Though in this case the duplicates aren't for multiple hurricanes, but confusion over (a)whether adult children should register separately from their parents if they are no longer dependents BUT were living at the same address as their parents; (b) whether otherwise unrelated roommates living at the same address should register separately or together for property damage; (c) whether a person who owns more than one piece of property which has been damaged should register separately for each property...

And so on. The incompetence and confusion on display is unbelievable. My sister has gotten completely contradictory answers on what she should do to correct the double application error every time she calls. In the meantime, she is not eligible for unemployment, and the money from FEMA that was supposed to cushion her while she relocates to a new city and looks for a job is tied up in a veritable mountain of red tape.

A family-wide rumor mill has everyone scared to get too obstreperous about it, though, after hearing the story of the guy who yelled at his FEMA caseworker and was subsequently dropped to the bottom of the waitlist. How did he know he was dropped? Because the FEMA worker told him she was going to do it, for pissing her off.

Or, in other words: Gah.

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Reversing a decision made in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush administration will reinstate rules requiring that companies receiving federal contracts for hurricane reconstruction and relief efforts pay local prevailing wages.

They heard that scream! (and probably started counting voters)

(Emphasis mine, obviously.)

The first is addressed to those who were "hit twice."

Over the next two weeks they sent us three applications for SBA loans. We did not have major damage, so we had no intention of applying for further aid. Then came a phone call stating that they had to come inspect our property. Umm.. okay, so I let the man come over, and told him that we had minimal damage and really didn't need any more aid. The next day I had a recorded phone call stating that due to the widespread damage in my area, an inspection would not be required. Three days later I got another SBA application in the mail. It's completely insane.

As for the wage issue, one of the things that set off a storm under it was the discovery of undocumented aliens working at a military base...

Just about any other kind of disaster -- earthquake, terrorism, epidemic -- is messier: either unexpected, or widespread.

It's important to remember that there's FEMA, and then there are the people who are working for FEMA on the ground. Here in Biloxi, FEMA's boots on the ground are filled by firefighters and police officers who took voluntary leaves of absence from their day jobs to do disaster relief. By and large they are good people trying to do the best that they can in a difficult situation. Much of the difficulty is caused by disarray at the top that works its way down the chain of command. FEMA workers are caught between the incompetence and misdirection at the top of the agency and the frustration and anger of the people they have come to help. This is not a recipe for effective action.

i've noted elsewhere that Bush has described Miers as the "most qualifed" candidate for the position.

Therefore, anybody else who is nominated is less qualifed than she was.

Getting back on topic, when Hurrican Fran came through the Triangle back in September 96, we had lots of property damage in town, and widespread power outages lasting up to 7 days, but nothing life threatening for most people, at least in Durham. Other parts of the state were hit harder, and two dozen people were killed, mostly from flooding or falling trees, as i recall. We had received an above normal amount of rainfall in the previous three weeks, and the ground was already saturated.

As power came back on in different parts of town, the supermarkets would reopen and distibute ice for free, which was the most critical need for many people as temperatures climbed back into the 90s within a day or two of the storm.

FEMA didn't really take any responsibility for distributing food and water, but i don't recall there being any shortages or need. Lots of us had well stocked freezers which needed to be emptied, and the shelters were the beneficiaries of a lot of that food. FEMA did set up the claims process within a week, and that went smoothly, as i recall. We got the check for our roof repairs within a month. i can't speak to how FEMA handled things in other parts of the state nearer the coast.

Same in Italy with Berlusconi.

FEMA until very recently was run by a Bush crony who couldn't even control a horse show properly. A poor appointment led to poor results.

In many ways, Bush only had to employ competent people to get these things running properly, but instead he filled these groups with political cronys and old college buddies.