Oh FEMA, you've done it again...

FEMA's still on the case:

More than 9,000 mobile homes and campers meant for the victims of Hurricane Katrina are sitting unused at government staging areas while displaced families continue to live out of tents and shelters.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says the backlog was inevitable: The temporary housing is easier to acquire than distribute because of the limited number of accessible roads, cleared lots and trucks to haul housing to the storm-ravaged region.

But it's been six weeks, and the people left homeless by the hurricane say they are tired of waiting for the federal government to fulfill its promise[...]

More than 22,000 storm victims are still living in shelters, Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen said Wednesday. Long-term temporary housing is expected to be needed for at least 400,000.

To help, the government ordered 125,000 campers and mobile homes. About 6,700 campers are now occupied, but more than 2,500 mobile homes and 6,400 campers sit unused at staging sites in Selma, Ala.; Purvis, Miss.; Baton Rouge, La.; and Texarkana, Texas, said FEMA spokesman James McIntyre.

They ordered 125,000 and 6,700 are occupied 6 weeks later. That's a 5% success rate.

Heck of a job.

In some case, campers were sent to the region but no one came for them. In Alabama, 200 unoccupied travel trailers were sent back to staging areas by state parks because not enough people stopped in to claim them.

Officials at FEMA don't know how many people have signed up for the homes, McIntyre said. Hurricane victims can call a toll-free number, use the Web or go to a relief center to register.

You almost have to feel bad for the rank-and-file members of FEMA. Not the ones making the decisions, but the paper-pushers. They've got to be embarrassed as hell by this turn of events. Do you think they lie about their profession at cocktail parties? "FEMA, no, I don't work for FEMA, where did you hear that? I steal insulin! Yeah, I sell stolen insulin and baby seal pelts and ivory tusks, but I don't work for FEMA! Don't spread that around, I have a reputation to protect!"