FEMA bungling keeps La. wheelchair user hospitalized for over a year

[KamaAina]

Heckuvajob Brownie and his successor should seriously consider careers as Top 40 DJs, 'cause the hits just keep on comin'...

http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-17/115881889438600.xml&coll=1

The 73-year-old Lacombe woman, who has been living in her mold-infested home on Clesi Street since Katrina, finally got the feds to swap out her too-small handicapped trailer Saturday, after months of phone calls and red tape.

But her joy was short-lived. Galatas said the new trailer appears no bigger than the old one, and she fears it is still too small for her disabled son, who has lived in a hospital in Winnfield since the storm....

Subcontractors, who spent several days last week dismantling the handicapped ramp to the old trailer, failed to build another ramp this week or leave a key for the new trailer, which -- like its predecessor -- is sitting empty on her front lawn. They also left the air conditioner running in the trailer and locked it before leaving, Galatas said.

"The amount of money being trashed -- it's incredible," said Galatas' neighbor, Tom Aicklen, who has been helping her since the storm. "I just see our tax dollars being poured down the drain."

Geography lesson: Lacombe is on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, across from New Orleans. Winnfield, home of Huey Long, is in rural northeast La., a couple of hundred miles away, and with no direct highway route.

So, to recap: An adult man with a disability, presumably in his late 40s or early 50s, was living at home with his mama until the storm hit. Ever since then, for over a year, he has been languishing in a hospital several hours' drive from home. How often do you suppose 73-year-old Ms. Galatas has been able to make it up to Winnfield?

Anyone else thinking "Worst Person in the World"? :grr: :banghead: