurricane relief supervisor who admitted to ordering workers to avoid homes with signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump.  In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, then-supervisor Marn'i Washington gave the directive to her team while administering aid in Lake Placid, Florida.  She claimed the instruction was in accordance with FEMA's "avoidance" and "de-escalation" tactics to avoid "politically hostile" homes.

Elderly Vet Told to Remove Trump Signs or FEMA Officials Would View Him As 'Domestic Terrorist'.  Chair of the House Oversight Committee, James Comer (R-KY), revealed that a new whistleblower has come forward alleging another incident of discrimination at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The allegations point to a FEMA contractor who suggested disaster victims with signs supporting Donald Trump outside their homes were viewed by officials as "domestic terrorists."  The allegations are nothing short of startling, and if true, they would blow a massive hole in the testimony provided by agency Administrator Deanne Criswell.  Criswell, testifying before the committee, insisted an incident in Lake Placid, Florida, in which a supervisor directed employees to avoid any damaged homes with Trump signs outside when they were canvassing the area after Hurricane Milton, was isolated.  Marn'i Washington was fired over that incident but quickly went public with allegations that her actions were a more widespread directive.

It's bureaucratic rot up and down the line.  [Scroll down]  But Marn'i Washington claims she's being scapegoated, that this came from higher up, and that she was "just following orders."  What we see above is, more or less, in line with what Washington is claiming.  While I've had at least one person demand I rewrite my entire previous post based on this information, I didn't because, honestly, if you know the orders are wrong and you follow them anyway, that's on you.  But the orders appear to have been real, and the fact that Washington is the only head rolling isn't nearly acceptable.  I'm fine with her going down, but she shouldn't go down alone.  The truth of the matter is that this isn't just her.  It's not just FEMA, either.  Our federal bureaucracy is hostile toward the American people, particularly anyone who doesn't toe the progressive line.  It's not supposed to be that way, but we've long seen how they work against anyone on the right.  From the IRS screwing around with right-leaning non-profits to FEMA skipping the homes of Trump supporters because they're "domestic terrorists," the truth of the matter is that our government doesn't work in our interests.

D.O.G.E. Is A Wonderful Concept, And Here Are Some Ideas To Get It Started.  FEMA probably just wrote its own obituary with the revelation that a FEMA official in Florida told workers to "avoid houses with Trump signs" in the wake of Hurricane Milton, leading to loud calls for defunding the agency.  The truth is that emergency disaster relief should not be handled by yet another agency with large layers of bureaucracy.  Instead, states should be able to request emergency disaster relief funds directly from Congress, with the appropriations then used to purchase necessary resources and materials, ideally from private vendors who can compete for the contracts.  This would lead to increased efficiency and better prices for the taxpayer.  This would also allow the government to engage in strict accounting to ensure federal funds go where they are supposed to go.

Florida Sues FEMA Officials Over Hurricane Helene, Milton Failures.  The state of Florida is suing current and former federal employees personally for allegedly ignoring storm victim households solely because of their political affiliation.  Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody sued current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency officials for "conspiracy to discriminate" against Florida hurricane victims because they expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump.  According to whistleblower reports, FEMA workers in Lake Placid were directed to ignore storm victims in households that displayed Trump signs or flags.

FEMA [is being] sued over revelations agency deliberately ignored homes of Trump supporters.  FEMA's disaster of its own making keeps getting worse.  Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody is suing current and former Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, claiming they "conspired to interfere with the civil rights of Trump voters" in the state by withholding aid in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.  The bombshell lawsuit follows alarming revelations its workers were given orders to avoid dozens of homes of Trump supporters in Lake Placid in a shocking display of political favoritism.  The scandal came to light after FEMA fired agency supervisor Marn'i Washington, who later claimed that systemic discrimination at the disaster relief agency was "colossal" both in Florida and beyond and alleged she's been made a "scapegoat" by the agency.

Concerns Mount as FEMA Selects Oscoda Airport for Massive Emergency Hub.  Oscoda Township, a small Michigan community, has been selected by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as a key emergency staging area for northern Michigan, with plans to house 350 semi-trailers of emergency equipment at the local airport.  The FEMA emergency hub, established to serve six counties in the event of an "emergency," has stirred a mix of interest and concern among Americans.  This announcement was made during a recent Oscoda Township board meeting on October 28, where Supervisor Bill Palmer confirmed the news of FEMA's selection of Wurtsmith Airport for this controversial initiative.  "The airport was just notified that FEMA has chosen the airport facility as a stationing hub for Emergency Services.  They will be bringing in some 350 semi-trailers with equipment to park on the base," Palmer said.

How High Does The FEMA Scandal Go?  Until the Daily Wire uncovered concrete evidence that the Federal Emergency Management Administration was telling relief workers to avoid Trump-supporting homes, the press was happy to take FEMA's word and debunk accusations of political favoritism.  Now that the FEMA employee at the center of the current scandal is saying that she's a scapegoat and that the problem is far deeper and wider, will the mainstream press ignore this too?  In the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, FEMA came under attack for its seemingly sluggish response to devastation in heavily Republican areas of the Southeast.  Poppycock, responded the press, regurgitating talking points from the agency.  But then the Daily Wire got hold of messages from a FEMA supervisor telling workers to "avoid homes advertising Trump" in Lake Placid, Florida, when going door to door to find those who qualified for financial aid.  It also had screenshots of reports from workers saying they were "not able to access property," with a note "Trump sign, no contact, per leadership."  FEMA issued a response and fired the supervisor, saying her actions were in violation of the agency's "core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation."  And that is where the mainstream press is happy to let the story rest.

Biden's FEMA weaponization — far worse than even Trump suspected.  It didn't start with this year's hurricanes:  Team Biden's weaponization of FEMA — discriminating against the "wrong" disaster victims — goes back years.  And it's not all on lower-level bureaucrats:  The orders came from the top.  Yes, FEMA axed Marn'i Washington in the face of damning evidence she told subordinates to skip outreach to homes with pro-Trump signs after Hurricane Milton, which led to at least 20 homes getting skipped in October and early November.  But Washington says she was just adhering to agency policy, and her supervisor OK'd her order:  It was no "isolated" incident, as Biden's FEMA folks claim.  An ex-FEMA official backs up that claim, telling The [New York] Post that bypassing Trump-backers has long been an open secret at the agency, as part of a larger policy of discrimination under Biden's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion directives.

FEMA Supervisor Who Allegedly Directed Staff to Avoid Homes With Trump Signs Claims it Was a Widespread Practice.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor accused of directing workers to skip hurricane-ravaged homes in Florida with Trump signs, claimed in an interview Monday that the policy was widespread and that she was being scapegoated.  [Advertisement]  Marn'i Washington was fired on Saturday after whistleblowers told the Daily Wire that at least 20 homes with Trump signs or flags were passed over at the end of October into November due to the guidance, depriving them of the opportunity to qualify for FEMA assistance.  She had worked for the agency since 2019.  [Advertisement]  According to internal FEMA messages obtained by the Daily Wire, Washington directed workers to "avoid homes advertising Trump" as they canvassed Lake Placid, Florida looking for residents who could qualify for federal aid.  This happened in Highlands County, "a deep-red area located in south central Florida that backed Trump by 70 percent on Tuesday," the Daily Wire reported.

FEMA's Targeting of Trump Supporters Makes the Case for Less Government.  At a time when Americans worry — for good reason — that the apparatus of the state is used to punish the political enemies of those in charge, a government employee just got caught doing what many people fear has become common practice: politicizing the use of government power.  A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) official who ordered workers to deny assistance to Trump supporters affected by Hurricane Milton powerfully bolstered the arguments of those of us who want government kept small and out of the way to minimize the danger it represents.  "More than 22,000 FEMA employees every day adhere to FEMA's core values and are dedicated to helping people before, during and after disasters, often sacrificing time with their own families to help disaster survivors," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell noted in a November 9 press release. "Recently, one FEMA employee departed from these values to advise her survivor assistance team to not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump."

The FEMA supervisor who told workers to avoid Trump homes was scapegoated.  Last week, the Daily Wire revealed that FEMA workers in Florida received instructions from their supervisor, Marn'i Washington, telling them to avoid houses with Trump signs.  Over the weekend, FEMA self-righteously apologized and let everyone know that it had fired Washington.  Now, though, Washington has gone on the Roland Martin show to explain that what she did is standard FEMA operating practice.  Listening to her muddy use of language, the real question is whether those Trump supporters are actually dangerous or if they just give FEMA workers the "sadz," an institutional attitude that's not Washington's fault.  In the video below, you can hear Washington, a FEMA reservist who also had a day job (from which she was fired, too), explain that she doesn't have any specific evidence about dangerous Trump voters.  Instead, for privacy reasons, FEMA records will just record that a certain community was dangerous.  That's why if there are too many hostile encounters, FEMA workers will just avoid a whole neighborhood — and Trump signs were associated with this level of hostility.  Washington added that she didn't even vote in this election, admitting that she was too busy, although she implies that she's non-partisan (which may, of course, be true).

FEMA outrage reveals weaponized government — and points Trump toward reform.  One of President-elect Donald Trump's first orders of business must be to de-weaponize the federal government.  One episode from Florida illustrates why.  Not long ago you might have charged me with paranoid conspiracy theorizing if I had told you that federal disaster relief workers were deliberately keeping Trump supporters from receiving government assistance.  But they were, and a FEMA supervisor has been fired for it.

FEMA Official FIRED for Avoiding Trump Supporters Spills ALL the Tea on FEMA Higher-Ups.  Well well well, this does not sound good for FEMA. [...] Case in point, the FEMA official who was fired for avoiding homes with Trump signs ... well, she was't exactly acting alone.  And she's spillin' the tea.  Watch:  [Tweet with video clip]  If you watch, she's convinced she has done nothing wrong and is just following protocol WITHOUT actually understanding how eff'd up that protocol really is.  Not to mention she just gave up all of FEMA proving they do indeed show political preference when helping Americans after a disaster.  At least they did under Biden/Harris.  Marn'i Washington allegedly told FEMA workers in Florida to skip houses with Trump signs out front after Hurricane Helene.  "Avoid homes advertising Trump," she wrote in a "best practices" memo to employees, a copy of which was obtained by Daily Wire, reportedly reinforcing this with a verbal order.

The question not being asked.  By now, you may have already heard about what happened down in Florida and may well have happened elsewhere.  It turns out that personnel working for FEMA knocking on doors to see if people were eligible for federal funds were told to skip the homes of obvious Trump supporters. [...] Plus, the individual responsible for that, Marn'i Washington, has been fired from her position and the case has been referred to the Office of Special Counsel.  That means she faces potential prosecution for her actions, which should most definitely happen.  However, while people are focusing on what happened — and for understandable reasons — I can't help but ask the question no one else seems to be asking.  Why did she think she could get away with it?

FEMA's final insult:  They hate us.  They really, really hate us.  It raises questions as to what the culture was like at FEMA that they could have a supervisor comfortable enough to hand out that kind of order in writing and employees writing back that that was exactly what they did to 20 damaged houses?  How far up did this go?  Where else was it employed — North Carolina?  Hawaii?  Northeastern California?  Most of those places have a lot of Republicans and Democrats during the North Carolina disaster gloated that they would be unable to vote, which didn't happen.  Why did this wretched, malevolent, hate-filled person think she could get away with it, hidden from public view until a whistleblower came forward?  Oh, sure, now they claim it was just one bad apple among their rescue crews.  Nothing to see here, move along.  FEMA claimed they transfered their employee from operations in Florida to some place else.  But why is this person still employed at all?

Whistleblower Says FEMA Ordered Workers to Purposely Skip Houses Displaying Pro-Trump Signs in Aftermath of Hurricane Milton.  A whistleblower has come forward with text messages revealing FEMA ordered relief workers to purposely skip over homes in Florida displaying Trump signs in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.  According to internal messages obtained by The Daily Wire, FEMA discriminated against Trump supporters in need of help in the aftermath of the most recent hurricanes that passed through the Southeast.  Hurricanes Helene and Milton slammed into Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and other states in September and October.  Flooding and strong winds from the powerful storms caused a lot of damage in Florida and North Carolina.

FEMA Workers Working Hurricane Milton Aftermath Ordered to Bypass Houses With Trump Signs.  FEMA is supposedly constituted to provide help to Americans in the event of disaster, natural or man-made.  They are funded and their personnel are paid by taxpayer dollars, which one would think that fact alone should ensure that said help would be provided without condition or qualification.  Unless, of course, a disaster victim has a Trump sign on their house.  It seems that a FEMA supervisor in charge of the recovery workers in Lake Placid, Florida, ordered them as a "best practice" to skip houses with Trump signs, per a Daily Wire exclusive: [...]

Update:
FEMA official who allegedly told workers to avoid Florida homes with Trump signs [has been] fired.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency supervisor accused of ordering her subordinates to skip Florida homes with Trump campaign signs has been fired.  Marn'i Washington was sacked for telling disaster relief workers in Lake Placid, Fla., to "not go to homes with yard signs supporting President-elect Trump," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Saturday.  "This is a clear violation of FEMA's core values and principles to help people regardless of their political affiliation," she said, adding, "This employee has been terminated and we have referred the matter to the Office of Special Counsel.

FEMA 'horrified' after confirming workers directed to 'avoid homes' with Trump signs in hurricane-ravaged Florida community.  A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) supervisor told disaster relief workers in Florida to "avoid homes" with signs supporting President-elect Donald Trump, the agency confirmed Friday.  The FEMA official — Marn'i Washington — conveyed her edict both verbally and in a Microsoft Teams chat used by relief workers canvassing Lake Placid homes ravaged by Hurricane Milton last month, according to the Daily Wire.  "Avoid homes advertising Trump," Washington wrote in a "best practices" memo to employees.  The order was the second bullet point in a list instructing workers to not go "anywhere alone," practice "de-escalation," stay hydrated and to "follow the rules."

FEMA Supervisor Who Ordered Staff to Avoid Homes with Trump Flags Is Relieved of Duty.  FEMA official Marn'i Washington ordered her staff to avoid assisting homes with Trump flags in their yards following the aftermath of a recent hurricane in Florida.  Marn'i wanted them to suffer for their support for Donald Trump.  A whistleblower came forward with text messages revealing FEMA official Marn'i Washington ordered relief workers to purposely skip over homes in Florida displaying Trump signs in the aftermath of Hurricane Milton.  According to internal messages obtained by The Daily Wire, FEMA discriminated against Trump supporters in need of help in the aftermath of the most recent hurricanes that passed through the Southeast.

The Editor says...
When was the last time a black female supervisor was fired from a government job (which she got because she was a black female)?  This almost never happens!  And it wouldn't have happened this time, except for the whistleblower.

Elon Succeeded Where FEMA Failed.  Robby Starbuck, a right-wing activist who loves to troll the left, lives on a 12-acre farm in Tennessee, about four hours from the area that Hurricane Helene ravaged last week.  After the storm hit southern Appalachia, a friend told him that hurricane victims were struggling to connect with the outside world.  "So many people were worried that their family members might have died and they couldn't get in touch," Starbuck told The Free Press.  The hurricane has been the worst since Katrina in 2005, with 230 deaths so far, and damages estimated between $30 billion and $47 billion.  There were people trapped in flooded homes — or whose homes had been destroyed by the hurricane — and had no way of communicating with anyone who might be able to rescue them.  They needed help.  So Starbuck told two of his employees in Tennessee to drop everything, head to nearby Home Depots, and buy every Starlink receiver the stores had.  Starlink is part of Elon Musk's SpaceX, and the small panels, which retail for about $300 each, allow people to connect to the internet via the 6,000-plus satellites that SpaceX rockets have launched into space over the years.  It takes only 20 to 30 minutes to set them up, after which users can access Starlink's Wi-Fi via phone or laptop.

Volunteer Miners Rebuild Highway, Residents Say Federal Aid Arrives Too Late.  Coal miners from West Virginia, known as the "West Virginia Boys," have stepped in to restore Highway 64 in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, after Hurricane Helene devastated the area.  The miners rebuilt the 2.7-mile stretch in just three days, allowing displaced residents to return home.  Robin Phillips, who fled during the storm, expressed gratitude for their efforts.  "I haven't been able to access my home since the hurricane, but the West Virginia boys brought the road back," she said.  Phillips and her husband, who operate a campground, will now be able to return to assess the damage.  While the miners' work was swift, many residents are unhappy with the Biden-Harris administration's delayed response.  Federal agencies like FEMA and the DOT visited but did not take over the project.  Logan Campbell, a volunteer from Mississippi, said that while agencies talked about long-term plans, the miners completed the job.

After dumping cash into migrants, diversity, FEMA failed an answer nearly half of calls from hurricane survivors.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is short on resources after spending hundreds of millions on migrant services and "equity" programs, failed to answer roughly half of the phone calls made by survivors of Hurricanes Milton and Helene.  Between Oct. 14 and Oct. 20, days after Milton hit Florida on Oct. 9, FEMA received 900,000 calls from survivors, but failed to answer 47% of them, Politico reported.  The large number of missed calls was partially attributable to staff and resource shortages at the agency.  FEMA, however, spent nearly $1 billion on providing services to illegal migrants and allocated $12 million for a grant program designed to increase equity in disaster responses by making greater investments in communities with high concentrations of racial or sexual minorities.

It's the Great Reversal, Not the Great Reset.  [Scroll down]  Also of note is the existence of over 700 detention camps that have been built across the United States over the last twenty-plus years to provide "national essential functions" in the event of "catastrophic emergencies" under the control of the President and the Department of Homeland Security (of which FEMA is a part).  These facilities have been used sporadically in response to natural disasters.  Still, watchdog groups point out the likelihood of these facilities being used to detain American citizens for resistance and alleged crimes against the state, similar to what happened to many J6 attendees who acted in good faith of their First Amendment rights but ended up being incarcerated.

The Editor says...
The FEMA camps are not being used for the incarceration of violent illegal aliens, or Chinese invaders, or Venezuelan/Mexican gangs (Tren de Aragua, MS-13, et al), or Middle-eastern Muslim terrorists.  They are apparently reserved for those who step out of line and raise their objections about stolen elections, replacement workers, mysterious fires, license plate readers, a national ID card, face recognition machines, and the elimination of cash.  In other words, FEMA is not on your side.

U.S. House committee launches investigation into alleged misuse of FEMA money.  Republican members of the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security have launched an investigation into the alleged misuse of Federal Emergency Management Agency funds by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  DHS, which has oversight of FEMA, has directed that billions of dollars of FEMA funds be used to pay for food, housing, transportation and other services for illegal border crossers.

Video of 14 CBP Agents Moving a Log 15 Feet Is Exactly Why We Need Trump's Gov't Efficiency Commission.  U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted a video to X on Thursday promoting efforts, alongside their friends at FEMA, engaged in disaster cleanup.  It is a demonstration of government efficiency at its absolute best.  Or maybe not.  They were promptly ratioed into oblivion for the effort.  Worried about hurricane cleanup in Florida after Hurricane Milton?  Fear not.  These folks are on the case!  "Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton," the video is captioned.  "The safety of the American people is our top priority."  It's hard to believe somebody on the CBP social media team thought this was impressive enough to post.  Feast your eyes on the ragtag group of armed federal officers, which has been assembled to tackle this gargantuan task — Using 14 people to move one log — one log! — roughly 15 feet:  [Tweet with video clip]

FEMA gets mocked into oblivion over video showing hurricane relief efforts.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency was mocked and ridiculed on social media after U.S. Customs and Border Protection posted a video meant to promote the agency's hurricane aid efforts.  The video shows government workers lined up to clear out logs from a residence as a chainsaw can be heard in the background.  "Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton.  The safety of the American people is our top priority," the tweet read.  The video quickly went viral on social media after critics pointed out that having 14 government workers standing around to clear out logs was one of the least efficient ways to get the work done.  "And every single one of these people is drawing a full salary, pension benefits and medical benefits.  While getting almost nothing done.  Imagine that," responded author Mike Adams.

FEMA temporarily pauses aid in parts of NC over reported threats.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) temporarily paused aid in parts of North Carolina this weekend after alleged threats targeted the agency's personnel aiding in recovery efforts following Hurricane Helene.  Ashe County Sheriff Phil Howell said in a statement Sunday that FEMA personnel in North Carolina's "mountain region" were targeted by threats, prompting FEMA to take precautionary steps and temporarily pause aid operations at other FEMA sites.  Neither Ashe County nor its surrounding counties were targeted by the threats, Howell said.  "Out of an abundance of caution, they have paused their process as they are assessing the threats," Howell said in a Facebook post Sunday morning.  Ashe County Emergency Management said Sunday that FEMA staff would not be taking applications in a couple of towns, adding, "It is our understanding that all FEMA reps in NC were stood down due to threats occurring in some counties," noting "we have not received any official correspondence on this issue from FEMA."

FEMA Is a Bureaucratic Disaster Area.  Thanks to the terrible destruction Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton wrought on millions of Americans in the Southeast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has been continuously in the headlines for two weeks.  Former President Donald Trump claims that FEMA has been slow to respond to the disasters, especially in the mountains of western North Carolina where the storms hit thousands of people living in high-altitude rural isolation especially hard.  Trump claims that a big part of FEMA's laggard response is due to the fact President Joe Biden's administration diverted hundreds of millions of tax dollars from disaster relief to providing free food, shelter, and other assistance to the millions of illegal immigrants who have flooded across the nation's open borders since February 2021.  Biden claims that Trump is un-American and unfit to return to the Oval Office because FEMA is not screwing up as the former chief executive claims.  Then there is Biden's Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, who chimes in that FEMA has enough money for disaster aid efforts today but not for tomorrow.  Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-La.) points out that Congress just last month provided FEMA an extra $20 billion.

The Truth About FEMA and Government Waste.  Contrary to false media narratives, FEMA does provide support to illegal immigrants amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars.  Their own statistics confirm this.  This is part of a significant expansion of the role that FEMA has assigned to itself, which reflects a broader trend of government agencies being totally out of control.  [Video clip]

Somewhat related:
The National Guard Loaded A C17 With Hurricane Victim Supplies For A Kamala Photo Op With No Intention Of Actually Giving It To Any Victims.  The NC National Guard allegedly loaded an entire C17 with supplies just so Kamala Harris could stage a photo-op for Hurricane Helene without the intention of the supplies being used.  The accusation came from Aerial Recovery members Jonathan Howard and Charlie Keebaugh on Shawn Ryan's show.  "I had a squadron commander from North Carolina reach out to me... They had to a C17, full of supplies just to take a photo op for Kamala... and they never sent the bird."  "They did a photo op and with the intention of never sending [aid]... it was just a photo op."  [Video clip]

Helene, Government's "Total Fail" During a Major Disaster.  Yes, it's happening.  Following Hurricane Helene, we are witnessing a total failure in the government's response to a major disaster.  Reports on NBC, as well as hundreds of others give us some insight as to some of the problems people across western North Carolina are facing.  With roads, bridges, water pipes, and electrical lines washed away, FEMA is telling us they don't have the money to "Git er done." It seems the money has gone to aiding immigrants at the border and providing weapons for Ukraine.  Desperate families are still waiting for word about missing loved ones, days after the flooding disaster in Tennessee, and North Carolina.  Expect politicians to fill the slots in the mainstream media to spin the reality on the ground into a tale of "we are getting the job done[.]"  The fact is, they are not.

FEMA's Ridiculous New 'Hurricane Misinformation' Website Needs Some Serious Fact Checking.  How do you know when you're being lied to by the political left?  Well, yes, when their lips are moving, but also when they scream "Disinformation!"  Such is the case with Biden-Harris's FEMA, which has announced a new website to address what they're calling "hurricane disinformation."  The translation of that nonsense little phrase being that they were caught with their pants down after Hurricane Helene, whether accidentally or deliberately, and it's all the fault of disinformation. [...] Imagine how the people of storm-ravaged North Carolina will feel when, in the face of the disastrous response by the federal government, they hear that FEMA is wasting time and resources on a rumor website.  They know the truth about FEMA. Forget misinformation; we're dealing with criminally bad mismanagement here.

FEMA contracts out its home inspection services to BlackRock, and a front company?  Pay no attention to the global investment corporations that are vying for access to the natural resources — like lithium — in North Carolina's landscape, and the shadowy business with no substantial presence in the marketplace, whose agents are running the property valuation operations!  Confused?  Allow me to explain.  On the FEMA website, one can navigate to a webpage that discloses the recipients of certain federal FEMA contracts, and what services those contractors provide; here's an explanation of the relationship between FEMA and the private sector: [...] If you search for the private companies with contracts for the "Housing Inspection Services" function, you'll see two contracts, one to "WSP USA Services, Inc." and the other to Vanguard Inspection Services. [...] Regarding Vanguard Inspection Services, it's got all the markers of a front company; as far as I can tell, it looks as though VIS exists solely to do business with FEMA.

Could the Hurricane Response be Election Interference?  Election 2024 is weeks away.  Donald Trump still holds a 2-point lead nationally over Kamala Harris according to the latest Rasmussen Reports polling.  J.D. Vance wiped the debate floor with Tim Walz, despite election interference by Vance's pant-suited debate opponents from CBS News. [...] Apparently, there is no money for hurricane victims, especially those in the red portion of western North Carolina.  Would government resources be more readily available if the flooding was in the Research Triangle of far bluer Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill?  Or some other Democrat stronghold?  Rural western North Carolina is home to Hillary Clinton's "deplorables."  Why else would they be left to struggle and die with little government effort?  Is this the latest Democrat ploy at election interference, not stuffing the ballot box but changing the voter mix, increasing Democrat voters via illegal immigration, and decreasing Republican voters by letting them die? [...] What is the circumstantial evidence of hurricane election interference?  It is beyond incompetence, instead a deliberate effort to hamper rescue efforts.

How exactly did FEMA acquire all the money it's spent on illegals this year?  If you're confused as to how in the world FEMA acquired all the funds it's been using to feed, clothe, and house the millions of illegal aliens that have poured into the U.S. during the Biden-Harris years with American tax dollars, while ignoring the American people, you're not alone.  The agency had the better part of a billion dollars to dump into sheltering illegals (just this year alone), but it's out of cash for hurricane emergency efforts?  And, the $750 payment, if you can even get it, is a... loan?!

Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse Is Putting FEMA to Shame.  Dr. Phil McGraw praised the work that Franklin Graham's relief organization Samaritan's Purse is doing to help the victims of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina.  It is putting the Federal Emergency Management Agency's work to shame.  "Let me tell you, these [Samaritan's Purse] guys don't have meetings to fill out forms to plan a meeting to get something going.  They have verbs in their sentences.  They have springs in their step, and they're out making things happen," McGraw said.  "FEMA, all these other people are talking, thinking.  No, not Samaritan's Purse.  They're out doing things," he added.

Citing the Biden-Harris admin's own FEMA facts isn't misinformation.  In a perfect storm of Democratic nonsense, White House chief flack Karine Jean-Pierre blew off factual info around Federal Emergency Management Agency spending and foreign aid that her own employers released as "misinformation" before stomping off in a huff.  What more proof does America need that labels of mis- and disinformation have nothing to do with whether any statement is true or false, but only whether it's helpful or harmful to the political project of the left?  Fox News' Peter Doocy posed Jean-Pierre (Joe Biden's newest "senior adviser") a simple question:  Why does the Biden administration have close to $157 million ready to go for Lebanon aid but has to go hat in hand to Congress for extra funds for FEMA to deal with Hurricane Helene damage?

Harris-Biden Admin Turned FEMA Into a DEI Experiment — and Hurricane Victims Are Suffering for It.  If ever there was an ironclad example of the failures of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) practices in Kamala Harris' America, the devastating government response to Hurricane Helene should leave no doubt.  And it's about to grow ever more apparent.  [Advertisement]  The Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) focus has shifted towards emphasizing DEI over immediate disaster response efficiency under the Harris-Biden administration.  Hurricane Helene victims are suffering because of it.  Hurricane Milton victims are about to as well.  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as a whole has endured stunning ineptitude through the DEI-fueled hiring of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  Mayorkas has been, in an understatement, a complete and utter disaster.  Under his watch, the door to the southern border has swung wide open — over 10 million illegal immigrants have entered the country, including 1.8 million known "gotaways" who slipped past Border Patrol.  He also had his hand in the multiple security failures involved in the assassination attempts against Donald Trump, reportedly ignoring "repeated requests" for stronger Secret Service protection for the former president.  It should come as no surprise.  These are the kinds of things that tend to happen when hiring based on which demographic boxes an individual checks off instead of their capability or knowledge.

Sheriff: Helene Survivors Cannot Apply for $750 Because They Do Not Have a Phone or Computer.  An exasperated South Carolina sheriff slammed the Biden-Harris administration's offer to Hurricane Helene survivors of $750 in "immediate" relief funds, arguing it was nothing compared to what they gave Ukraine and because it requires access to the internet — which residents in the worst-hit areas still do not have.  "That lady that's running for president talks about the $750.  Heh — what about all that money you give to Ukraine and all these other people who really want to kill us and don't want to do anything to help us.  Why don't you just give that money to them, that's who you want to give it to to be begin with," Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright told FOX News contributor Sara Carter in a video she posted to X on Tuesday.

Elon Succeeded Where FEMA Failed.  Robby Starbuck, a right-wing activist who loves to troll the left, lives on a 12-acre farm in Tennessee, about four hours from the area that Hurricane Helene ravaged last week.  After the storm hit southern Appalachia, a friend told him that hurricane victims were struggling to connect with the outside world.  "So many people were worried that their family members might have died and they couldn't get in touch," Starbuck told The Free Press.  The hurricane has been the worst since Katrina in 2005, with 230 deaths so far, and damages estimated between $30 billion and $47 billion.  There were people trapped in flooded homes — or whose homes had been destroyed by the hurricane — and had no way of communicating with anyone who might be able to rescue them.  They needed help.  So Starbuck told two of his employees in Tennessee to drop everything, head to nearby Home Depots, and buy every Starlink receiver the stores had.  Starlink is part of Elon Musk's SpaceX, and the small panels, which retail for about $300 each, allow people to connect to the internet via the 6,000-plus satellites that SpaceX rockets have launched into space over the years.  It takes only 20 to 30 minutes to set them up, after which users can access Starlink's Wi-Fi via phone or laptop.

FEMA Says "Disinformation" is a Problem — What Disinformation?  The Disinformation About the Information.  Politico has written an article about FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, saying disinformation about the federal government response to Hurricane Helene, "is absolutely the worst I have ever seen," Criswell told reporters on a Tuesday morning call.  "It's creating distrust in the federal government, but also the state government, and we have so many first responders that have been working to go out and help these communities," she added.  However, if you go read the article fraught with pearl-clutching and protestation, you might curiously discover there is not a single citation for any claimed "disinformation."  It is very odd to see FEMA and by extension Politico in their defense, claiming that massive disinformation is running rampant, and yet they do not cite a single example of the disinformation they claim to exist.

FEMA sets up a 'rumor response' webpage to set the record straight after all the scrutiny of its response to Helene.  When enough of the public harbors such deep distrust for our federal government that our federal agencies feel compelled to establish official "rumor response" websites to try to convince the people that they're not corrupt and incompetent, I'd say it's game over, and there's no road to redemption.  You've blown it.  Obliterated everything.  Nuked your last shred of credibility.  In light of mounting accusations against FEMA as bumbling the response to Hurricane Helene beyond all comprehension, the disaster relief agency took it upon itself to create a fact-checking website, to battle the "rumor" mill — despite what those conspiracy theorist MAGA haters are saying, FEMA takes its mission seriously, and is adeptly handling the emergency response!

No Hurricane Help from the Feds.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is tired of people criticizing its slipshod response to Hurricane Helene.  So what if FEMA is more concerned with prioritizing "disaster equity" for "LGBTQIA people" than delivering crucial help for distressed citizens without identity issues?  So what if Department of Homeland Security saboteur Alejandro Mayorkas used the agency's budget to relocate illegal aliens across the U.S. and no longer has sufficient resources to assist Americans in dire straits!  FEMA head Deanne Criswell says that telling the truth about the agency's ongoing failures and likely fraud is "dangerous."  Dangerous for whom?  The Americans who have died during the greatest flooding event to hit southern Appalachia this century?  Or dangerous for the bureaucratic blob that increasingly appears to have "expertise" in nothing but doling out endless American misery?

FEMA Whistleblowers Say [the] Agency [is] Wildly Mismanaged.  Whistleblowers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency have come forward in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene to accuse the agency of misappropriating funds and generally mismanaging its responsibilities.  This is according to a letter sent by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department includes FEMA.  FEMA has come under fire for its response to Hurricane Helene, which ravaged North Carolina, Georgia, and other states and left over 200 dead.  Mayorkas said in an interview Wednesday that FEMA "does not have the funds" to address the rest of the hurricane season.  Gaetz wrote in his letter, which he also posted on X:  "Numerous whistleblowers came forward to my office this week to sound the alarm on FEMA's severe mismanagement issues, which have left first responders on the ground to assist with Hurricane Helene recovery efforts without deployment orders."  Gaetz said FEMA's mismanagement impeded the federal government's response to the hurricane.

FEMA Doled Out Millions Pushing 'Equity,' Prioritizing 'Underserved Communities' Leading Up To Hurricane Season.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in May 2023 launched a $12 million grant program designed to increase "equity" in disaster responses by making greater investments in communities with high concentrations of racial and sexual minorities, documents show.  FEMA's 2023 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program sought to disburse multi-million dollar grants designed to bolster disaster preparedness "equity" for what it called "underserved communities," a label later defined in grant documents as "populations sharing a particular characteristic, as well as geographic communities, who have been systematically denied a full opportunity to participate in aspects of economic, social and civic life."  Examples of these groups cited in the FEMA documents include African Americans, Hispanics, Middle Easterners, LGBT people and people living in rural areas, among others.

Special ops vets form 'Redneck Air Force' to ferry aid into NC mountains after feds come up short.  Hundreds of special operations personnel in North Carolina have formed their own homegrown rescue and supply operation in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene after they grew tired of waiting for the federal government to get its act together.  The [New York] Post found an all-volunteer operation being run out of a Harley-Davidson dealership with ruthless efficiency and military precision.  "Who's FEMA?" ex-Green Beret Adam Smith derisively responded when asked about the agency's presence on the ground since the deadly storm ravaged the rural western part of the state.

Recent Events Force Us To See The Reality Of Today's Democrats.  As millions of Americans picked themselves up and surveyed the extraordinary damage wrought by Hurricane Helene, they discovered, to their horror, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, an agency specifically set up to help American citizens and communities recover from natural disasters exactly like Helene, was almost out of money.  And it wasn't because the agency wasn't given any money.  No, FEMA didn't have any money to help Americans who had lost everything, were waiting to be rescued, or were hungry and thirsty because, through fancy bookkeeping, the Biden / Harris administration spent $1 billion in the last two years providing housing and other services to illegal aliens.  Literally, a program specifically created to help Americans recover from disasters was drained almost dry, leaving it with few resources to help Americans recover from disasters because it had spent all the taxpayer dollars sent its way on services for people who had come into the country illegally.

Hurricane Helene Exposes a Deep Betrayal of America.  Americans across several states are suffering and attempting to survive under unimaginably harsh conditions, without food and water, in that aftermath of Hurricane Helene which tore across ten states in the Southeast last week, leaving a path of destruction in its wake.  And a week later, these people have found that they are largely on their own, as all the real help that has arrived has come through the efforts of individuals and nonprofit groups such as Samaritan Purse, Mountain Mule Packers Ranch, Save Our Allies and Aerial Recovery, which has exposed the fact — to anyone who didn't already know — that the Biden regime doesn't [care] about them, as Biden and his minions have engaged in not just dereliction of duty but the worst betrayal of the American people ever witnessed, since the birth of the nation.

The opposite of truth is not just lies, it is chaos.  [Scroll down]  Adding insult to injury, FEMA has been turned into a DEI experiment with predictable results.  Mayorkas has stated that millions of dollars of FEMA funds and resources have been spent on migrants, and the agency is essentially broke!  The hurricane victims are simply out of luck despite the lies that White House spokesperson, Karine Jean Pierre, tells to the contrary.  Most people will believe the hundreds of clips of victims telling the truth.  FEMA is AWOL. It seems that this administration has been using FEMA money, $1b of it, to care for the millions of illegal migrants the Biden/Harris administration has ushered into the country.  Their horrific, seemingly purposeful but surely negligent response to the devastation throughout the southeast wrought by Hurricane Helene is more proof of their utter failure to do right by Americans.  While the empty-headed newsreaders on the Sunday news shows claim that any tales of FEMA not being present and providing needed help are untrue, the folks on the ground tell of FEMA confiscating donations, of threatening to arrest citizens offering help, etc., their stories are clearly and sadly true.  These victims who have lost everything are being helped by civilian volunteers for water, food and escape, not FEMA.

The Editor says...
Please do not trivialize one billion dollars by calling it "1b" unless you're writing a text message and don't have much room.

FEMA broke, impotent, or disgustingly biased?  If you thought the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was specifically and exclusively tasked with providing relief and succor to American citizens who have been the victims of natural disasters, you probably also believe in the tooth fairy — or that Epstein killed himself.  Au contraire.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas recently admitted that "FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season."  This begs a question.  Why?  I was keen to guess.  One reason is that FEMA spent more than $650 million this fiscal year providing housing and services to illegal aliens.  I did guess.  Correctly!  That's right, FEMA spent the better part of a billion dollars so far this year providing non-emergency aid to non-citizens via the Shelter and Services program.  Sorry, western North Carolinians!  Too bad you don't have a house, belongings, or a pot to tinkle in anymore!  Hope you find the rest of your family members!  We'd love to help, really, but we're just tapped out at the moment!

FEMA Abandons Devastated NC Town Residents — Agency Refuses to Drive Around 'Road Closed' Sign.  In the wake of Hurricane Helene's wrath, residents of the tiny town of Bat Cave, North Carolina, are facing a devastating reality — they've been left to fend for themselves.  FEMA, the federal agency tasked with disaster relief, has all but abandoned the community, citing a "road closed" sign as the reason for their absence.  As the town continues to pick up the pieces, it's clear that this is yet another example of Biden's government failure, and local residents are none too pleased.  Chelsea Atkins, 38, a health researcher originally from Buffalo, NY, shared her frustration with FEMA's incompetence in an interview with the New York Post.

Did Biden-Harris Divert FEMA Funds For Luxury Migrant Apartments With Flat-Screen TVs?  FEMA's entanglement with the Biden-Harris administration's disastrous open southern border policies by diverting storm relief funds ($1.4 billion, according to NYPost) for illegal and legal aliens may have undermined the federal agency's ability to effectively manage emergencies, such as the Katrina-like disaster unfolding in the US Southeast.  [Tweet]  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas dropped the bombshell last week:  FEMA "does not have the funds" to see Americans through the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season.  The federal agency drained the funds by prioritizing taxpayer funds for illegal and legal aliens versus US citizens as the Biden-Harris globalist team rolled out the red carpet to anyone, even terrorists, via the open southern borders.

Here's One Reason Why FEMA Is Doing Such a Terrible Job.  You have probably seen many of the same videos I have, in which North Carolina residents are begging for help and wondering where FEMA is.  Aside from funding migrants, that is.  It seems to be doing a fine job at that, exhausting the funds that should be going to help Helene's victims.  [Tweet with video clip]  Why is FEMA so awful?  Or, should I say, why other than the fact that Alejandro Mayorkas, the most destructive man in America, is in charge of it?  [Tweet]  According to FEMA itself, it's #1 priority is no longer responding to emergencies but promoting Diversity, Equity, and inclusion.  [Tweet with video clip]  As victims are suffering and dying in Appalachia, FEMA is focused on trans migrants of color who may feel uncomfortable getting help from religious organizations.  [Advertisement]  We can't have a Christian or a Jew helping somebody unless they usher men into women's bathrooms.  Seriously.  [More tweets]  FEMA is, as with every bureaucracy under the Harris/Biden administration, obsessed with microaggressions, affirming fetishists, and distributing benefits by race.  Kamala Harris herself has said that disaster aid should be distributed by race in order to promote equity.

Resurfaced video shows FEMA exec talking about prioritizing LGBTQ hurricane victims as Milton barrels towards Florida.  A FEMA disaster preparedness meeting about 'focusing efforts on LGBTQIA+' victims has resurfaced following the agency's response to Hurricane Helene.  In a virtual meeting from March 2023, FEMA Emergency Management Specialist Tyler Atkins alarmingly said the agency was prioritizing LGBTQ people because they are 'already disadvantaged.'  'They already have their own things to deal with.  So you add a disaster on top of that, it's just compounding on itself,' Atkins, who uses he/they pronouns, told the panel.

Kamala's 'Katrina' response is exactly how communism is supposed to work.  Everyone is rightly infuriated by the Harris/Biden administration's vote-buying efforts with billions of dollars in handouts while actual taxpaying citizens are suffering and dying.  But what they don't realize is that this is the way it's supposed to work. [...] The problem for the far left is that they've lied so much about everything else — Russian collusion, Biden's fitness for office, as well as the myriad and often repeated lies about Donald Trump, no one except the hardcore far-left believes them anymore.  The other big problem for the far left is that we have reports on the ground that instantly eviscerate their lies.  We have the video report from Glenn Beck of FEMA just arriving on the scene days late where no one can find them.  And instead of handing out essential supplies like food and water, they are set up to start processing red tape.  We also have a video of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas after Hurricane Helene:  FEMA doesn't have enough funding to last the hurricane season.  So, it should be obvious that this is part of an overall plan or dark-sided ideology.

Kamala's Katrina Catastrophe.  Hurricane Helene witnessed a predictable pattern.  Biden stayed at the beach; Kamala pretended to be on the phone; and Trump characteristically flew in with supplies, organized a charity drive, and convinced Elon Musk to rush in 500 Starlink internet terminals, followed by FEMA blocking Musk's and everyone else's efforts.  Blocking Starlink is essential to concealing FEMA's perfidy.  Success will be measured by how many Republicans can be kept from voting.  The House, on break until November 12, should be recalled to begin hearings. [...] The failure to rush aid to Georgia, supposedly won by Biden in 2020, confirms that Kamala's polling there reveals her impending loss.  Private helicopters substitute for missing government rescue flights.  Because FEMA's assets were diverted to migrants, and the devastation is so vast, Kamala's political bleeding has only begun as the death toll mounts.

Devils Prey On Angels.  The government, especially the federal government, is a bully.  Their bluff and bluster is an illusion that only works on the peaceful and law-abiding, who are inclined to do the reasonable thing and would do so in the absence of any government at all. [...] FEMA threatens with force they don't have, citing laws that don't exist.  It's hollow bluff and bluster to be pushed aside, scoffed at and ridiculed.  They can wrap themselves in their communist rags and preach their power and superiority to the people, but those words are hollow and meaningless to a people determined to do the right thing, the honorable thing.  Fascism is the government working with corporations to rule over the people.  In this case, they have done the unforgiveable, importing slave labor at slave labor prices bolstered by FEMA funds, welfare, while taking American jobs, something noticeable in the rising job market and decline of unemployment, figures derived from mythical unemployed and illegal immigrants filling the spots denied to Americans.

Harris Touts $157M for Civilians in Lebanon While Many Helene Victims Wait for Relief.  Democrat presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday touted that her and President Joe Biden's administration was sending $157 million in humanitarian aid to civilians in Lebanon, after announcing just $750 for the immediate needs of individual Hurricane Helene victims.  She even added the $157 million infusion would bring the total U.S. support to Lebanon in one year to "over $385 million."  For perspective, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced on Oct. 4 it has provided $45 million in disaster relief thus far: $23 million to people in Florida; $17 million to North Carolina; and $4.5 million to South Carolina.  This is while thousands of Americans lost their homes, businesses, belongings, pets — and in some cases family members — due to Hurricane Helene wreaking destruction across the nation's southeast last weekend, and are only getting $750 in immediate assistance.  Hurricane victims can apply for a range of additional aid from FEMA.

The Propaganda Press at Work:  Shielding Doug Emhoff and FEMA's Failures.  [Scroll down]  All that is one side of what the Regime Party is about.  Another side has been on view these last several days as the destruction and human misery left in the wake of Hurricane Helene has haltingly become public.  As I write, the official death toll of that disaster is somewhere around 300.  Reports from people on the ground say it is much higher, probably around 2000.  Quite apart from the human toll exacted by the storm, there are two things to note about the response of our government and the Propaganda Press struggling to control what reports leak out about that response.  First, notwithstanding the efforts of the Propaganda Press to keep a lid on the facts, it is now widely known that FEMA, the chief federal agency in charge of responding to such disasters, has failed miserably.  What initially sparked public outrage was Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas's statement that, sorry, but the agency was out of money.  He'd love to help but the "funds" were not there.  That was quickly followed by the news that, over the last 18 months or so, the Biden-Harris administration had spent some $1.4 billion to house, tend, and cater to illegal migrants (and how many billions have been siphoned off to Ukraine?).  Hundreds of thousands of those migrants were salted around the country, especially to vulnerable counties in red states, where they were provided with cash stipends and housing at taxpayer expense.  I note that Mayorkas, as head of the HSS, is also in charge (under "Border Czar" Kamala Harris) of that porous figment, the Southern border.

Heroes and Zeroes.  Under this Administration, FEMA, designed to aid citizens in emergency situations like hurricanes, has as its priority aiding millions of illegal immigrants.  Three months ago, DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas assured us that FEMA was well-funded to see us through the hurricane season.  This week he said they were broke.  Broke because over the last two years they stripped out of their funds almost $2 billion for illegal immigrant aid and left Florida, the Carolinas, and Georgia without the disaster relief taxpayers funded for it.  Reports from the field are shocking — not only is the government not making relief crews and funds available, but they have been blocking relief by individuals and religious groups, confiscating private donations, blocking private helicopters (including Operation Airdrop with volunteers from Texas to Maine) from rescuing stranded citizens and dropping relief supplies including foods and medicine.  They've interfered with the distribution of Skylinks donated by Elon Musk and other private donors to communities stranded by flood waters and washed-out roads. [...] Electricity will be hard to provide in the area for months.  Among other reasons. there are insufficient supplies of needed replacement transformers, which the Administration shipped to Ukraine.

KJP Claims It's 'False' FEMA Used Funds for Illegal Immigrants.  That's Not What She Was Saying in 2022.  As Townhall has been covering, the Biden-Harris administration's response to Hurricane Helene has been just awful.  Unsurprisingly, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has offered poor defenses, including when it comes to FEMA's shameful failures.  According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the agency is out of money for hurricane season, though illegal immigrants have received assistance, and the agency has been focused on "equity."  [Advertisement]  During Friday's press briefing, Jean-Pierre was confronted about how "former President Trump is accusing the Biden administration of using FEMA funding to support undocumented migrants," with the reporter wanting to know "how is the White House responding to that?"  Jean-Pierre sought to deny Trump's point, emphasizing "it is a false statement," as she hid behind a fact-check from The Washington Post.  [Tweet]

KJP slammed after Hurricane Helene over mixed messages on whether FEMA resources [were] used for migrants.  White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is facing heavy criticism after sending mixed messages on whether the Biden-Harris administration has been using FEMA resources to support migrants last week.  Jean-Pierre flatly denied that FEMA resources were going to migrants in a press conference last week, but she stated the opposite when asked about the issue in the fall of 2022.  "Former President Trump is accusing the Biden administration of using FEMA funding to support undocumented migrants.  How is the White House responding to that?" a reporter asked during a Friday press conference.

It's time to abolish FEMA.  When Hurricane Helene ravaged the Southeast recently, horror stories of ineptitude by federal government agencies abounded.  Slow response, permission paperwork, turf battles, bureaucratic regulations, and shocking incompetence were evident ([links to examples]), especially by the Transportation Department and by FEMA.  Repeats of Lahaina and East Palestine.  Rather than add to the chorus of criticism, here is a proposed solution for FEMA's recurring history of incompetence:  abolish FEMA and remove the federal government from the picture except as the funding authority.  The practical effect would be to put the money where it helps (not into another federal agency).  To truly help Americans victimized by disasters, we should privatize the emergency response logistics by contracting the responsibility and authority for quick emergency response to organizations like Samaritan's Purse and others.  These organizations should be tasked to set up regional quick response centers that are stocked with water, food, clothing, temporary shelter, generators, portable laundromats, etc., and are ready to mobilize at first warning.  These organizations responded with aid days before "disaster areas were proclaimed," and FEMA mobilized itself.

FEMA cranks up its spin and gaslight operations.  For a government agency that's floundering its hurricane response and running out of money after spending nearly a billion on illegals, it sure does spend a lot on public relations operations telling us all how capable and competent it is in the wake of Hurricane Helene and its devastation. [...] [T]here have been many stories of FEMA blocking aid to the needy in order to be the big dog on the bureaucratic block.  Pilots say they don't have FEMA "permissions" is but one example.  Aid groups not working with "approved vendors" is another.  There's more than one way to block aid, after all.  But FEMA, see, wouldn't dream of blocking aid from the private sector headed for the needy.  As far as the "border related issues," which of course, is not about the border, but about the aiding and abetting of unvetted foreign nationals who are illegally crossing the border into the U.S. and getting massive FEMA aid from its "shelter and services" program as a result, FEMA would have you think the billion dollars or so they've shelled out on illegals has nothing to do with their blown budget for the hurricane season, which as Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted, was unlikely to be enough for the hurricane season.

Rep. Nancy Mace Exposes FEMA's Lies, Introduces Bill to End Wasteful Shelter and Services Program.  Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) announced on Friday [10/4/2024] that she has introduced legislation aimed at terminating the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Shelter and Services Program (SSP).  Mace blasted the program as a colossal misuse of taxpayer dollars that prioritizes illegal immigrants over American disaster victims, and her bill proposes redirecting all unspent SSP funds to aid Americans struggling to recover from natural disasters like Hurricane Helene.  "It's unacceptable for Americans to grapple with the catastrophic aftermath of Hurricane Helene while the federal government remains fixated on spending hundreds of millions on a program sheltering illegal immigrants instead of helping our own citizens," said Representative Nancy Mace.

FEMA [is] an Even Bigger Disaster Than the Storms Themselves.  [Scroll down]  Well, first, we just learned that the Biden-Harris administration diverted funds intended for hurricane disaster relief to help illegal aliens.  Since we can count on having hurricanes each year, this was a Capital B "Bad" decision. [...] Helene is far and away the worst hurricane to do so much inland damage in the 21st Century.  We can count on these murderous Atlantic mega-storms occurring every year, and if diverting funds from American disaster relief to support in high style millions of people who don't belong here isn't a crime, it should be. [...] FEMA exists to help American citizens and legal residents survive and recover from emergencies, natural or man-made.  FEMA was called into action after 9/11, just as they were called into action after each hurricane since the agency's inception.  Overall, with a few exceptions, they have botched each disaster recovery effort, caring more about bureaucratic red tape than they do for the human lives they are saving ... or losing.

SpaceX Engineer In North Carolina Has Dire Warning:  Biden-Harris' FEMA "Actively Blocking Shipments" For Relief.  A shocking firsthand account from a SpaceX engineer in storm-battered North Carolina reveals that Biden-Harris' Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) blocked shipments of critical goods for relief efforts into the region.  There have been numerous reports this week of FEMA actively hindering relief efforts in the western part of the state, including threatening private helicopter pilots with arrests for conducting rescue missions.  We also learned that the Biden-Harris administration drained FEMA funds to support illegal aliens, prioritizing non-citizens (future voters) over American citizens.  Around lunchtime, Elon Musk shared a dire message from one of his SpaceX engineers on the ground in the storm-ravaged state.  Musk said, "FEMA is not merely failing to adequately help people in trouble, but is actively blocking citizens who try to help!"

The Hurricane Relief-Industrial Complex Is Getting People Killed.  I knew I smelled a stink badger in the perfume aisle when the Mockingbird media myrmidons weren't descending on the areas Hurricane Helene ravaged and weren't writing much about the storm either, despite the brutal stories of death and survival on X. [...] I just went to CNN, and most stories were dedicated to brainwashing CNN's dwindling audience that Trump is a ghastly hobgoblin.  Their most prominent story on the storm was "fact-checking" Trump's statement that the Biden-Harris administration was getting "universally negative" reviews on their hurricane response efforts, like this one:  [Tweet]

It Wasn't Just FEMA Funds Biden-HARRIS Got Tricksy With.  The wrath of Hurricane Helene and the path of utter, unimaginable suffering and destruction left in her stormy wake is going to be with us for years upon years.  What will also, hopefully, never be forgotten is the Biden-HARRIS regime's complete incompetence in preparing for the storm and handling even the tiniest aspects of its aftermath.  What will also hopefully live long in infamy re the regime is how their agency tasked with handling events of such magnitude — the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) — performed so badly from the outset and yet cried poor mouth so shortly afterward.  That revelation caused a general sense of astonishment on top of the outrage building in the face of their seeming indifference.

Here's One Reason Why FEMA Is Doing Such a Terrible Job.  I have long thought that one of the hallmarks of an advanced economy is built-in resilience to shocks to the system.  As with so many things these days, that resilience has eroded to the point that, except in certain areas of the country like Florida, it hardly exists.  You have probably seen many of the same videos I have, in which North Carolina residents are begging for help and wondering where FEMA is.  Aside from funding migrants, that is.  It seems to be doing a fine job at that, exhausting the funds that should be going to help Helene's victims.  [Tweet with video clip]

The Democrats' War on Western North Carolina.  Over a week has passed since western North Carolinians were struck by the raw devastation of Hurricane Helene, an event more catastrophic than any military attack.  And what response have they received?  A stunning admission from Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas that FEMA "does not have the funds" to assist Americans through the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane season.  This, despite spending more than $1.4 billion to support illegal immigrants since late 2022.  It sparked outrage:  Where is the support for the citizens of North Carolina in their hour of dire need?  Even more troubling, as of October 2024, the United States has spent a staggering $175 billion on aid to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February 2022, covering military, economic, and humanitarian assistance.  Meanwhile, in January 2016, the Obama administration shipped $400 million in cash to Iran as part of a $1.7 billion settlement over a decades-old arms deal.

Comparing Helene To Katrina Suggests Americans Are Left To Die Because Democrats Run The White House.  The devastation wrought across the American Southeast by Category 4 Hurricane Helene last week has naturally drawn comparisons to the 2005 Hurricane Katrina response.  As a veteran of military logistics, I can confirm that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' response to this round of mass suffering has been orders of magnitude worse than federal actions taken after Katrina.  In August of 2005, I was a U.S. Army colonel serving on the Army staff in the Pentagon.  Before Hurricane Katrina was even nearing landfall, I was detailed as a shift officer in the National Military Command Center (NMCC) for hurricane support operations.  As a career logistics officer, this was the culmination of a noncombat mission I had been associated with since I was first commissioned: disaster relief and humanitarian support operations. [...] As you can imagine, I have been grossly disappointed with the delayed and inept nature of the federal response.  Why did this happen?  Why did our military — the actual "muscle" of federal disaster response, as FEMA is a mere coordinating staff agency — sit largely on the sidelines for Helene?

Weaponizing Hurricanes.  The nation is witnessing an attack on the people of North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida, but no more vividly than in the devastated towns of North Carolina.  This is an attack by the federal government, DHS especially, who control the budget of FEMA.  FEMA who treats illegal aliens as celebrities, lavishing them with gifts and preferential treatment while it turns its back on the very people who have filled their coffers.  Did your RINO representative (like mine, Ronnie (RINO) Jackson in Texas) know this when they voted for the CR, or was this response intended to cover for failing to pass the CR and it seemed like a such a good plan to increase FEMA's budget to pay for illegals that they let it run, even though the CR should have covered it?  Where did that money go?  Disband FEMA.  If it failed in this instance, it has no purpose whatsoever.  Crush it.

Biden-Harris Admin Claims FEMA Is Out Of Money.  Here's Where The Money Went.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is pleading with lawmakers to send the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) more money after the disaster relief agency emptied the coffers to provide services for illegal immigrants. [...] According to the government's website, FEMA has spent more than $1 billion "to provide humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)" under the "Shelter and Services Program" just within the last two years.  The agency allocated nearly $364 million to the program in the fiscal year 2023 and $650 million for 2024.  "Over the last 4 years the Biden-Harris admin has steadily transformed FEMA — the agency responsible for responding to natural disasters like Hurricane Helene — into an illegal alien resettlement agency that emphasizes DEI over public safety," reported America First Legal, a conservative non-profit.  AFL published a series on online posts outlining where FEMA spent tax dollars meant to assist Americans in the aftermath of major storms and hurricanes.

FEMA Says It's Broke, But Where Did All The Money Go?  [Scroll down]  While this is the beginning of the government's fiscal year (it starts on October 1st each year), it seems that the money has already been spent ahead, or committed elsewhere, or squandered on DEI programs. $183,000 doesn't look like a lot compared to the millions spent on illegal migrants, but it is $183,000 that ISN'T being spent to help hurricane victims.  Is the "running out of money" line actual hyperbole on the part of Mayorkas to goose Congress into passing an increased budget right now, or getting a disaster aid supplemental bill passed (which would allow DHS and FEMA to get more money without having to budget properly or divert funds), or has he already spent most of the money just a few days into a new fiscal year?  In the meantime, we are hearing story after story about the failures of FEMA on the ground, and how they are keeping people from helping their neighbors and fellow Americans in this time of great need.

FEMA blew out its budget to pay for illegals, now it's using its remaining resources to block aid from private citizens.  Once again, Lahaina comes to mind.  It's not just the piddly $750 being handed out by FEMA to residents in North Carolina and other states whose homes were destroyed in Hurricane Helene.  (A similar amount was handed out to residents of Lahaina, Hawaii, after their town was destroyed by fire.)  It's the lethal incompetence.  Just as cops taking orders from state government officials blocked Lahaina residents in cars from escaping the inferno — the only survivors were those who defied them and drove through the blockades — FEMA officials from the federal government are doing all they can to block the delivery of aid to people in the hardest hurricane-hit rural areas, where people need food, water, medicine, shelter and everything else and have been completely cut off from civilization.  They're actually stopping them, as if they were trespassers and saying just trust the government.  That might work when people have time, but these hurricane victims don't have time.

Feds say there's no money left to respond to hurricanes — after FEMA spent $1.4B on migrants.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas set off outrage Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) "does not have the funds" to see Americans through the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season — after the agency spent more than $1.4 billion since the fall of 2022 to address the migrant crisis. "We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have," Mayorkas said during a press gaggle on Air Force One en route to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina.  "We are expecting another hurricane hitting," he added. "We do not have the funds.  FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what — what is imminent."

Mayorkas Warns FEMA Lacks Funding for Hurricane Cleanup after Agency Spent over a Billion on Migrants.  Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Wednesday that the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has spent more than one billion dollars on services for illegal immigrants over the past year, now has insufficient funds to last through the hurricane season.  "We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have.  We are expecting another hurricane hitting," Mayorkas told reporters.  "FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season."  Hurricane Helene has ravaged the west coast of Florida and several states in the Southeast, flooding towns, destroying properties, and killing over 160 people.  Florida's Gulf Coast experienced record-breaking storm surge in some areas, with a wall of water many feet above the normal high tide line crashing onto the land.  The Blue Ridge Mountains suffered major devastation, with at least 57 people dead in and around Asheville, North Carolina.

Biden-Harris Admin Used FEMA Disaster Funding For Illegal Immigrants.  The Biden-Harris administration took more than a billion tax dollars that had been allocated to the agency responsible for American disaster relief and used it to offer services for illegal immigrants.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allocated nearly $364 million in the fiscal year 2023 and $650 million for the 2024 fiscal year to the "Shelter and Services Program" "to provide humanitarian services to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS)," according to the government's website.  The program is run in cooperation with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) "to support CBP in the safe, orderly and humane release of noncitizen migrants from short-term holding facilities," FEMA's website reads.

Kamala Harris finally arrives to Georgia to dole out FEMA's crumbs.  About a week after Hurricane Helene first made landfall in the Southeast, Kamala Harris took a break from her fundraising events and staged photo ops at the border to travel to Georgia to address the federal government's response to the storm that ravaged the people of the South.  Lost everything to Hurricane Helene?  You may be eligible for a one-time $750 payment for the basics.  After that, you're on your own.  (As a reminder, after the fire in Lahaina, Maui residents received only $700.) [...] And don't forget, the same day that Helene hit, the Biden-Harris administration announced another eight billion dollars for Ukraine.

Just one year after its creation, FEMA migrant program nearly doubles in cost.  Beginning in 2023, cities around the U.S. began to receive funds from FEMA to alleviate the orchestrated, growing, and unaffordable financial burden on taxpayers in regards to the invasion of third world migrants coming for welfare — it's called the "Shelter and Services Program" and it's costing us an arm and a leg.  For FY 2023, the program cost $363.8 million; just one year later, the invoice had nearly doubled, shooting up to $650 million.  Now, government officials, from the local levels to Washington D.C.'s are asking for as much as three billion dollars for FY 2025.

FEMA program for migrants grows along with border crisis — from over $360M to $650M.  The city of Atlanta received $4.85 million in funding in 2023, the first year of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Shelter and Services Program for migrants.  In 2024, the city will get $10.89 million in the second year with another round of funding later in the year to be announced.  FEMA's Shelter and Services Program is another indicator of the growing impact of the arrival of millions of foreign nationals in the US since President Joe Biden took office.  The program provides grants to communities for the expenses they will incur for handling migrants.

Groups urge FEMA to treat extreme heat as a major disaster.  As the first significant heat wave of the season sweeps across the country, several organizations are urging the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to classify extreme heat as a major disaster.  Tens of millions of Americans face dangerously hot temperatures this week in a heat wave moving from Midwest states like Ohio to cities in the Northeast.  "It's going to feel like the upper 90s, may even feel like 100 a couple of the afternoons," said Randi Rico, a WLWT meteorologist.

The Editor says...
[#1] Sometimes the weather in June is quite warm.  That is not a crisis or a disaster or an emergency.  There is no need to beg for money from FEMA.  The government can't control the weather.  [#2] It "may even feel like 100 a couple of the afternoons," the WLWT weather lady.  So what?  Other parts of the country are way ahead of you, in that regard.  Deal with it.

I'm Sure People on the Edge of Homelessness In Lahaina Think It's Nice POTATUS Wants to Rebuild Gaza.  The [Maui] fires destroyed almost than 4000 properties and displaced more than 13,000 people.  Immediately after the fires, FEMA, which is still on the ground, had up to 8000 people living in local hotels because the housing shortage was so severe.  As of March, those numbers were finally coming down. [...] In April more temporary housing was coming online with an Army Corps of Engineers project in full swing helping out.  The money numbers are staggering. [...] FEMA's emergency housing program is now scheduled to end on Monday, and remaining residents who've been taking shelter in different hotels are already finding themselves locked out or scrambling for places to live.  They're also taking heat from people who were willing to sign the FEMA long-term agreements - and give up tourist dollars — and then found themselves with canceled FEMA contracts out of the blue.  In some of these cases, the government paid up to $8000 [per month] for these places to sit empty until they canceled.

After bankrolling illegals, FEMA says it will run out of cash for hurricane season.  Is there a such thing as double-entry bookkeeping at the Federal Emergency Management Agency?  Or do they spend on migrants like there's no tomorrow?  According to the Miami Herald, FEMA, which got its budget topped up extra to the tune of billions just a year ago, is once again running out of money: [...] The Herald noted that Florida's senators, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, foresaw the scope of the problem a month ago, and noted its impact on Florida's hurricane season, where it's quite possible the state could be hit by the devastating disasters starting in August.  Ditto that for California and the other western states with their fire season, and the Mississippi river valley with its potential tornados and floods.  FEMA has been saying it's running out of money and it always gets what it wants from Congress, but amazingly, it always runs out of money even with the extra incoming taxpayer cash.

Senators Rip FEMA on Poor Handling of Illegal Immigrant Travel.  Key Senate Republicans blasted the Federal Emergency Management Agency for shoddy record-keeping regarding the transportation of illegal immigrants throughout the U.S.  FEMA distributes grants to nonprofit organizations for shelter and travel expenses for illegal immigrants, but last month informed The Heritage Foundation's Oversight Project that it has no documentation about how that taxpayer money has been spent.  "It is becoming clearer every day that the Democrats' open-border catastrophe is not only being orchestrated by the Biden administration, the American taxpayer is unwittingly being forced to pay for this invasion," Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, told The Daily Signal.  The committee oversees border and immigration issues.  The FEMA admission that it lacks documentation for expenses comes less than a year after an internal federal audit stated FEMA is responsible for "a detailed accounting of all program funds."

Where did all the FEMA billions go?  As usual, the Biden White House wants more money.  The latest request is for more FEMA money, with Hawaii's wildfire disaster in Maui being the supposed culprit. [...] Maybe there are better ways for FEMA to spend its disaster relief money than by housing FEMA officials in $1,000 a night hotel rooms while the only aid being given is in those $700 checks.  One guy with a FEMA checkbook and a room at the Best Western could do thatt.  But they insist it was on the up and up.  But that's probably small potatoes.  Where much of FEMA's money reportedly goes is to "the border" where they provide housing, transport, communications, medical care, food, and supplies to millions of incoming illegal aliens, through their NGO buddies on contract.  Seems paying for an unguarded border and subsidizing the business model of Mexico's cartels costs a lot for FEMA, leaving it unable to respond to other disasters involving actual Americans.  While they're claiming Lahaina blew out their budget, take a look at some of the back-of-the-envelope calculations of what fire victims actually got:  [Tweet with video clip]

FEMA to Give $363.8 Million to Non-Federal Entities to Provide Shelter for Illegal Aliens.  Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), under the guise of humanitarian concern, has enacted the "Shelter and Services Program," funneling $363.8 million of taxpayers' money in the fiscal year 2023 to non-federal entities, claiming to support the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in the "safe, orderly, and humane release" of illegal immigrants.

White House explains why it turned down disaster relief for Ohio.  The White House explained why it turned down Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's request for disaster relief this week in the aftermath of a derailment of a train hauling toxic chemicals.  A Biden administration official told Fox News Digital that it has provided extensive assistance to surrounding communities following the chemical release earlier this month in eastern Ohio.  However, the official said the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the agency that usually provides relief to communities hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters, isn't best equipped to support the state's current needs.  "The Biden Administration is mobilizing a robust, multi-agency effort to support the people of East Palestine, Ohio.  Since February 3, the Environmental Protection Agency has had personnel on the ground," the official told Fox News Digital.  "FEMA is coordinating with the emergency operations center working closely with the Ohio Emergency Management Agency."

Hours After Trump Announces Upcoming Visit to East Palestine, FEMA Reverses Course and Will Support Ohio Community.  The announcement by President Trump with his intent to visit East Palestine next Wednesday, followed moments later by a reversal announcement from FEMA stating they will now offer support to East Palestine, do not seem coincidental.  The Biden administration, including the EPA, FEMA and Transporation Secretary, was likely very worried about the optics of getting blasted by President Trump very visibly next week for their lack of urgency and concern.  Moments after Trump announces his visit, FEMA reverses their prior denial of aid.

Suddenly, Biden's FEMA goes stingy on Ohio?  Joe Biden's logic can really be out to lunch when Americans are in peril.  Which brings us to the absolutely bizarre specter of Biden's FEMA emergency management agency turning down a request from Ohio to help citizens whose city of East Palestine, Ohio, with a chemical oil spill, which has contaminated the entire atmosphere.  When has anyone heard of FEMA turning down any sort of request for a disaster that affects thousands of people thrown out of their homes by circumstances beyond their control?

Who's doing what in East Palestine?  The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, is one of the biggest environmental disasters our country has seen in quite some time.  It's surprising to me that initially there was scant media coverage and the information on the websites for the U.S. EPA, Ohio EPA, and the Ohio governor's office still leave many questions unanswered.  In addition, a 45-minute visit by Governor Mike DeWine and a statement by the Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg that refers to this train derailment as one of a thousand that occur in a year, downplay the seriousness of the magnitude of the impacts on the environment and on the residents of the community.  All this leaves people confused and certainly doesn't engender trust.

Biden Admin Doubles Down on Refusal of FEMA Aid for Ohio Train Derailment.  Following the Biden administration's refusal to provide FEMA assistance in the wake of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, the White House has issued a statement attempting to justify the decision.  Though the derailment and subsequent "controlled burn" resulted in a large spill of multiple dangerous chemicals and toxic smoke engulfing the small village and surrounding area, Biden's FEMA has repeatedly told Republican Ohio Governor Mike DeWine that Ohio is not eligible for disaster assistance.

Biden Has Sent $196 Billion To Ukraine But Refuses To Give a Dime to Ohio.  The Biden administration continues to lead the world in contributions to Ukraine with nearly $200 billion in tax payers' money promised or sent as aid, as American citizens suffering from disasters at home are told there is no money for them.  The Biden administration rejected a request for federal disaster assistance from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine following the train derailment disaster in East Palestine that led to an unprecedented release of highly toxic chemicals, just days after the CDC edited the toxicology profile for vinyl chloride, massively increasing the lethal exposure level and removing information about how the chemical affects children[.]

Biden Administration refusing to help in East Palestine disaster!  Governor Mike DeWine dropped a truth bomb a few hours ago:  he has been in contact with FEMA every day since the disaster in East Palestine unfolded, and the Biden Administration is refusing assistance.  Perhaps this is why Mayor Pete has refused to go to the site of the disaster, and why he has been joking on TV while one of the largest environmental disasters in recent history has been ongoing.  Many people have been astonished at how little attention the MSM has given to the ongoing disaster.  It appears we now know why: the Biden Administration doesn't want it to be a big deal, despite millions of Americans being affected now and into the future.  A million pounds of toxic chemicals have been released into the environment — including the watershed that serves millions of Americans.  The Biden Administration's response has been "meh, so what?"

FEMA let $3.7 billion in improper payments go out.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency did not have controls in place to prevent over $3.7 billion of improper payments from the lost wages assistance program, a recent report from the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security found.  In 2020, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, FEMA took funds from the Disaster Relief Fund for lost wages assistance to "help ease the economic burden for people who lost work because of coronavirus disease."  FEMA partnered with 54 state workforce agencies to rush $44 billion out the door to people who lost their jobs due to Covid-19.

A disastrous history.  Jimmy Carter in 1979 tried to make sense of disaster relief by establishing FEMA via executive order.  He stated that the new structure would "permit more rational decisions of the relative costs and benefits of alternative approaches to disasters."  Carter was wrong:  Presidents kept reacting politically, and local and state officials kept passing the buck and asking for bucks.

The Secret National Cops.  U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, questions the use of "traditional tools" as they were wielded in her own bailiwick. Chenoweth, whose congressional district includes Clearwater County, blasted the FEMA agents for behaving "like a bull in a china shop."  "I understand that FEMA has an important responsibility to ensure that federal funds are handled consistent with law, but … FEMA has proceeded against a local government and private citizens in a threatening manner," she wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno.  "It is exactly this type of unnecessary, heavy-handed show of force that feeds the distrust of the federal government."

FEMA's Plan for Mass Destruction Attacks:  Of Course It's True.  Let me state for the record that FEMA is moving ahead with plans to create temporary cities that could handle millions of Americans after mass destruction attacks on U.S. cities.  Though the agency has denied the program to some of our readers and has made misleading claims about NewsMax's original story to members of the press, the basic facts of the story remain unchallenged.

The FEMA raid at Orofino, Idaho.  At 7 a.m. on July 18th, two employees at the [Clearwater County, Idaho] flood control center were startled by a group of men in dark attire and bullet-proof vests and sidearms.  According to various accounts, the frightened employees, thinking they were under assault by a gang of thugs, locked the door and called the sheriff, Nick Albers.  Nancy Butler, a reporter for the weekly Clearwater Tribune, told Sarah Foster of the Internet newspaper World Net Daily that the behavior of the FEMA agents was "totally uncalled for."  "They didn't just come over and knock on the door — they came running over the hill at the back of the building and crawling through the sagebrush.  The whole scenario just floored me."

Federal Emergency Management Agency:  Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States.  It is not an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars.  This government organization has more power than the President of the United States or the Congress, it has the power to suspend laws, move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the Constitution.  Not only is it the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was not even created under Constitutional law by the Congress.  It was a product of a Presidential Executive Order.  A Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal Registry.

(Same article as above from an alternate source:  FEMA - The Secret Government.)

The Disaster Agency.  Most Americans had never even heard of this obscure government agency before syndicated columnist Jack Anderson reported in October 1984 that FEMA had prepared bizarre "standby legislation" that would, in the event of a national crisis, "suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, effectively eliminate private property, abolish free enterprise, and generally clamp Americans in a totalitarian vise."  In any self-respecting banana republic, such a document might be called a blueprint for a coup d'etat.  FEMA called it "national security" planning.

COG stands for surprising assault on democracy.  An elite group of former Clinton advisers and former public officials from both major political parties gathered recently at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., to announce their proposal to convert the House of Representatives from an elected body to an appointed body in the event of a national emergency.

FEMA Concentration and Internment Camps:  There over 600 prison camps in the United States, all fully operational and ready to receive prisoners.  They are all staffed and even surrounded by full-time guards, but they are all empty.  These camps are to be operated by FEMA should Martial Law need to be implemented in the United States.

Lists of FEMA radio frequencies used to be common, but #5 in this list is the only one remaining:  [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]

Mount Weather and Underground Bases.  Mount Weather is the self-sustaining underground command center for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  The facility is the operational center — the hub — of approximately 100 other Federal Relocation Centers, most of which are concentrated in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and North Carolina.  Together this network of underground facilities constitutes the backbone of America's "Continuity of Government" program.

Shadow Government Is at Work in Secret.  Deployed civilians are not permitted to take their families, and under penalty of prosecution they may not tell anyone where they are going or why.  "They're on a 'business trip,' that's all," said one official involved in the effort.  The two sites of the shadow government make use of local geological features to render them highly secure.  They are well stocked with food, water, medicine and other consumable supplies, and are capable of generating their own power.

Site R is secure, but it's not undisclosed.  Site R, with its six-stories of underground offices, subterranean water reservoir, and banks of mysterious antennas, dishes and massive, steel doors, has been a designated backup command center since it was hewn out of the mountain in 1951.

Disaster aid boondoggle  Hurricane Frances made landfall more than 100 miles north of Miami-Dade County earlier this year.  But that didn't stop thousands of residents there from getting nearly $28 million in federal disaster aid.  Top winds reached only 47 mph in Miami-Dade County during the Labor Day weekend storm, so damages were limited to some fallen power lines and uprooted trees, according to FEMA and other disaster-relief officials.  Yet residents used their relief checks to buy more than 5,000 televisions allegedly destroyed by Frances, as well as 1,440 air conditioners, 1,360 twin beds, 1,311 washers and dryers, and 831 dining sets.

Not taking no for an answer, Houston mayor seizes old warehouse.  The owner declined Wednesday [9/7/2005] to lease or rent the building as offices for FEMA, so Mayor Bill White commandeered the building.

The Editor says...
This is a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment, since Houston is hundreds of miles away from the area damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Hundreds of millions paid to people untouched by disasters.  The federal government's mishandling of the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe is only the latest bungling in a national disaster response system that for years has been fraught with waste and fraud.  A South Florida Sun-Sentinel investigation has found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency in five years poured at least $330 million into communities that were spared the devastating effects of fires, hurricanes, floods and tornadoes.

Katrina victims required to use Microsoft Internet Explorer.  It's clear to me that they've engineered a web system that is:  (a) Extraordinarily over-engineered to work under only one browser, and (b) Nonfunctional under that browser.  This, I conclude, is simply another example of FEMA incompetence.

The Secret National Cops:  Who are federal inspectors general, and why are they pointing guns at us?  U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, questions the use of "traditional tools" as they were wielded in her own bailiwick.  Chenoweth, whose congressional district includes Clearwater County, blasted the FEMA agents for behaving "like a bull in a china shop."  "I understand that FEMA has an important responsibility to ensure that federal funds are handled consistent with law, but … FEMA has proceeded against a local government and private citizens in a threatening manner," she wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno.  "It is exactly this type of unnecessary, heavy-handed show of force that feeds the distrust of the federal government."

FEMA guilty of religious discrimination?  The Alliance Defense Fund is concerned about Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) refusing to help churches in the aftermath of disasters.  Paragould, Arkansas, was recently declared a disaster area after being hit by a severe ice storm.  Erik Stanley, senior legal counsel for the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF), says a local church assisted FEMA officials in their relief efforts, but FEMA did not return the favor.

Two more dots connected!
FEMA Paid ACORN For Firefighting.  FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, figures in many paranoid fantasies about government control.  Popular fiction often depicts it as a shadowy agency whose sinister operatives are planning to manufacture a crisis that will give them unlimited power and funding. ... In reality, FEMA occupies itself with harmless and benevolent activities, such as funding ACORN.

FEMA grant denied because of 'insufficient damage'.  Jefferson County resident Jonathan Stewart said he laughed in shock after the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) claimed the house his family lost in the deadly April 27 twister was 'not unsafe to live in'.  The devastating reality is the house is now a concrete slab surrounded by rubble.

FEMA Short On Money.  I am quite sorry that people in the path of Irene suffered damage, but they CHOSE to live where they knew a hurricane (or tropical storm or a flood) could come.  So I must ask, "Why is it the rest of the country's responsibility to make them whole again?"

Update:
FEMA finds $114 million.  [Scroll down]  Then, suddenly, FEMA told Senate Democrats that all of their previous warnings were overblown.  The agency was able to recover $40 billion from ongoing long-term projects, and instead of being broke, they actually had $114 million in the bank, just enough to get them into the next fiscal year.  Which is convenient, because that allows them access to all of next year's budgeted disaster relief spending.  Since there is now no need for unbudgeted disaster relief spending this year, there is now no need for spending offsets.  DOE's green energy loan program lives to see another day.  How convenient.

What is the deal with those FEMA/DHS AM backup transmitters?  Back last February, it was reported that FEMA/Department of Homeland Security was mysteriously constructing prepackaged AM transmitter buildings at various PEP (Primary Entry Point) transmitter sites across the country as something call "Primary Entry Point Expansion."  These buildings contain a 5 KW Nautel AM transmitter, EAS gear, satellite equipment (the exact equipment list is undisclosed) and a backup generator all in a shielded (Faraday Cage), prefabricated building placed inside of a fenced in compound at the station's transmitter site.  The buildings are being put in place, but not connected to anything in the outside world.

Five Reasons Why FEMA Should Stay at DHS.  The FEMA Independence Act of 2009 is currently in the U.S. House of Representatives.  This bill would move the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) out of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and elevate the agency to cabinet-level status.

The Editor says...
Why make FEMA a cabinet-level agency?  So FEMA could be under the direct control of the executive branch, not the Congress.  FEMA is dangerous enough already without the ability to hide behind executive privilege.

Video:  Camp FEMA — The Obama Youth Army!

New Nationwide FEMA Camps Should Raise Eyebrows.  In a nutshell, there seems to be a solicitation of bids occurring for the staffing of FEMA camps within 72 hours of implementation by an order from either Homeland Security or the president.  This situation begs to be investigated, with special consideration paid to the motives of the present administration. ... Perimeter fencing or barricades is required to be six feet high, enclosing the camp, with all traffic in or out to be recorded on a daily log and with security restricting all traffic and access.  The contractor shall also provide fencing and barricades around areas which are "off limits" to occupants.

Prepaing for martial law.  As watchmen begin to expose the people, companies and even lawmakers behind this money and power grab, they could be considered dangers to the "security" of the United States, or engaging in "belligerent acts."  So too could the people who will protest in anger about the bank holidays, the overnight evaporation of their retirement accounts, and even the fire sale of national assets to manage the unmanageable and unsustainable debt.  Their anger must be controlled in the name of national security.  To be certain, their warnings will not be heard nor will protests be allowed from a detention facility.  You know, the facilities that don't exist?

Party lines are meaningless when the common objective is the revolutionary overtaking of America.
The planned re-election of Obama, revolutionary style.  [Scroll down]  According to my source, there is talk among the highest levels of the uppermost echelon of the Department of Homeland Security, which he describes as effectively under the control of Barack Hussein Obama.  During this call, he said that the DHS is actively preparing for massive social unrest inside the United States.  He then corrected himself, stating that "a civil war" is the more appropriate term.  Certain elements of the government are not only expecting and preparing for it, they are actually facilitating it," stated my source.  "The DHS takes their marching orders from the Obama administration, from Obama himself, but mostly from his un-appointed czars.  And Jarrett, especially Valerie Jarrett.  Don't think for a minute that the administration is doing anything to stabilize events in the U.S.  They are revolutionaries, and revolutionaries thrive on chaos," he added.

The latest from "DHS Insider".  And the preparations are these: DHS is prepositioning assets in strategic areas near urban centers all across the country.  Storage depots.  Armories.  And even detainment facilities, known as FEMA camps.  FEMA does not even know that the facilities are earmarked for detainment by executive orders, at least not in the traditional sense they were intended.  By the way, people drive by some of these armories everyday without even giving them a second look.

Justice Antonin Scalia says World War II-style internment camps could happen again.  Justice Antonin Scalia predicts that the Supreme Court will eventually authorize another a wartime abuse of civil rights such as the internment camps for Japanese-Americans during World War II.  "You are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again," Scalia told the University of Hawaii law school while discussing Korematsu v. United States, the ruling in which the court gave its imprimatur to the internment camps.

Has the Dept. of Homeland Security become America's standing army?  In 2006, DHS awarded a $385 million contract to a Halliburton subsidiary to build detention centers on American soil.  Although the government and Halliburton were not forthcoming about where or when these domestic detention centers would be built, they rationalized the need for them in case of "an emergency influx of immigrants, or to support the rapid development of new programs" in the event of other emergencies such as "natural disasters."  Viewed in conjunction with the NDAA provision allowing the military to arrest and indefinitely detain anyone, including American citizens, it would seem the building blocks are already in place for such an eventuality.

Somewhat related:
Feds want to build South Texas lockup for immigrant families.  Federal authorities want to build a South Texas immigration lockup for families after an unprecedented surge in the number of youngsters pouring across the U.S. border, a federal official said Thursday [9/11/2014].  Immigration and Customs Enforcement is proposing a residential center in the town of Dilley, about 70 miles southwest of San Antonio, agency spokeswoman Adelina Pruneda said.  "Structures on the site may be used temporarily to house up to 680 residents while the new facilities are built," she said.

The Most Dangerous Woman In America — Valerie Jarrett.  I was recently speaking with a friend of mine from Tennessee and began to point out how bad things in this country have become.  Inevitably, the discussion began to center around the subject of unwarranted detention centers, such as the ones I have identified on this site, including NFL stadiums, NBA and NHL arenas and shopping malls.  And I added that this is on top of the fact that the US already houses two million inmates, mostly for private profit through the CCA.  I told him that DHS had signed agreements with all of these entities so that Americans could be detained without due process.  My friend rolled his eyes and repeated the national anthem of all sheep, "I didn't know you were one of them conspiracy theorists".  He couldn't hold back the laughter.  Subsequently, I spent 30 minutes showing him the following evidence, in its raw form, and he then he became visibly shaken.

Another Blatantly Obvious FEMA Camp Pops Up In Texas!  Congressman Ron Paul was asked in 2011 about HR 645 (the bill that authorizes FEMA Camps... AKA Concentration Camps for AMERICANS who will not comply with the new American Agenda) and whether or not it could lead to Americans being incarcerated in detention camps during a time of martial law.  He responded, "Yeah, that's their goal, they're setting up the stage for violence in this country, no doubt about it." [...] Every time you're mocked and slapped with the label of "conspiracy theorist" for saying there are FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) camps in Amerika, just remind them of a fascinating 4-page KBR document, Project Overview and Anticipated Project Requirements, which is a solicitation for bids from subcontractors to provide services and supplies for FEMA camps.

FEMA Concentration Camps: Locations and Corresponding Executive Orders!.  It's not a conspiracy if it's right in front of your face.  The government has no need to hide their intentions.  Every ounce of information you need about them is freely available.  I've even posted the entire ARMY training manual that covers how to get people "escorted" to their camps when the time comes.  Sadly, Americans are SO busy in denial, the government doesn't even have to hide what they are doing.  Within the links below are links to other articles with TONS of information.  You could be reading for hours.  This article ought to open your eyes if you doubted.

Louisiana promises mobile homes safer than FEMA trailers after Katrina.  Mobile homes will fill front yards across southern Louisiana again, just like after Hurricane Katrina, as federal authorities bring in temporary housing for thousands of people displaced by catastrophic flooding.

FEMA is using the FOIA to dig itself into a deeper hole.  If there were an award for the least popular federal agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency would probably be a near-unanimous choice, thanks to the barrage of negative media it received during the Hurricane Katrina debacle.

FEMA Strikes Again!  Although the effort was trumpeted in the media as an example of grassroots ingenuity in the face of disaster, local officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have nixed an attempt by Houston activists to set up a low-power radio station at the Astrodome that would have broadcast Hurricane Katrina relief information for evacuees.

The Editor says...
FEMA's excuses for this action are numerous and each is transparently false.  The micro-power broadcasting issue is all about control.  The government can't afford to allow even one watt of unlicensed broadcasting, because it would open a door that could never be closed again.  The FCC has been fighting this battle for decades.

Clinton's Mythical FEMA.  While making the rounds of the network morning shows, [Senator Hillary Clinton has] been very hard on the Federal Emergency Management Administration and, of course, the Bush Administration.  She went as far as complaining that Bush damaged "Bill's FEMA."  Naturally, the mainstream media are too lazy to investigate her politically-charged exploitation of Katrina to not only revise her hubby's legacy, but also to score brownie points as she eyes a 2008 presidential run.

It's the spending, stupid.  Perhaps you've heard the one about the 700 firefighters from a variety of states who volunteered to do rescue work following Hurricane Katrina?  They sat in a hotel room in Atlanta for days getting sexual harassment training from FEMA officials.  No joke.  Note to Republicans eager to shovel new money at federal agencies:  This is the way government works.

FEMA to the Rescue.  All volunteers, he was told, must complete this class before being sent into the disaster area.  My friend kindly provided me with a copy of the class schedule.  [You won't believe your eyes; political correctness is apparently far more important at FEMA than actual work.]

Dammable pork:  Dr. Jeffrey Guy, a Nashville trauma surgeon, recruited 400 doctors, nurses and first responders to help the people in New Orleans.  Then FEMA gave them something to do:  fill out 60-page applications that demanded photographs and tax forms.

Blame to go around.  A team of Indiana firefighters, volunteering to help rescue victims of Katrina, went to Atlanta, where Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers told them that their job was to hand out fliers and that their first task was to attend a multi-hour course on sexual harassment and equal employment opportunity.  This is, astonishingly, standard operating procedure at FEMA.  And in other parts of the federal government….

FEMA versus Wal-Mart:  Many people who think that government is the answer to our problems do not bother to check out the evidence.  But it can be eye-opening to compare how private businesses responded to hurricane Katrina and how local, state and national governments responded.

Ron Paul on Katrina Response.  Rep. Ron Paul rightfully criticizes how the Federal Government responded to the Gulf Coast disaster.  Furthermore, the Congressman questions the logic of granting FEMA nearly $52 billion when they have already "failed so spectacularly."

FEMA criticized for cruise ship deal.  On Sept. 1, … FEMA pleaded with the U.S. Military Sealift Command:  The government needed 10,000 berths on full-service cruise ships, FEMA said, and it needed the deal done by noon the next day.  The hasty appeal yielded one of the most controversial contracts of the Hurricane Katrina relief operation, a $236 million agreement with Carnival Cruise Lines for three ships that now bob more than half empty in the Mississippi River and Mobile Bay.

Stumbling Storm-Aid Effort Put Tons of Ice on Trips to Nowhere.  When the definitive story of the confrontation between Hurricane Katrina and the United States government is finally told, one long and tragicomic chapter will have to be reserved for the odyssey of the ice.  Ninety-one thousand tons of ice cubes, that is, intended to cool food, medicine and sweltering victims of the storm.  It would cost taxpayers more than $100 million, and most of it would never be delivered.

FEMA Should Be Shut Down.  What if there was no such thing as FEMA?  I asked myself that question after reading about the Federal Emergency Management Agency's bungled efforts to serve the poor and suffering in the area formerly known as New Orleans. … FEMA's boorish behavior underscores it real purpose, which is always to spend its budget and get good press doing it, because such activities will reflect well on the public sector.

In government we trust.  What lessons should we have learned from last summer's deadly and destructive hurricanes?  The primary lesson is that we shouldn't have much faith in a federal bureaucracy like the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  They amply demonstrated their incompetence, but what's our response?  We'll give them more money and more authority.  That's not smart.

Millions of Katrina aid wasted, review finds.  $438 a night paid for New York hotel rooms.

Audit of FEMA:  Waste, fraud cost millions.  Waste and fraud marked the federal government's assistance programs for Hurricane Katrina victims, with 10,000 mobile homes going unused and scattered cases of evacuees spending emergency money on nude dancing in Houston, tattoos, casino gambling and a diamond engagement ring, according to an audit released Monday [3/6/2006].

FEMA faulted for big hotel bills.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to set cost controls on hotel room rentals for Hurricane Katrina evacuees, an omission that led to "excessive" bills on some rooms, according to a new oversight report.  FEMA was still paying up to $364 a night for some rooms on Dec. 7, more than three months after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast….

FEMA Wasted Millions of Taxpayer Dollars During 2005 Hurricane Recovery Efforts.  In only six months Congress has spent roughly $100 billion on costs associated with the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes, most of which was utilized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as the agency attempted to meet the needs of thousands of individuals affected by these catastrophic events.  However, many of FEMA's efforts were undercut by the extensive waste, fraud and abuse of the taxpayer money intended to assist with response and recovery costs.

FEMA Will Try to Recoup Millions Distributed for Hurricane Relief.  Acknowledging that it wrongly distributed tens of millions of dollars in hurricane relief last year, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Friday that it would try to recoup aid from thousands of individuals or families who fraudulently or otherwise wrongly collected money.

The Editor says...
[Good luck with that.  Sounds like FEMA has overestimated itself again.]

FEMA re-bids $3.6B in hurricane contracts.  The Bush administration on Friday awarded up to $3.6 billion in temporary hurricane-victim housing contracts to small and minority-owned firms, saying it was shifting the money from four large companies that had not competed for the work.

Senate panel recommends abolishing FEMA.  The nation's disaster response agency should be abolished and rebuilt from scratch to avoid a repeat of multiple government failures exposed by hurricane Katrina, a Senate inquiry has concluded.  Crippled by years of poor leadership and inadequate funding, the Federal Emergency Management Agency cannot be fixed, a bipartisan investigation says in recommendations to be released Thursday [4/27/2006].

The Editor says...
Inadequate funding?  Really?  FEMA has a budget of $4.8 billion, and a staff of about 6,000 employees.*

White House opposes Senate call to dismantle FEMA.  The White House on Thursday [4/27/2006] signaled opposition to a Senate panel's call to dismantle the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the main focus of criticism for the administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina.

Senate Panel Says FEMA Is Beyond Repair.  Hurricane Katrina turned FEMA into a "symbol of a bumbling bureaucracy" so far beyond repair that it should be scrapped, senators said Thursday [4/28/2006].  They called for creation of a new disaster relief agency as the next storm season looms on the horizon.

The Editor says...
How would that fix anything?

FEMA Wants $4.7M Katrina Benefits Repaid.  More than 2,000 Mississippi residents were notified that they must repay millions of dollars in federal Hurricane Katrina benefits that were excessive or, in some cases, fraudulent.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is seeking a total of $4.7 million from 2,044 people, giving them 30 days to repay or set up a payment plan.

And then, just when the Senate panel recommended dismantling FEMA ...
FEMA goes high-tech for storm preparedness.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a live video network to allow officials in Washington to assess disasters and has equipped trucks with GPS devices so the agency can see when supplies are delivered to stricken areas, officials said Thursday [5/11/2006].  To better prepare for this year's hurricane season, FEMA has also stockpiled equipment for floods and started a partnership with the Coast Guard to use its boats when responding to some emergencies.

FEMA Proposals:  Much Ado About Nothing.  This month, Congress will likely consider three bills, two in the House and one in the Senate, that would reorganize or move the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).  None has much merit.  These proposals would impose costly, time-consuming, and unnecessary organizational changes that would add to the federal bureaucracy and hamper, not strengthen, how the nation responds to disasters.

FEMA extends housing benefits for some 15,000 evacuee families.  "This is a huge victory for the evacuees," said Bob Fleming, who oversees Catholic Charities' assistance program for people displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. … Relieved of the anxiety of worrying about keeping a roof over their heads, the evacuees can use the next five months to find jobs and otherwise stabilize their lives, Fleming said.

The Editor says...
If they need another five months to find jobs, what have they been doing for the last 12 months?

FEMA Ordered to Resume Katrina Housing Payments.  A federal judge ordered the Bush administration today to immediately resume making housing benefits available to thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina.  U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon said the Federal Emergency Management Agency failed to adequately explain why it ended the 18-month housing assistance program for people who lost their homes in the 2005 storm.

The Editor says...
After 18 months, it's no longer "housing assistance" — it's just housing.  This country is full of freeloaders who will ride the government gravy train until they are thrown off.  Get Judge Leon on the phone.  I can explain it to him.

Judge's order reveals FEMA aid shortcomings.  Those still receiving aid were most dependent before Katrina, mostly single mothers on welfare, while the rest are back on their feet, said Ronald D. Utt, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. … "A lot of people have simply found it easier to stay where they are, which are probably places of greater opportunity than New Orleans."

The Editor says...
Notice that the story drips with political bias:  The question is whether FEMA is dishing out taxpayers' money fast enough, to people who have no intention of paying it back.  On one side of the argument, the article cites "anti-poverty advocates", and on the other side are "Bush administration defenders" at "a conservative think-tank".  As if the conservatives are in favor of poverty.

FEMA Halts Censorship of Louisiana Church's Hurricane Victim Outreach.  Government officials have told a Louisiana church that its members can go back to sharing the gospel after providing free barbecues for residents of several post-Hurricane Katrina trailer communities.  Earlier this year, representatives with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA, reportedly told members of Calvary Baton Rouge Church that it could no longer follow the free meals it served to hurricane victims with voluntary gospel messages and Bible studies.

Audit says FEMA is squandering Katrina aid.  The government is squandering tens of millions of dollars in Hurricane Katrina disaster aid, in some cases doling out housing payments to people living rent-free, investigators said Wednesday.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency has recouped less than 1 percent of the $1 billion that investigators contend it squandered on fraudulent assistance, according to the Government Accountability Office.

Read the official GAO report...
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Disaster Relief:  Continued Findings of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse.  FEMA continued to lose tens of millions of dollars through potentially improper and/or fraudulent payments from both hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  These payments include $17 million in rental assistance paid to individuals to whom FEMA had already provided free housing through trailers or apartments.  In one case, FEMA provided free housing to 10 individuals in apartments in Plano, Texas, while at the same time it sent these individuals $46,000 to cover out-of-pocket housing expenses.  In addition, several of these individuals certified to FEMA that they needed rental assistance.

1,300 Katrina fraud probes under way.  More than a year after Hurricane Katrina, there are about 1,300 ongoing investigations of alleged FEMA fraud in the southern district alone, a federal prosecutor said. … So far, 92 individuals have been indicted by the federal government in Mississippi's southern district in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  Of that number, about half have pleaded guilty, and one has gone to trial.

Woman found guilty of fraud.  A Gulfport woman is in custody awaiting a possible 20-year sentence for conviction of FEMA fraud.  Rose Maria Crosby, 48, was found guilty Tuesday on five counts involving a false statement for disaster-relief assistance after Hurricane Katrina.

Katrina evacuees say they need more than extension.  A six-month extension of emergency housing assistance will stave off an immediate catastrophe but will not solve the underlying problems preventing hurricane victims from rebuilding their lives, evacuees and their advocates said Monday [1/22/2007]. … About 25 evacuees gathered Monday at a Stafford apartment development for senior citizens to thank FEMA for the extension while arguing that they need an additional 18 months rather than just six months.

Sounds like they're on the road to Perpetual Victimhood.

FEMA Calls Rebuilding Complete As New Orleans Restored To Former Squalor.  After an unprecedented 18-month cleanup and repair effort supervised by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and several state and local government bureaus, Undersecretary for Federal Emergency Management R. David Paulison announced Monday [1/29/2007] that the city of New Orleans has been successfully returned to its pre-Hurricane Katrina state of decay and deterioration.

FEMA wants more than $300 million in hurricane aid returned.  In the neighborhood President Bush visited right after Hurricane Katrina, the U.S. government gave $84.5 million to more than 10,000 households.  But Census figures show fewer than 8,000 homes existed there at the time.  Now the government wants back a lot of the money it disbursed across the region.

Feds go after Katrina fraud cases.  In her application for federal emergency help, Tina Marie Gilmore told officials how she watched hopelessly as her two daughters, ages 5 and 6, were swept through the rushing flood waters after Hurricane Katrina and was so distraught several months later that she couldn't function — to drive a car or even be in the same room with children.  But after mailing her a check for $4,358, the Federal Emergency Management Agency learned that not only did Winston, 34, not live in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina devastated the city, but that she didn't have any children.  Even her last name was a fake.

At long last...
US to cut Katrina hotel payments.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), in charge of the relief effort, has paid evacuees some $274 million since hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  Almost 54,000 families are still living in hotels and motels in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi.

Katrina Aid Used for Luxury Condos.  With large swaths of the Gulf Coast still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina, rich federal tax breaks designed to spur rebuilding are flowing hundreds of miles inland to investors who are buying up luxury condos near the University of Alabama's football stadium.

FEMA apologizes for fake "reporters".  The main U.S. disaster-response agency apologized on Friday [10/26/2007] for having its employees pose as reporters in a news briefing on California's wildfires that no journalists attended.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency, still struggling to restore its image after the bungled handling of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, issued the apology after The Washington Post published details of the Tuesday briefing.

The Editor says...
Apologies all around, as usual.  Big deal.  The way to prevent this from happening again is to fire the people who made this decision.  Will that happen?  Not likely.

Nothing to see here.  Ever wonder how that audit of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's security controls on its classified laptop computers turned out?  Well, according to the "declassified" report released today [12/26/2007] by the Homeland Security Department's inspector general, we get to keep wondering.

FEMA Wins Appeal in Katrina Rental Aid.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency can end housing subsidies for many victims of Hurricane Katrina, an appeals court ruled.  Many storm victims now receive help through a different federal agency, and it wasn't clear how many people would be affected by the ruling.  The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided Friday that storm victims who apply for rental assistance aren't legally entitled to a "continuing stream of payments."

Who did the most to help victims of Hurricane Katrina?  The results are recounted in a new paper on the disaster written by Steven Horwitz, an Austrian-school economist at St. Lawrence University in New York.  While [FEMA] fumbled about, doing almost as much to prevent essential supplies from reaching Louisiana and Mississippi as it could to facilitate it, Wal-Mart managers performed feats of heroism.

Fraudulent FEMA aid may exceed $1 billion.  After Hurricane Katrina last August, the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid out fraudulent disaster assistance which may have exceeded $1 billion, according to Government Accountability Office testimony before Congress Wednesday [6/14/2006].

FEMA still handing out Katrina cash inappropriately.  A Congressional investigation found that the Federal Emergency Management Agency paid out an estimated $1 billion inappropriately after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, but to date has recovered less than one percent of that amount.  Government Accountability Office investigators testified at a hearing Wednesday [12/6/2006] that in addition, FEMA is still sending out tens of millions of dollars in inappropriate aid payments through its Individuals and Households Program, which provides rental assistance to people displaced due to natural disasters.

Paulison:  Increase the size of FEMA.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still far short of its recruitment goals, but its director, R. David Paulison, says he wants to expand the agency's staffing even beyond those goals.  "It's been a slower process than I thought.  It's more difficult to get people on board in the federal government than at the local level, but we are doing it and we are going to fill this agency up," Paulison said on Sunday's Meet the Press [8/27/2006].

After tornado, FEMA disarms town, turns away help.  On Friday, May 4 [2006], an F5 tornado wiped the town of Greensburg, Kan., almost entirely off the map.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency, along with the National Guard and local police from all over Kansas, then systematically kept out relief workers while they went house to house disarming the residents.

Obama hates white people and wants them to die.  With nearly 1.5 million people in the mid-west without power during a cold snap, what other possible reason is there that this new "competent" administration and FEMA would be failing so spectacularly in helping in this natural disaster? ... Of course, I am just aping what lefty blogs were saying about Bush less than 24 hours after Katrina's hurricane winds stopped blowing. ... Isn't it interesting that now that we have a Democrat as president that all of a sudden, disaster relief is a state and local matter and the federal government should stand aside and allow them to do their jobs?

Kentucky:  No Power, No FEMA.  When a million people in flyover country are suffering, and 42 people have died, we don't hear much about it.  If this was New York, Washington, Boston, [New Orleans,] (or if the president had an R after his name) you'd see non-stop reports, and the press would be roundly criticizing FEMA's absence, and the White House's disregard.  Right?

Louisiana Sen. Landrieu Demands FEMA Resignation.  U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu called for the resignation Thursday of Doug Whitmer, FEMA chief of staff of the Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office in New Orleans, following a CBS News investigation that detailed cronyism, sexual harassment and racial discrimination in their New Orleans office.

If there's no public outcry...
FEMA Considers Placing Florida Storm Victims in Foreclosed Homes.  The federal government is exploring how to put Florida hurricane evacuees in foreclosed homes if a Katrina-like storm devastates the region and shelters, hotels and other housing options are full.  Officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday that it is an effort to find some benefit in the foreclosure crisis and keep people close to their homes and communities instead of scattering them around the country, which happened when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and other parts of coastal Louisiana and Mississippi almost four years ago.

The Editor says...
If the perpetual victims won't vacate a FEMA trailer without a fight, they surely won't let go of a full-size house.

Ex-FEMA worker, cousin charged with Katrina fraud.  A former Federal Emergency Management Agency employee and her cousin have been charged with allegedly stealing more than $721,000 in Hurricane Katrina money that was meant for storm victims.

A Weather Newsgasm.  [Scroll down]  In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) became an acronym for incompetence. ... Americans have been taught that the federal government will always come to their rescue and it rarely does with any efficiency and usually with a great waste of money and resources.


Section 6A:
FEMA trailers, trailer parks and trailer trash

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, some of the most shameless freeloaders moved in to FEMA trailers, and then proceeded to complain about the conditions in the trailers and the high-crime trailer parks that developed.  Some stayed in the trailers long after they had worn out their welcome.  Many of the ingrates later sued the government, claiming injury due to formaldehyde fumes.

Trailer cash.  If FEMA could distribute the fortune spent on trailers directly to those in need of housing, the recipients might find a much nicer place to live, and even have money left over for home repairs. … Those displaced by Hurricane Katrina and seeking a temporary trailer don't get to kick the tires or discuss financing plans, but a look at the ultimate sticker price might make them wish they could:  $59,800.

FEMA trailer dwellers seek toxin tests.  A group of hurricane victims wants a federal judge to order air quality tests in their government-issued trailers after the Federal Emergency Management Agency postponed its plans to check for hazardous fumes.  Federal scientists were scheduled to start testing for levels of formaldehyde in Mississippi trailers Nov. 2, but FEMA said it needed more time to prepare.

Here's a real shocker...
Some receiving FEMA assistance not willing to help themselves.  What are people who receive FEMA assistance doing to help themselves?  That's the question NBC 15's Andrea Ramey asked those who have been staying for free in hotel rooms after they moved out of FEMA supplied travel trailers.  What she found out is there are some who are doing very little.  The scorching heat puts many at the Quality Inn poolside, but for Gwenester Malone, she chooses to beat the heat by setting her thermostat to sixty degrees.  Malone's room for the past three months, along with three meals daily, have all been paid for by taxpayers.

Subsidy offered to get residents out of trailers.  Scores of St. Tammany Parish residents still living in FEMA trailers were told by federal officials this week that a pilot rent subsidy program is available for them to move into homes and apartments.  But those residents, at meetings in Slidell and Folsom, were also told that they may have to move out of the area due to a local shortage of rental housing units.

Post-Katrina trailer residents fearful as eviction day looms.  One has to wonder:  HOW LONG do these perpetual victims expect to live in taxpayer-owned trailers at no cost?

Homeland Security official:  Purchase of mobile homes a waste.  The inspector general for the Homeland Security Department said Friday [4/21/2006] that U.S. taxpayers could be stuck with a maintenance bill of nearly $47 million a year for thousands of mobile homes that sit parked at sites around the country, never having reached the Gulf Coast to provide temporary housing for survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA trailer inquiry broadens.  The inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security has agreed to look into a host of questions U.S. senators have raised about the controversial rebidding of FEMA trailer contracts along the devastated Gulf Coast, according to documents.  Details were not available about the inspector general's review, which centers on 36 contracts of up to $100 million each to maintain and ultimately deactivate the trailers in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Texas.

FEMA Changing Locks on Trailers.  FEMA will replace locks on as many as 118,000 trailers used by Gulf Coast hurricane victims after discovering the same key could open many of the mobile homes.  One locksmith cut only 50 different kinds of keys for the trailers sold to FEMA, officials said Monday [8/14/2006].  That means, in an example of a worst-case scenario, one key could be used to unlock up to 10 mobile homes in a park of 500 trailers.

New Orleans Police Say Post-Katrina 'Trailer Towns' Have Turned Into Crime Hubs.  The trailers set up to house thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina have turned into hot spots for drug dealers, prostitutes and even murderers, law enforcement officials said Tuesday [1/9/2007].  People continue to live in the trailers as they wait for repairs or rebuilding of their homes.  But police say criminals can live there at the fringes of society and go unchecked by authorities.

FEMA trailers being returned in poor shape .  Granted that the travel trailers FEMA has supplied to persons needing a place to live are the best in the world, but many being sent back from Bogalusa are said to have been "wrecked" by those who lived in them.  Even now, you can drive down some streets and see trailers with windows hanging loose, screens flapping and doors off the hinges — just like the traditional houses they are sitting next to.

Landrieu:  Make FEMA turn trailer park info to law enforcement.  US Senator Mary Landrieu said today that the government should make FEMA turn over records of residents of its trailers and trailer parks to New Orleans police and other agencies investigating crime in the area.  The proposal is part of a 10-point plan she announced in Washington for fighting crime in New Orleans.  Nine killings in the first eight days of the new year are threatening its the city's biggest business: tourism and conventions, and the surrounding area.

Post-Katrina trailer towns turn into crime hot spots, police say.  The trailers set up to house thousands of victims of Hurricane Katrina have turned into hot spots for drug dealers, prostitutes and even murderers, law enforcement officials said Tuesday.  People continue to live in the trailers as they wait for repairs or rebuilding of their homes.  But police say criminals can live there at the fringes of society and go unchecked by authorities.

Over 31K still in FEMA trailers.  More than 200 [trailers] are still in use in Forrest County alone — and like thousands of households along the Gulf Coast, Pine Belt families are facing a looming Feb. 28 deadline to get out of their trailers.  "FEMA is authorized to provide disaster assistance, including travel trailers, 18 months following the presidential disaster declaration," which began the day Katrina struck, FEMA spokesman Eugene Brezany explained.  [Dorothy] Smith said making such a deadline would be impossible for her.  "I'm just now getting comfortable in here," she said.

Others are not so comfortable...
Katrina Victims Feel Trapped by Trailers.  It was bad enough when Hurricane Katrina chased Carrie Lewis out of her assisted-living home in New Orleans.  Now she fears the rest of her life may be spent in the isolation of a federally sponsored trailer park.

FEMA to extend housing aid storm victims.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency intends to extend by at least six months the transitional housing assistance program for Gulf Coast residents displaced by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The program was scheduled to expire next month, potentially displacing more than 100,000 households from FEMA-funded trailers, mobile homes and rental units, according to the agency.

Evacuee camp kids worry schools chief.  The leader of Louisiana's largest school system says she believes that up to 200 children in the state's biggest hurricane evacuee camp are not registered in local schools.  And she says the U.S. government — citing privacy laws — is doing little to help officials identify the youths.  East Baton Rouge Parish School Superintendent Charlotte Placide says the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has refused to give school officials direct access to information about youths in Renaissance Village, a trailer park for families where 1,200-2,000 people live.

Cities try to shut FEMA trailer parks.  Communities along the Gulf Coast are moving to banish the government-issued trailers that house tens of thousands of people whose homes were destroyed by the devastating hurricanes in 2005.  Those cities and parishes are shutting down impromptu trailer parks set up after the disaster, telling homeowners they either must show progress rebuilding or get rid of the emblematic white travel trailers dotted across front yards from Alabama to Texas.

[One] Key opens many FEMA trailers.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency said Monday [8/14/2008] that it would replace locks on request for residents of travel trailers issued to evacuees of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita last year after finding that the same key could open many trailers.

Waste in FEMA trailer maintenace contracts:  The Federal Emergency Management Agency wasted billions of dollars by awarding contracts for services to maintain and remove emergency trailers for people displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to politically well-connected and financially risky companies, according to an inspector general's report released Monday [4/23/2007]. … The report, requested by Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sen. Mary L. Landrieu (D-La.) found that FEMA awarded contracts to companies without determining whether the companies would be able to complete the work and accepted unrealistically low prices which then later ballooned to almost ten times the original ceiling.

Three and a half years later, people are still living in "temporary" housing.
FEMA on board with housing plan for Katrina victims.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is supporting an Alabama state agency's efforts to let a handful of Hurricane Katrina victims remain in rent-free travel trailers and mobile homes past a May 1 deadline, a spokesman has confirmed.  Under a 2006 policy, FEMA can donate such temporary housing stock to states, local governments and voluntary organizations to help disaster victims.

Drag your feet long enough and you will be rewarded.
FEMA Offers Katrina Survivors Federal Trailers for $1.  The federal government is offering 3,400 survivors of hurricanes Katrina and Rita who have not found permanent housing a chance to buy the temporary federal trailers they live in now for as little as one dollar.

Katrina Victims Will Not Have to Vacate Trailers.  Hurricane Katrina victims around the Gulf Coast who were told to vacate their temporary trailers by the end of May will instead be allowed to buy them for $5 or less, White House officials announced on Wednesday [6/3/2009].

No great surprise...
Drugs, Weapons Found in Bridge City FEMA Trailer.  An Orange County man is in jail after Sheriff's Deputies say they found narcotics and weapons inside his FEMA trailer.

New Orleans moves to get rid of last FEMA trailers.  The era of the FEMA trailer — a symbol of the prolonged rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina — might be drawing to a close in New Orleans.

Years later, Katrina freeloaders find a way to get paid for the privilege of living in a government trailer.
Thousands housed in trailers after Katrina may get payments.  More than 20 mobile home manufacturers have agreed to pay $14.8 million to thousands of U.S. hurricane victims who said they were harmed by formaldehyde in the trailers.