Southern Mississippi leaders were just told, as Hurricane Season began, that FEMA would no longer deliver ice after disasters as it had in the past.

According to Mary Hudak, a regional FEMA spokesperson, free ice will only be available for medical emergencies and life saving reasons.

We want to make sure we’re providing ice as a life-saving item and not a comfort item,” she said. “We’re not insensitive to comfort. That’s why we’re pushing people to get prepared and be able to help themselves.” 

Has everyone that might need ice been identified? For example — diabetics requiring insulin or babies needing baby formula? Or someone taking a short-term prescription requiring refrigeration? FEMA assistance, by definition, is requested before or after a disaster when a state’s capacity to respond is overwhelmed. Is that not life-threatening or emergency situation enough for widespread ice distribution?

While personal preparedness is very important, FEMA is setting a dangerous example. The decision to change ice delivery rules should have been made after consulting members of Congress, state and local leaders, and other Mass Care providers (see National Response Framework, Emergency Support Function #6).

While Congress has been pushing FEMA to reduce waste, Congress surely did not intend for county leaders to be caught by surprise on the eve of Hurricane Season. How will these changes impact Red Cross Client Service Centers and other relief efforts. Will these changes yield enough ice after the next disaster? Full disclosure is key as few details of this plan have been made easily accessible to the public.

Surprisingly, first word of this decision was announced in Orlando at the National Hurricane Conference by FEMA Director Paulison. The South Florida Sun Sentinel covered the story and included mixed reactions from FL leaders and emergency planners. The Palm Beach Post wrote about the policy change in May.

Yet, it took two months from the first announcement in April for the news to reach Jackson County Supervisors in Mississippi, only two states away. Worse, the news reached Jackson County Supervisors as Hurricane Season was already beginning— a complete blow (by FEMA, ironically) to disaster planning.

Incompetence by FEMA’s communications team? We’ve seen it before.

Failure to develop an effective plan for communications? Development of a plan was recommended by the White House in February 2006… See another related White House recommendation here.

Or perhaps this is the result of a failure to figure out how to comply with other recommendations, such as the GAO’s recommendation to develop better procurement plans.

Either way, FEMA’s newly announced “ice plans” are a stark departure from the newly minted National Response Framework.

There is broad mention of Advanced Readiness Contracting that includes ice. (page 30 of NRF core document)

Advanced Readiness Contracting. While the Federal Government and many State governments have tremendous resources on hand to support local governments, certain resources are more efficiently deployed when procured from the private sector. Advanced readiness contracting ensures that contracts are in place before an incident for commonly needed commodities and services such as ice, water, plastic sheeting, temporary power, and debris removal. This type of contracting improves the ability to secure supplies and services by streamlining the process of ordering, acquiring, and distributing resources when needed.”

In the National Response Framework Annexes (all) document, DHS/FEMA is tasked with logistics planning and execution of “personal demand items (water and ice).”

Specifically, on Page 84 of nrf-annexes-all:
DHS/FEMA is mentioned under ESF #5: Emergency Management Annex
“FEMA Responsible for NRF logistics planning and execution. When additional resources are needed, the other ESFs are activated through mission assignments.” Under this function, “personal demand items (water and ice)” are tasked to DHS/FEMA.

On Page 85 of nrf-annexes-all:
FEMA is the gate-keeper under ESF #7 (logistics management+resource support).
DOD and USACE provide the ice under ESF #3 (public works and engineering) and ESF #6 (mass care) if requested by FEMA and approved by DOD.

Congressional hearings have also discussed ice delivery responsibilities. At a Congressional Hearing on 7/31, members of Congress asked Matt Jadacki, DHS Deputy Inspector General and FEMA Director Paulison about ice positioning and logistics. (see transcript of hearing for specific conversation about ice.) There was no indication at that time that FEMA would be shedding significant parts of its ice logistics role. Jadacki’s testimony begs the question: instead of fixing FEMA’s capacity to respond to a disaster, did FEMA drop its responsibilities?

Rather than fixing problems identified after Katrina, it appears as if FEMA is throwing in the towel. In fact, FEMA is abdicating its responsibilities tasked by the new National Response Framework.

The public should not just accept this new development from FEMA. Who was consulted? When did the public get a chance to comment? Why is Southern Mississippi finding out about this now? Is it appropriate for the nation’s supposed role model for disaster preparedness to communicate this news to county leaders from Katrina’s “Ground-Zero” at the start of Hurricane Season?

At this point, the only responsible thing FEMA can do, would be to retract its newly announced “policy” and aim to implement these changes for the next hurricane season, after everyone affected has had a chance to weigh in… with ample notice and ample time to prepare… not at the start of Hurricane Season when the Season’s disaster planning should already be well-tested… just as FEMA’s leadership would likely advise.