FEMA Returns Hurricane Supplies for Use by La. Charities

A portion of the $85-million in hurricane aid that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had distributed as federal surplus will be sent back to Louisiana and given to charities for distribution, reports CNN.

After the news network’s investigation revealed last week that FEMA had given away the relief supplies as government surplus, charity and state officials called for the supplies to be redirected back to Louisiana for Katrina victims still in need of the aid.

“It’s just another example of the failings of the federal bureaucracy,” said Sen. Mary L. Landrieu, a Louisiana Democrat, who has criticized FEMA’s response to the hurricane.

In defense of the agency’s decision, FEMA Administrator David Paulison told CNN that Louisiana had been offered some of the supplies but that state officials had declined the aid.