Just when you thought it couldn't get worse

FEMA strikes again. Disasters have to wait for paperwork:

The decision would be far easier, some officials said, if not for the fact that the shelters would have to be self-sufficient, with little or no help from the Salvation Army or Red Cross.

"If we do make a decision to open a shelter, we have to do so not expecting to receive any assistance from anyone else," Plano Fire Chief Bill Peterson said.

Denton city officials say they turned down a request by Dallas officials to help out because they don't have the resources or personnel to run such an emergency shelter, city spokesman John Cabrales said.

Cheryl Sutterfield-Jones, CEO of the local Red Cross, said the agency does not have enough cots even for those arriving at Reunion Arena, the city's primary evacuee center.

"We are certainly overwhelmed," she said. "We have no resources. If a city wants to open a shelter, we will pay for the food. This is an unprecedented event for our city, our state, for our nation. The focus is on keeping them safe and getting a roof over their head."

She said the relief agency has requested more cots from the National Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA, which will eventually reimburse cities for the cost of the shelters, did not return several phone calls Friday.

And maybe incompetence in the face of disaster is a GOP thing. Rick Perry was all over the news announcing the Astrodome was open, and that Texas public schools would comply with Federal law and admit refugee students. But since then?

As Dallas officials struggled to prepare for the onslaught of evacuees, Mayor Laura Miller blasted Gov. Rick Perry for visiting Dallas on Thursday but not informing her or City Manager Mary Suhm personally that 25,000 evacuees would soon be on their way.

The state has also failed to make good on its promise of cots and blankets for the city's shelters, Ms. Miller said.

"I'm amazed at the lack of help we're getting," the mayor said. "The state has done zero to help us, the governor has done zero to help us – besides coming here for a photo op."

Ms. Miller also panned other state and federal officials for a lack of communication with Dallas officials. The mayor said she learned from Dallas County Judge Margaret Keliher, not FEMA or the governor's office, that the federal agency ordered Dallas to accept 25,000 evacuees.

Now we know why President Bush keepsurging refugees to turn to private charities for help.