Source: CNN
As I reported last month, CNN uncovered that a whole bunch of FEMA supplies that were earmarked for Katrina victims were being given away because the state of Louisiana never asked for them - and apparently forgot that there might still be some folks who needed them. As it turns out, Mississippi also thought everyone was alright:
Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware -- all intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.
The state's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items.
Plastic containers ended up with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.
Colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more.
But the Mississippi hurricane victims who originally were intended to receive the supplies got nothing, a CNN investigation has found. Video Watch victims tell why they need the items »
"It's scary to know that there are supplies that they are harboring and people [are] in need right now as we speak today," said Sharon Hanshaw, director of Coastal Women for Change, a nonprofit group helping storm victims.
Last month, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had stored $85 million worth of household items in warehouses for two years. Instead of giving the supplies to victims of the 2005 hurricane, FEMA declared them surplus and gave them all away to federal agencies and 16 states in February.
The state of Louisiana -- the most hard-hit by the storm -- had not asked for any of the supplies, prompting outrage in the community after the original CNN report.
CNN's investigation showed that Mississippi was one of the 16 states that took the FEMA supplies, but it did not distribute them to Katrina victims.
Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened.
Agency spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said, "There may be a need, but we were not notified that there was a great need for this particular property."
That doesn't sit well with most aid groups in Mississippi. "You would have to be living under a rock not to know there is still a need," said Cass Woods, the project coordinator of Coastal Women for Change.
Living under a rock - sounds about right for pretty much every local, state and federal official who has been involved in the mess from the beginning.