FEMA under fire again after Ike snafus

Emmett said he set up a folding table, pulled out a legal pad and a pen and started making fixes by hand.

"We had a good operation once it finally got started," Emmett said. "It was easy to take care of. It just took some doing."

FEMA didn't have a hand in all the supply problems. The state shut down Houston's major supply staging area at midnight on Monday, causing some of the backups getting supplies to evacuees Monday and Tuesday, according to an official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe coordination, or lack of it, between state, local and federal officials.

But on Wednesday, all trucks left the main center at 6:15 a.m., and the roughly two dozen distribution centers around the city all received two trucks of ice, two trucks of water and one truck of meals. Everyone seemed to agree that things were moving more smoothly.

"We weren't pulling people off rooftops. Fatalities were held to a minimum," Emmett said. "People evacuated fairly soon. FEMA came in and started providing assistance. So I would just ask for everyone to maintain a certain perspective."

Glitches remain
While the struggles in handing out relief supplies had eased, other glitches remained.

At the evacuee shelter in San Antonio, Carlos Simon, of Hitchcock, near Galveston, said he was told to wait until the middle of the night — when the phone lines would be less busy — to call FEMA to register for aid. He stayed until about 4 a.m. on Wednesday to make his registration call. Other attempts were plagued by frustrating disconnections.

The 46-year-old who walks with a cane wanted to know whether he could go to a hotel. But nice as the woman on the other end of the phone was, all he could get was a registration number, Simon said.

"I really don't know what to expect or anything," he said, leaning against a wheelchair ramp with a blanket draped over his shoulders.

As he has since the days after Katrina, Chertoff vowed to fix such problems. And he promised that those who do screw up will feel it. "Those whose butts need to be kicked will feel it in their butts."

View FEMA's list of hotels it has contracted with to take in evacuees: www.femaevachotels.com

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