Reply #11: Letters Show FEMA Knew Response 'Broken'

[EuroObserver]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5459944,00.html?gusrc=ticker-103704

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Tuesday December 6, 2005 6:46 AM

AP Photo LACS112

By LARA JAKES JORDAN

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - FEMA realized its response to Hurricane Katrina was ``broken'' and braced for rioting over woefully low supplies in Mississippi in the days just after the storm, according to new documents released Monday.

The correspondence among Federal Emergency Management Agency officials, provided by a special House committee investigating the government response to the storm, follows the release last week of more than 100,000 documents by Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco. Taken together, the details from both states provide evidence that FEMA was unable to provide fast help at disaster sites - even when the needs were obvious.

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In a Sept. 1 exchange, FEMA regional response official Robert Fenton warned headquarters that the expected levels of water and ice being sent were far below what was needed.

``If we get the quantities in your report tomorrow we will have serious riots,'' Fenton wrote.

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