$85M in Katrina Supplies Never Got to Victims

FEMA gave them to Miss. and other states for general use

By Dustin Lushing, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 7, 2008 5:46 PM CDT

(Newser) – Household and cleaning supplies worth $85 million never reached Hurricane Katrina victims because FEMA kept them in storage for 2 years, CNN reports. Louisiana didn't ask for them, the federal agency says, so coffee makers, dinnerware sets, clothes, and other items went to Mississippi and 15 other states—which doled them out to prisons and other state workers.

Aid groups are fuming. "You would have to be living under a rock not to know there is still a need" among Katrina victims, one advocate said. But FEMA said aid groups in Mississippi failed to register with the agency. CNN's investigation has sparked an internal FEMA probe into the supplies, which were costing $1 million a year to store.

Gina Bouffanie listens to a question in her home where she and her 15-month old Lexi moved to after living in a FEMA trailer after Hurricane Katrina Wednesday, March 26, 2008, in Bay St. Louis Miss. (AP Photo)

DeReion Galloway plays in the children's park in his apartment complex in Pass Christian, Miss. Wednesday, March 26, 20. (AP Photo)

Windsor firefighter Devin Trotter, Garry Briese, FEMA region 8 administrator, and FEMA's Ed Conley survey damage caused by a tornado in Windsor, Colo., Friday, May 23, 2008. (AP Photo)

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$85M in Katrina Supplies Never Got to Victims

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Casino Panel Snagged Aid Intended for Katrina Victims

FEMA sat on donated goods for 2 years, then gave them to state agencies

FEMA Looks to Claw Back Money From Katrina Victims

Victims angry as agency says it gave out millions more than intended

FEMA Dragging Heels on Recouping $643M

Awaiting its own final approval of debt collection overhaul

New Orleans Boots Residents Out of Last FEMA Trailers

City wants dwellers out by new year

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Formaldehyde contamination 'no big deal,' buyers say

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