FEMA just keeps digging a bigger hole for themselves in the Hurricane Frances probe.
The wind map they released this week to justify their $30 million expenditures in Dade appears itself to be a fraud:
In a phone conference with reporters Monday, FEMA officials said they had found no evidence of widespread fraud in Miami-Dade and were confident in the legitimacy of the Hurricane Frances claims. As proof, FEMA cited wind speeds of up to 85 mph "in the parts of Miami-Dade County that received our assistance," according to a statement from Daniel Craig, recovery division director.
FEMA backed up its statement by releasinged a wind map of the Labor Day storm, citing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Hurricane Research Center as its source.
But NOAA spokeswoman Donna McCaskill told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, "We didn't make this map. It looks like some of [NOAA's] data might have been misrepresented in it."
Indian River County, which actually got hit by Frances, received $12 million from FEMA.
Frances did a lot of damage, but it wasn't in Miami-Dade.
UPDATE:
Michelle Malkin is on it. Thanks, Michelle.
What FEMA did in Miami-Dade was fraud, waste, and abuse on a massive scale. The lengths they're going to now to cover it up is amazing.
It's such a slap in the face to the counties that did get beat up by Frances. Those counties' Representatives are not going to let this one go.
I am SO GLAD they're getting to the bottom of this!
Posted by: pam at January 14, 2005 05:18 PMIt's just amazing the nonsense that FEMA's trying to pull.
The people in Miami that FEMA gave money to for their dentures, what was that about? Did the dentures get some of that famous "snow damage"? Were they blown about in the fierce non-existent winds? Did the people swallow them because they were afraid?
Posted by: Donnah at January 14, 2005 05:32 PMLets see here: A goverment agency distributes more cash to area's where people who didn't suffer related storm damage than to the area's where they took a direct hit and people lost everything. Agency generates BS to go into CYA mode and gets caught red handed.
"What FEMA did in Miami-Dade was fraud, waste, and abuse on a massive scale."
My call on this? No money recovered, FEMA doesn't lose any involved personel and Fedco shrugs and says it will not happen again. I hope I'm dead wrong and that it never happens again.
Posted by: Gmac at January 15, 2005 12:45 AM