"It's official. FEMA has decided not to deliver ice to the public after the next hurricane."
I suppose this shouldn't affect me at all considering that not a single one of the five bags of ice that kept us alive during the aftermath of Katrina actually came from FEMA. As a matter of fact, it's probably good of them to just drop the pretenses and tell us in advance that they won't be delivering any ice after the next hurricane. This must be one of those 'lessons learned from Katrina' that we've heard so much about over the last nearly three years: "If they don't expect us to do anything then we can't go wrong."
As for the suggestion that ice following a major catastrophe in the extreme South in the middle of hurricane season can be considered merely a 'comfort item' -- I feel that this assumption has not been thoroughly researched. I suggest that we take a few dozen FEMA (MEMA too - let's not leave them out) officials and place them in a recently flooded home somewhere in Biloxi... shut off the electricity and the running water... and let them swelter in place for a few days while racing against the clock to get the sewage out of the house before they die from some undocumented parasitic infestation.
For those of you who don't quite understand -- we didn't use our few pieces of not-acquired-through-FEMA ice to keep our beer cold during the aftermath. . Our most precious commodity was ice water since the ice itself melted in about 20 seconds in the heat. We used rags soaked in that ice water to cool ourselves down (especially our baby) when heatstroke started to overtake us. There was NO other relief from the heat.
From the E-How article on how to treat Heat Stroke:
Place ice packs on the patient's head, back of the neck, armpits, palms of the hands, soles of the feet and groin.Mighty hard to tackle Step 6 without the main ingredient.
UPDATE - Various reactions from the Sound Off column of the Sun Herald printed this week concerning FEMA's ice-capades:
(Note: The final Sound Off refers most likely to a popular hoax email that finds its way around the internet throughout the hurricane season. Frankly, the 'toxin' that is released from that plastic jug when it thaws out is no different than the toxin that's released from the same jug that was never frozen in the first place (i.e. plastic isn't all that great for us in the long run). Personally, I'd choose my daily dose of carcinogens over immediate dehydration any day. )No freezer to keep ice
• I'm calling in about the article about "No Ice." What about the people who have no freezer or fridge to store ice? That's going to be hard to do. A lot of people have to use the refrigerator to store food. Most poor people don't own a freezer. What about all those people?
Ice is a necessity
• Regarding "FEMA: No Ice," ice is a comfort? More like a necessity. Put water jugs in the freezer before a storm. What a joke. We have to keep things cold so we will not get sick. So we can have something cold to drink to keep hydrated. We did not have power for a month and a half after Katrina. And I am also a diabetic, which makes it worse because I have meds that have to be kept cool.
What happens on the third day?
• Ice is not a comfort item. I was shocked when I read FEMA stated it would not provide ice after the next hurricane. They stated ice was a comfort item. I do not know about most, but we did not find comfort in lying in a pool of ice. It was a necessary item to survive the week to two weeks or even longer after the storm without electricity. They said everyone should freeze jugs, which should keep for up to two days. What happens after those two days? Contact your senators and representative today.
What next, FEMA?
• No ice after a storm, FEMA! First, you tried to kill us with formaldehyde and now you take the ice away. Ice kept me alive after Katrina by keeping my body temperature down in a 110 heat index. This is the Deep South, not D.C. Whoever made this decision should be mandated to come here after a storm, grab a chainsaw, pluck some roots in the hot sun all day, lock their doors and windows in a house without a fan, no shower, can't flush a toilet. Someone needs to change this immediately.
We need ice
• I read FEMA is not going to fund ice after the hurricane. Well, I've got news for you, that is the only way we could have survived after Katrina. We had to live out of an ice chest through the middle of December and I think they better reorganize themselves and find out where they are spending the money. Because people without electricity, we need ice.
More ice
• I would like to be the first to challenge FEMA to freeze a gallon of water and see how long it lasts in 80 temperature. They got to understand this is water, frozen water, not oil.
Will Iraq give us ice?
• It was reported FEMA does not have the funds to give ice to victims after future storms. This is from one of the richest nations on Earth that can afford to give billions a month to rebuild Iraq, which we've been doing for five years.
Left with nothing
• Even if you have a freezer, if the electricity goes off when the storm first comes in and is off for a long time, the ice will melt and the water will get hot, so the people are left with nothing, thanks to FEMA.
Another urban legend
• In reference to people urged to freeze water jugs, the Sun Herald or someone needs to check into this. I have read many articles and even seen on TV, if you do freeze water in these plastic containers, including bottled water you buy at the store, there is a toxin that is released after it thaws out that is not good for human consumption. Please check it out.
June 11, 2008: The ice debate continues
According to an article published in the Sun Herald this morning, FEMA has responded to the recent criticism over its decision not to supply ice to the general public following a hurricane by reiterating its position. FEMA states that it stored tons of ice following Hurricane Katrina until it finally went bad and had to be destroyed -- a truly stupid move costing millions.
I can't describe how this revelation makes me feel personally -- but I'm going to try. I'm in total and utter shock that there was ice left over to go bad. Do you know why? Because for days after Hurricane Katrina we could NOT find ice. Each of our attempts to procure ice at the designated distribution center at the Jackson County fairgrounds was a bust -- trucks never showed up... or the truckloads that were sent were no where near enough to distribute to the unbelievable number of people waiting in the heat for it... I will state again: We NEVER received ice from a FEMA distribution site after Katrina... The only ice we received came from family or neighbors with cars capable of taking them outside of the area to buy ice... or from our two hour round trip to Mobile, AL where we bought ice at a gas station... or in the weeks that followed - purchased from Walmart.
I can't believe they had tons of ice left over to ruin.
Those lucky enough to get ice from the distribution centers told us that there was a limit of two bags per car.... because there wasn't enough ice for everyone.... Then how.. tell me how... was there tons of ice left over? Could it have something to do with the trucks that were diverted from the cost and parked at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS? We were told at one point that we could go to Camp Shelby to pick up ice if we needed it.... 70 miles is a really long walk for folks who just lost both vehicles in a natural disaster.
If I got to put my two cents in as to how such 'waste' could have been avoided following a natural disaster it would include just a few items: Do not set up distribution centers in areas that actual victims of the disaster cannot reach. Allow each household to take enough ice for said ice to actually remain frozen for more than 10 or 15 minutes -- a chest, cooler, or broken freezer will not keep ice frozen for long unless the chest, cooler, or broken freezer is packed fairly full of said ice... (We all know even a working empty freezer is not as efficient as a tightly-packed one.) So even the scanty distribution of ice is a factor of waste. Plan on actually distributing ice as local officials once did and most likely would have done had their own resources not been destroyed -- as in... send in vehicles to 'zones' or 'neighborhoods' near the actual victims.
The most disturbing trend in the recent debate in my mind is that of commentators opining that hurricane victims are once again asking for a 'free handout' by whining that we want our FREE ice from FEMA. Listen people.. I don't care if it's free. Free is not the issue here. There was no ice free or otherwise. If FEMA would like to sell ice - that's fine with me... Just sell it somewhere near where people who actually flooded or lost their homes could get to it.
Actually... Further, the issue to me here isn't even whether or not FEMA will be in charge of ice distribution in the future... The issue is the abject ignorance displayed by the folks who are supposed to be in charge of EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT for all future catastrophes - mine and yours. From the Sun Herald's Editorial this morning:
How can FEMA draw a line between comfort and survival when it comes to ice?
We get the following quote from director R. David Paulison: "I don't know how FEMA got into the ice business, but it's not a life-saving commodity. People say they need it because they want it. They don't need it. It's not one of FEMA's key jobs."Such ignorance is appalling - and frightening. Tell us that you wasted money.. you can't afford it.. you don't want to deal with it.... Tell us you're incompetent... Tell us you don't care.. But don't tell us it isn't needed and that we're delusional to think it is.
7 comments:
Thanks for the reminders. We never really considered how important ice was to us during the hot summer months until it was impossible to get it during the first few weeks after the storm.
I remember the first places to offer ice was Walmart, bless their hearts. Although we could only get two bags at a time, it was like gold. Since then we've procured several well made ice chests which we will stock full of ice before an impending storm....praying that we won't have to.
Maybe there'll be a new President by then, and the current Fema bums will have been thrown out. Plus, a few less hundred billion spent in Iraq a year, maybe we can afford some ice.
Well said, Karen Anne!
I don't know what I had more of..."Sweat pouring down my face from the stifling heat"...or "Tears from the emotional impact the first time I heard on the radio that help was on the way (after Katrina struck)...both mingled together and rolling down my face". Ice is essential in helping to prevent heat stroke/heat exhaustion by cooling the body through consumption in beverages or have a cool rag to rub on the face and neck. I hope these decision makers never have to face 4 weeks in the heat with no way to cool off...not to mention the biting insects if you dared to go out at night with the hope the temperature will be a degree or 2 cooler outside. Stand up America and let FEMA know that the 'no ice' decision is a fatal error!
Okay, so I read these postings, I sat through Hurricane Ike in Midtown houston, so I ask again, seeing as none of the posting say why they need ice, WHY DO YOU NEED ICE? ICE is and stays a luxury. You dont need ice to stay hydrated. Hydration is the water, not frozen water. Boiling water can hydrate you. It was warm yes, heres a suggestion, stay out of the sun, drink room temperature water, and survive. You people are spoilt, and for goodness sake, stop complaining about FEMA. You are lucky to even have FEMA.
Oh my you're lucky then, Houston... We didn't have any water to boil after our hurricane. And it's hard to stay out of the sun when you're shoveling muck out of your house or HECK when you don't have a house to shade you.
I completely understand where you're coming from.. If all you suffered from a hurricane is the loss of electricity - then ice isn't nearly as important just a few days after said hurricane.
As for room temperature water... The thermometer inside our flooded house following Katrina read just over 90 degrees for four days. That's a little more than 'warm' and definitely higher than 'room temperature' water as a result. I did go through the trouble of posting the article on treating heat stroke for a reason, you know.
As for me complaining about FEMA and being lucky for having FEMA..We didn't have FEMA. :) Maybe you should reread my post or the other 746 posts on this blog.
Is there a single store or gas station open in Houston right now? Can you get in your car and turn on the A/C? Does water come out of your tap when you turn it on? Do you have mud and sludge caked all over your feet that you can't wash off? Is there anything dry in your home right now? Do you know a living human within 20 miles who has anything dry in their home? Well then -- you've got all sorts of luxuries over there tonight that we sure as heck didn't have after Katrina for weeks... in some cases months... Can't you just afford us the simply 'luxury' of some ice then?
-- change 'simply' to 'simple' - thanks, Ed.
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