FEMA under fire for slow Katrina aid - Yahoo! News

FEMA under fire for slow Katrina aid - Yahoo! News:

"SLIDELL, Louisiana (Reuters) - The U.S. agency that made a mess of rescue operations when Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Gulf Coast now is coming under fire for slow distribution of aid to storm survivors.
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'We have had no help from them for our citizens,' said Ben Morris, mayor of the town of Slidell outside New Orleans, which suffered major damage in the storm. 'It is criminal.'

He said his city was now getting water, ice and fuel from FEMA but that more than 10,000 people who lost their homes here have been given little or no help with emergency housing.

'What we are dealing with is a human tragedy, people have nowhere to go,' he told Reuters. 'At FEMA, they keep saying they are coming, but they don't. I think they're useless.'

John Darnell, whose home in Slidell was ripped to shreds by Katrina, is not impressed by FEMA's relief efforts, either.

'It has been slow. They got my application for help all wrong. It's hard to get on the phone with them. I think they're overwhelmed.'

Local radio stations have taken calls from dozens of people complaining that they spend hours trying to get through to FEMA staff, and others have recounted tales of pleas for assistance rejected or ignored.

Slow movement in housing evacuees, helping small businesses with cash to keep them going, and in recovering rotting corpses have brought new pressure on the embattled agency."