I had a small taste of "red tape frustration" today. FEMA operates a camp which host volunteers who are here to help with disaster relief. I have been trying to do a story about the camp, as there are about 42 Tennesseans who are currently living there this week. After several days of trying, I finally reached the right person with FEMA and set up the story . I even lined up a local volunteer to meet me at 7:50 this morning.
When I get to the gate, ready to meet my volunteer, the security guard had no clue what I was talking about. Long story short, after multiple phone calls an hour and a half of standing around and an act of congress, FEMA finally gave me the all clear.
Once I finally got to take a tour of the camp I saw how great it is. Because of the volume of construction workers, people with no homes, and the up coming Marti Graus celebrations there are no hotel rooms available. Volunteers can stay at the camp at no cost and get three meals a day. Every thing else you could possibly need is provided from linens and towels to laundry detergent and washing machines.
If you ever thought you would want to come down to help out the time has never been better. There is still a big need for help and you can stay for free with no reason to spend any money at all.
3 comments:
FEMA has public affairs people assigned to help people like you do your jobs.
It's been a few months since I was in Louisiana so contacts I had have likely been rotated out but it should not be too hard to track down a number for FEMA's public affairs division. They should be able to give you a contact (probably in Baton Rouge) who can than direct you to the PA person in your area.
You will need someone with a FEMA badge to get you past security in many of the places you visit. There may still be literal roadblocks to places you want to see.
Simple phone call arrangements, as you found out, won't work because the word doesn't get passed through the bureaucracy to the people who need to hear it.
Better to make the effort beforehand to arrange to get a FEMA public affairs "tour guide" to take you wherever you want to go if it's a FEMA-run site or a part of the state where travel is still restricted.
Otherwise you'll have more experiences like the one you detail in this post.
Thank you for coming to Louisiana to get the word out that there is so much work left to be done.
welcome to my world!
fema is the new four-letter f word around our newsroom. their p.r. flacks can't find their ass with both hands. no one ever knows what the hell is going on, and no one can give you a straight answer. you need permission and one of sadam heussien's minders watching to go anywhere.
fema is a joke.
Post a Comment