Texas mayors say FEMA didn't deliver on promise to do better

By Bobby White and Alex Friedrich, Knight Ridder Newspapers
Fri Sep 30, 8:33 PM ET

JEFFERSON COUNTY, Texas - The day after Hurricane Rita battered his town, Nederland Mayor Dick Nugent called the Federal Emergency Management Agency with a simple plea: Bring us two generators.

Instead, FEMA showed up with a four-stall temporary shower. No generators.

Throughout Jefferson County, where Rita downed power lines and trees, knocked out communications and damaged homes and oil refineries, mayors and local officials this week voiced similar complaints. They said FEMA failed to keep its promise to deliver emergency aid and avoid making some of the same mistakes that followed Hurricane Katrina.

"There was a lot of frustration on all our parts," said Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, who spoke with President Bush on Tuesday when he toured the Jefferson County town of Port Arthur. "And hopefully our government will take a look so no American city will have to go through this."