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US Hurricane Aid Snarled in Red Tape

$3.5B to replace schools and firehouses languishing in accounts

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jan 11, 2008 3:20 AM CST
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(Newser) – Billions of dollars in FEMA aid earmarked for rebuilding infrastructure pulverized by the 2005 Gulf Coast hurricanes have yet to be spent on thousands of important projects such as replacing schools and firehouses, USA Today reports. Out of $4.5 billion in aid to Louisiana and Mississippi, only $1 billion has been spent. Much of the rest is sitting in state accounts until local authorities can get through tangles of local and federal red tape.

"Are we satisfied with the rate of construction? Absolutely not. But the biggest challenge in spending the money has been FEMA's process," said the head of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. Federal officials blame local authorities who they say should be making tough decisions and moving forward faster.

A Mississippi school superintendent leads a group of congressman on a tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. At rear are some of the temporary trailers used to teach children after the storm. Billions of dollars in FEMA aid to rebuild schools and other public building is...
A Mississippi school superintendent leads a group of congressman on a tour of areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. At rear are some of the temporary trailers used to teach children after...   (Associated Press)
Attendees of the American College of Surgeons, help empty a wheelbarrow into a dumpster in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007. Once clean up has been accomplished, the former school will be the site of a new medical clinic in the 9th Ward neighborhood. ASC is meeting in New Orleans...
Attendees of the American College of Surgeons, help empty a wheelbarrow into a dumpster in New Orleans, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2007. Once clean up has been accomplished, the former school will be the site...   (Associated Press)
Two FEMA trailers belonging to a resident in the Lower 9th Ward are surrounded by displays of items that are an artist representation of the the homes that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, Monday, Dec. 3, 2007. Actor Brad Pitt is launching his latest project to build...
Two FEMA trailers belonging to a resident in the Lower 9th Ward are surrounded by displays of items that are an artist representation of the the homes that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans,...   (Associated Press)
Lawless High School music teacher Virgil Tiller gives a tour of his old class room in Alfred Lawless High School in New Orleans, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. The music teacher has returned nine times since Hurricane Katrina to remember two pupils who drowned near the levee breach that erased the...
Lawless High School music teacher Virgil Tiller gives a tour of his old class room in Alfred Lawless High School in New Orleans, Monday, Sept. 17, 2007. The music teacher has returned nine times since...   (Associated Press)
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Hurricane Katrina • Louisiana • aid • FEMA • infrastructure • Gulf Coast • Katrina aftermath

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