Discussion: Emails Show FEMA Unresponsive As Puerto Rico Needed Fuel For Generators

When FEMA makes WallyMart looks like a caring company, you know you’ve really screwed the pooch…

6 Likes

13 million gallons sounds like a lot, until you realize it’s less than 4 gallons per person. So basically enough for a few car trips or a day of generator time. Period.

1 Like

“Since the beginning we made the local and federal governments aware of this, but as far as we know FEMA did not provide fuel or made trucks available to the private food distribution network,” Reyes said. “We believe they did provide some fuel to hospitals. We were forced to establish our own distribution system for our members using retrofitted waste-water trucks in order to keep some stores opened and food from going bad.”

Reyes said that after three to four weeks, gas stations began to normalize and businesses could get fuel easier.

“But by that time the emergency generators, which are not designed for continuous operation, began failing and we needed new ones or spare parts but few were available,” Reyes said. “No help with that either.”

Callous disregard - trickles down (or perhaps flows rapidly down) from the top.

Heck of a job Donnie.

4 Likes

OK back up on my preparedness soapbox, Mien Gott!, did anyone in FEMA have to deal with getting supplies and infrastructure back up and running in the FL Keys? The Keys are the only topography I can think of that would approximate an island. The lack of leadership, planning and plan is disgraceful.

And for the Love of all things holy Hawaii please take note that FEMA and this maladministration can’t deal with islands.

ETA: If this is how Trumpland deals with natural disasters we’re all doomed if we are attacked physically or cyberly.

3 Likes

In this case they were probably only concerned for loss profits, but yes.

1 Like

Wow…tell us again how much we do for this country with OUR money…‘funny’ how it all seems to flow uphill and those who ‘need’ it are just moochers and takers…

Fuel distribution problems after a hurricane hits an island? Who could have predicted that? Not FEMA, apparently. Hurricanes are about the most predictable natural disasters out there. How are they going to handle an earthquake?

I fear that the stable genius has already had his Katrina. He did a heck of a job and the rest of the nation shrugged

1 Like

How does this not truly exemplify trump and the complicity of republicans?

These as everyone here knows, are Americans. And they were also aware days in advance that this cat 5 hurricane was going to hit them hard.

There can be no real justification for how this particular issue was not almost immediately handled.

And as well, here we are today, with a virtual silence on what our government is doing to bring them back to some semblance of normalcy.

This is beyond shameful.

1 Like

At least George W. Bush did not take a casually dressed tour of New Orleans and throw paper towels to a bunch of rich people living in an undamaged gated suburban development at a photo op while asking, somewhat incredulously (and ignorantly) them if their water purifier kits were really necessary. Oh, and announcing that what he heard on Alex Jones (that the teamsters were refusing to distribute fuel and supplies) was the reason the Trump-Let Then Eat Cake Hurricane Relief Effort was not a resounding success.

1 Like

Exactly! But il Dotard has not paid the political price for that that W did. Why not? Why weren’t reporters camped out in PR bringing us updates? I fear the answer is that they (the media) and we (mainland Americans) don’t think of PR residents as “really” Americans, even if we do know that they are citizens

2 Likes

The fuel issue is another window into difficulties the agency has faced in responding to Hurricane Maria

I wouldn’t characterize not giving a shit as a “difficulty.” Besides, even with its disastrous response to the disaster FEMA earned a “10 out of 10” rating from the boss. So there’s that.

1 Like