Housing.com News, Analysis & Opinion: Hurricane Housing: FEMA Enfeebled

And yet, I have sympathy for the people who are out there, volunteering on the front lines, working insane hours to help the evacuees as much as they can. And just as the destruction to the Gulf Coast and Florida is taking a toll on the survivors and victims, it's exacting a toll on FEMA relief workers as well. Remember this the next time you vent your aggression on some nameless person on the phone...they're people doing their jobs, just like you.

In terms of not doing your job, you can't get much more obvious than FEMA giving data to the media before relief groups. Seriously, what is the point of that? It's not like it made FEMA look any more competent. Far from it. ;)

Apparently, the big housing boom expected in the wake of Katrina isn't what everyone thought. The big construction and buying trends are all for new homes, not repairing and selling existing ones. What does that tell you about the tenor of the rebuilding effort, as well as where the housing economy is going for the next few months?

Bush is expected to name FDIC chairman Donald Powell to head the Gulf Coast recovery effort. Say, wasn't Karl Rove assigned to do this job when Katrina first hit? Gee, wonder what's occupying his time...

Anyway, Powell is one of those folks that hasn't been on the radar much, apart from his apparent financial largesse, especially when it comes to being a Bush Pioneer. What? Cronyism? You lie!

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I know it seems like I use this blog as a never-ending crusade against the ineptitude of The Federal Emergency Management Agency, but let's face it...this blog is read by homeowners, home buyers, and people interested in housing. Right now, the two biggest issues in real estate are the battles over the bubble, and the cleanup from this year's triple threat of hurricane hell. On that second count, FEMA's response has been about as dynamic as Dick Cheney's commentary on the Libby indictment, which is to say, nothing at all. And yet, I have sympathy for the people who are out there, volunteering on the front lines, working insane hours to help the evacuees as much as they can. And just as the destruction to the Gulf Coast and Florida is taking a toll on the survivors and victims, it's exacting a toll on FEMA relief workers as well. Remember this the next time you vent your aggression on some nameless person on the phone...they're people doing their jobs, just like you. In terms of not doing your job, you can't get much more obvious than FEMA giving data to the media before relief groups. Seriously, what is the point of that? It's not like it made FEMA look any more competent. Far from it. ;) Apparently, the big housing boom expected in the wake of Katrina isn't what everyone thought. The big construction and buying trends are all for new homes, not repairing and selling existing ones. What does that tell you about the tenor of the rebuilding effort, as well as where the housing economy is going for the next few months? I'm not sure, but it doesn't seem all that promising. Bush is expected to name FDIC chairman Donald Powell to head the Gulf Coast recovery effort. Say, wasn't Karl Rove assigned to do this job when Katrina first hit? Gee, wonder what's occupying his time... Anyway, Powell is one of those folks that hasn't been on the radar much, apart from his apparent financial largesse, especially when it comes to being a Bush Pioneer. What? Cronyism? You lie! Housing Finance clued me in to the wonderful Real Estate Blog Squad, run by attendees of the National Association of Realtors' convention. Great read, and surprisingly more forthright than I'd thought. Check out some authors' views on the need for competition in real estate, and how the new bankruptcy laws may be affecting California foreclosures. Take that, David Lereah!