Jindal blasts FEMA for supplies shortage

• By MELINDA DESLATTE
• Associated Press writer
• Published: Sep 7, 2008 - Page: 19A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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Shortages of food, water and ice Saturday in parishes hard hit by Hurricane Gustav prompted criticism of the Federal Emergency Management Agency from Gov. Bobby Jindal and promises of new truckloads of supplies from the agency.

FEMA officials said millions of meals-ready-to-eat, bottles of water and bags of ice were on the way, and they were shuffling supplies among the more than four dozen distribution sites around Louisiana to keep handing out provisions to the lines of people without power.

Bob Fenton, operations section chief for FEMA, said trucks will be arriving nonstop for more than a week, with another 5 million MREs and millions of bottles of water.

“Going forward, I really don’t see any shortfalls,” he said.

Jindal said he hoped the food and water would arrive quickly, but noting that past promises of trucks didn’t come to the state on time, he said, “It still sounds a little bit to me like ‘The check is in the mail.”’

Fenton said the distribution sites handed out more supplies than expected — 4 million MREs by Saturday, five days after Gustav made landfall as a Category 2 storm packing 110-mph winds.

But FEMA officials expected that since families were receiving cases of MREs, those supplies would keep feeding people for several days, until new trucks arrived.

“Food is out there. In many cases, it is sufficient to last a family several days,” said Ed Conley, a FEMA spokesman.

Truck delays were blamed on a combination of factors, including the need to bring in supplies from around the country, weather problems and changing locations for the distribution sites. Fenton said FEMA put two drivers in trucks so they could travel around the clock to get to Louisiana with the food and water.

Widespread power outages continued to leave one-fourth of the state’s utility customers without power and, in many areas, without access to stocked supermarkets.

The state enlisted the help of Louisiana public schools and colleges to bring in their food contractors to prepare hot meals, Jindal asked faith-based organizations to open kitchens and the American Red Cross served thousands of meals to families around the state in mobile kitchens.

Meanwhile, the state was buying generators to loan to gas stations, grocery stores and pharmacies that didn’t have power.

Jindal said too few supplies were stockpiled before Gustav and people simply were not getting what they needed.