FEMA

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:08 am

Sailman here's another.
FUCK FEMA

"You would never see this on the news.......

Here’s some stories you won’t hear about the Tricounty fire in Montgomery, Grimes, and Waller County Memorial week, 2011. Although Kenna promises to write a book.
My neighbor across the road has a sister named Kenna. Memorial Day, when she saw the huge column of smoke over our homes, she left a birthday party at my neighbor’s house to meet with her friend Tara at the Baseball complex in Magnolia. She called the owner of the complex and got permission to use the warehouse there as a staging area for donations for the fire fighting effort.
They put a notice out on facebook that they were going to be taking donations on their facebook pages. That night as they were setting up tables and organizing, News 2 Houston came by and saw the activity, investigated and left with the phone numbers and a list of suggested donations.
The facebook notice propagated faster than the fire. By dawn they had 20 volunteers, bins, forklifts, and donations were pouring in. I stopped by with my pitiful little bags of nasal wash and eye wash, and was amazed. There must have been 20 trucks in the lot, offloading cases of water, pallets of Gatorade , and people lined up out the door with sacks of beef jerky, baby wipes, underwear, socks, and you name it. School buses and trailers from many counties around were there offloading supplies, students froming living chains to pass stuff into the bins for transport to the command center and staging areas. If the firefighters had requested it, it was there. What do you give the guy out there fighting the fire that might engulf your home? Anything he or she wants. Including chewing tobacco and cigarettes.
Kenna moved on to the Unified Command Post at Magnolia West High school. She looked at what the fire fighters needed, and she made calls and set it up.
Mattress Mac donated 150 beds. Two class rooms turned into barracks kept quiet and dark for rest. The CEO of HEB donated 2 semi trailers full of supplies, and sent a mobile commercial kitchen at no charge to feed all the workers, but especially our firefighters, 3 hot meals a day. An impromptu commissary was set up, anything the firefighters had requested available at no charge.
As exhausted firefighters (most of them from local VFDs with no training or experience battling wildfires) and workers came into the school after long hours of hard labor, dehydrated, hungry, covered with soot and ash, they got what they needed. They were directed through the commissary, where they got soap, eye wash and nasal spray, candy, clean socks and underwear, and then were sent off to the school locker rooms for a shower. HEB then fed them a hot meal and they got 8 hours sleep in a barracks, then another hot meal, another pass through the commissary for supplies to carry with them out to lines, including gloves, safety glasses, dust masks and snacks, and back they went.
One of the imported crew from California came into Unified Command and asked where the FEMA Powerbars and water were. He was escorted to the commissary and started through the system. He was flabbergasted. He said FEMA never did it like this. Kenna replied, ”Well, this is the way we do it in Texas.”
Fire fighting equipment needed repair? The auto shop at the High School ran 24/7 with local mechanics volunteering, students, and the firefighters fixing the equipment.
Down one side of the school, the water tankers lined up at the fire hydrants and filled with water. Down the other side there was a steady parade of gasoline tankers filling trucks, dozers, tankers, cans, chain saws, and vehicles.
Mind you, all of this was set up by 2 Moms, Kenna and Tara, with a staff of 20 simple volunteers, most of them women who had sons, daughters, husbands, and friends on the fire lines. Someone always knew someone who could get what they needed- beds, mechanics, food, space. Local people using local connections to mobilize local resources made this happen. No government aid. No Trained Expert.
At one point the fire was less than a mile from the school, and everyone but hose volunteers were evacuated. The fire was turned.
The Red Cross came in, looked at what they were doing, and quietly went away to set up a fire victim relief center nearby. They said they couldn’t do it any better.
FEMA came in and told those volunteers and Kenna that they had to leave, FEMA was here now. Kenna told them she worked for the firefighters, not them. They were obnoxious, bossy, got in the way, and criticized everything. The volunteers refused to back down and kept doing their job, and doing it well. Next FEMA said the HEB supplies and kitchen had to go, that was blatant commercialism. Kenna said they stayed. They stayed. FEMA threw a wall eyed fit about chewing tobacco and cigarettes being available in the commissary area. Kenna told them the firefighters had requested it, and it was staying. It stayed. FEMA got very nasty and kept asking what organization these volunteers belonged to- and all the volunteers told them “Our community”. FEMA didn’t like that and demanded they make up a name for themselves. One mother remarked “They got me at my boiling point!” and suddenly the group was “212 Degrees”. FEMA’s contribution? They came in the next day with red shirts embroidered with “212 Degrees”, insisting the volunteers had to be identified, never realizing it was a slap in their face. Your tax dollars at work- labeling volunteers with useless shirts and getting in the way.
The upshot? A fire that the experts from California (for whom we are so grateful there are no words) said would take 2-3 weeks to get under control was 100% contained in 8 days. There was so much equipment and supplies donated, 3 container trucks are loaded with the excess to go and set up a similar relief center for the fire fighters in Bastrop. The local relief agencies have asked people to stop bringing in donations of clothing, food, household items, and pretty much everything else because they only have 60 displaced households to care for, and there is enough to supply hundreds. Again, excess is going to be shipped to Bastrop, where there are 1500 displaced households. Wish we could send Kenna, too, but she has to go back to her regular job.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:59 am

good fuckin on 'em...........

Sail Man · Post by **Sail Man** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:08 am

Can't disagree with you there CSS.

FEMA is a fucking bureaucratic joke. Another example of how our fucking federal govt has gotten too big and inefficient and needs to be taken down a fucking notch, or dozen.

Patsh · Post by **Patsh** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:23 am

That tale ought to be posted on facebook or something.

It could possibly create enough interest to actually effect a real change to such beaurocracy.

(just sayin')

MOOP_Nazi · Post by **MOOP_Nazi** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:24 am

Fedral
Emergency
Mis-Managing
Asshats

FEMA.. mmmkay?

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:40 am

yeah, fuckin interesting to note, many here (and elsewhere) make the argument for large federal government, based on the "FEMA" argument, that the fed. is the only thing big enough to deal with disasters.......

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:51 am

FEMA tends to work better under democratic administrations, when they are expected to work for disasters than in republican ones, where it's preparation for war and attacks.
But rejecting Katrina cottages, which would have started people on the road to built homes, for toxic trailers...
Ass-In-Ine...

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:55 am

theCryptofishist wrote:FEMA tends to work better under democratic administrations, when they are expected to work for disasters than in republican ones, where it's preparation for war and attacks.
But rejecting Katrina cottages, which would have started people on the road to built homes, for toxic trailers...
Ass-In-Ine...

that's an interesting proposition.............is there evidence, of FEMA not doing as good a job, due to the political affiliation of a particular president/administration?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:07 am

Katrina vs Andrew.

FIGJAM · Post by **FIGJAM** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:08 am

Bush: "Good job Browneye!"

can't sit still · Post by **can't sit still** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:09 am

YGMIR, remember when the National Guard would come in to a disaster area..... the Red Cross,,,,Burners Without Borders? They were there JUST to help. They were NOT there on a power trip. Here's another example. In 1990, the Awbrey-Hall fire was started by an arson; http://www.newsprose.org/resume/clips/arson.html
We watched it get closer and closer. It came on the wind,,, steadily. By evening, it was close to the highway and the Deschutes River canyon. Reps from the various agencies stood in the highway and argued incessantly about who had jurisdiction. While they argued, it JUMPED the highway and canyon. It got to my place at 2:30 AM. Earlier in the day, one agency jumped into the fight. This was illegal because they were supposed to be invited to the fight. Just when it got to us, the wind fell off. We had 11 trucks parked in front. NOBODY came to help because jurisdiction wasn't established.
FEMA is just a collection of paper-pushers who haven't a clue.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:14 am

theCryptofishist wrote:Katrina vs Andrew.

but, do you think it had to do with the politics, or, the FEMA and federal personnel, in charge, at the time?

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:16 am

Tea Partiers....a collection of idiots who haven't a FUCKING clue.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:17 am

can't sit still wrote:YGMIR, remember when the National Guard would come in to a disaster area..... the Red Cross,,,,Burners Without Borders? They were there JUST to help. They were NOT there on a power trip. Here's another example. In 1990, the Awbrey-Hall fire was started by an arson; http://www.newsprose.org/resume/clips/arson.html
We watched it get closer and closer. It came on the wind,,, steadily. By evening, it was close to the highway and the Deschutes River canyon. Reps from the various agencies stood in the highway and argued incessantly about who had jurisdiction. While they argued, it JUMPED the highway and canyon. It got to my place at 2:30 AM. Earlier in the day, one agency jumped into the fight. This was illegal because they were supposed to be invited to the fight. Just when it got to us, the wind fell off. We had 11 trucks parked in front. NOBODY came to help because jurisdiction wasn't established.
FEMA is just a collection of paper-pushers who haven't a clue.

I have a friend, ex top-dog for a region for CALFIRE (californinias wildfire agency). He lamented, at times, being told to "stand down", while another agency tried to do, what they couldn't, and let things get out of hand. When, he had the materials and personnel, to do it. Not always, but, it did happen.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:19 am

FIGJAM wrote:Bush: "Good job Browneye!"

Simon of the Playa wrote:
Tea Partiers....a collection of idiots who dont have a FUCKING clue.

you've lost me here

lucky420 · Post by **lucky420** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:50 am

Tea Party's are for little girls with imaginary friends

Sic Pup · Post by **Sic Pup** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:52 am

lucky420 wrote:Tea Party's are for little girls

.....and best enjoyed under a wonderous tree in the middle of the desert, IMO.

Post by **Eric** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:46 pm

FEMA discussion has been moved to it's own thread instead of taking over "Fuck!"

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 1:55 pm

thanks Eric!!

and so, what does "Tea Party" have to do with a big fucked up bureaucracy called FEMA?

just wonderin.

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:30 pm

A group of us from the playa got down to New Orleans and Waveland, Mississippi before the whol Burners Without Borders schtick.

Pull up a chair and I can tell you some How Fucked Up FEMA Was stories that will make your toes curl.

It was damn near criminal.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:38 pm

my friend was depped as a sheriff...his job was to pick up "floaters"...

i worked after IVAN in 05', it was pretty tame, even w martial law / curfew....

Katrina was whack...

however, FEMA seems to be the whipping boy of said tea par folks, maybe deservedly so, especially after the way halliburton and brown and root totally shoved it up the ass of the fed. govt AND the people of new orleans.

lets just not forget who got the no-bid contracts and why.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 4:49 pm

oh, I'm not defending FEMA.......quite the contrary. But, I think, as a department/bureaucracy, it is and always has been bloated.
My feeling has always been local stuff works best.
Yes, I do understand scale, and all that.......and sure, there are times something is so huge it can't be dealt with.
But, I don't know that I agree with it's performance being related to the politics of the PTB at any moment. Moreso, to me, it's a matter of how good, or inept, the top dogs there are.
I don't follow the tea party stuff enough, to know what you mean, Simon, by their "whipping boy", but, can imagine some sort of complaint about wasted monies/resources?
Wasn't a lot of the Katrina crap, due to locals, mayors and governors, interfering, or not doing what they were supposed to?

I'd be interested, Iso, in hearing those stories.

Post by **Elderberry** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 5:01 pm

can't sit still wrote:YGMIR, remember when the National Guard would come in to a disaster area.....

LOL Ya, right. They're all now deployed in their own disaster zones in Afghanistan!

I don't believe I resisted clicking on this thread until now. Oh well, I'm out of here. Have fun fellas. I don't do politics!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:39 pm

There's no way locals could have coped with Katrina without outside help. It's good that people like Iso were there, because FEMA was almost as big a catastrophe as the hurricane. Maybe one of the hellish questions that they ask in the bardo, that combination pop-quiz/haunted house ride is "Who failed New Orleans more in Katrina" Army Corps or FEMA...

But yeah, local help wherever possible, if you can prevent or do and end run around elite panic.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:09 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:There's no way locals could have coped with Katrina without outside help. It's good that people like Iso were there, because FEMA was almost as big a catastrophe as the hurricane. Maybe one of the hellish questions that they ask in the bardo, that combination pop-quiz/haunted house ride is "Who failed New Orleans more in Katrina" Army Corps or FEMA...

But yeah, local help wherever possible, if you can prevent or do and end run around elite panic.

yeah, totally understand the scope and local disatster there......IIRC, there was a lot of SNAFU related to the mayor and governor, too.
Interesting, how when humans are involved, some things can go wrong.........

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 02, 2011 9:18 pm

Yeah, a bunch of people more interested in protecting their fiefdoms than in actually helping.

marck · Post by **marck** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:49 am

ygmir wrote:I have a friend, ex top-dog for a region for CALFIRE (californinias wildfire agency). He lamented, at times, being told to "stand down", while another agency tried to do, what they couldn't, and let things get out of hand. When, he had the materials and personnel, to do it. Not always, but, it did happen.

When did they start CALFIRE? I worked for the USDA Forest Service from 1991 to 1999, inclusive.
I only knew of CDF, California Department of Forestry. Although they were well trained to handle structure and vehicle fires, they were not trained well for wildland and brush fires.

When I was assigned to engines, we had one CDF Captain bail on us while we were laying hose without informing our #1. We were lucky to get the engine out before the fire trapped it. That fire was an awesome 40 hour intial attack, and afterwards, I walked into firecamp with the worst case of poison oak I ever had.

The Oakland fire was caused by a restart of a previous fire that was not put out all the way.

Lassen Forge · Post by **Lassen Forge** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 1:56 pm

marck wrote:
ygmir wrote:I have a friend, ex top-dog for a region for CALFIRE (californinias wildfire agency)...

When did they start CALFIRE? I worked for the USDA Forest Service from 1991 to 1999, inclusive.
I only knew of CDF, California Department of Forestry...

Changed their name a few years ago - I like to think emulating Caltrans. Supposed to be cool... Just before the Governors Office of Emergency Services became Cal-EMA. Or California Office of Technology Services becoming the hip, slick, and cool "OTech" I wonder what's next - the office of the state treasurer becoming CalCash? (More like CalFuckingbroke...)

It was this whole stupid rebranding thing some certain nameless politicos on one side of the aisle wanted, to make government sound more like a private business than a state agency.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 2:49 pm

yeah, the last time I can remember private industries fighting fires, was in the days when your neighbor's insurance company would put out the fire on his house, and not lift a finger when it spread to yours, because you were insured with a rival company.

If these companies could emulate Crassus, they would.

ygmir · Post by **ygmir** » Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:10 pm

Bay Bridge Sue wrote:
marck wrote:
ygmir wrote:I have a friend, ex top-dog for a region for CALFIRE (californinias wildfire agency)...

When did they start CALFIRE? I worked for the USDA Forest Service from 1991 to 1999, inclusive.
I only knew of CDF, California Department of Forestry...
Changed their name a few years ago - I like to think emulating Caltrans. Supposed to be cool... Just before the Governors Office of Emergency Services became Cal-EMA. Or California Office of Technology Services becoming the hip, slick, and cool "OTech" I wonder what's next - the office of the state treasurer becoming CalCash? (More like CalFuckingbroke...)

It was this whole stupid rebranding thing some certain nameless politicos on one side of the aisle wanted, to make government sound more like a private business than a state agency.

yeah, like:

California
Office
Containing
Knowledge
Supression (for)
Universaly
Contemptuous
Kinglets (ie)
Elected
Rotten
Suckweasles

FEMA

FEMA

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