You have to wonder if the lack of hurricane and flood preparedness in Louisiana might have had something to do with state and local government corruption. After all, charges were already pending before the Katrina hit. It seems that$60 million in FMA funds granted to the the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness are missing -- and the federal government had requested the return of $30.4 million back in March.

Much of the FEMA money that was unaccounted for was sent to Louisiana under the Hazard Mitigation Grant program, intended to help states retrofit property and improve flood control facilities, for example.

The $30.4 million FEMA is demanding back was money paid into that program and others, including a program to buy out flood-prone homeowners. As much as $30 million in additional unaccounted for spending also is under review in audits that have not yet been released, according to a FEMA official.

One 2003 federal investigation of allegedly misspent funds in Ouachita Parish, a district in northern Louisiana, grew into a probe that sprawled into more than 20 other parishes.

Mark Smith, a spokesman for the Louisiana emergency office, said the agency had responded to calls for reform, and that "we now have the policy and personnel in place to ensure that past problems aren't repeated."

He said earlier problems were largely administrative mistakes, not due to corruption.

But federal officials disagreed. They said FEMA for years expressed concerns over patterns of improper management and lax oversight throughout the state agency, and said most problems had not been corrected.

They point to criminal indictments of three state workers as evidence the problem was more than management missteps. Two other state emergency officials also were identified in court documents as unindicted co-conspirators.

I wonder -- if that money had been properly spend, might we be seeing significantly fewere problems in Louisiana in the aftermath of this horrific storm? And if the waste, mismanagement and fraud came at the state and local level, isn't that again where much of the blame belongs for the inadequacy of the disaster preparedness and response that we have seen?

ANd please note some of the examples of how this money (what can be traced) was spent.

The report also said the Louisiana agency had misspent $617,787 between May 2000 and September 2003.

Questionable expenditures identified by the inspector general included $2,400 for sod installation, several thousand dollars for a trip to Germany by the deputy director, $1,071 for curtains, and $595 for an L.L. Bean parka and briefcase. The inspector general also challenged unspecified spending for camera equipment, professional dues and a 2002 Ford Crown Victoria.

And we won't get into the fact that 97% of disbursed funds from one of the FEMA grants have no receipts at all to account for spending.

Posted by: Greg at 04:11 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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