Waste in Katrina Response Is Cited

I'm traveling down to New Orleans this weekend with a friend, to deliver a car, that has been donated to a relief organization. I'll be reporting on what I see. From what I hear from aid workers, New Orleans is still very much a disaster area and many relief workers house themselves on the other side of the river because of air quality issues. When we are coming upon a weekend, celebrating resurrection, it saddens me that our grand city to the south still waits for such renewal. Stay tuned. In the mean time check out the latest news on the subject:

Nearly eight months after Hurricane Katrina triggered the nation's largest housing crisis since the Second World War, a hastily improvised $10 billion effort by the federal government has produced vast sums of waste and misspent funds, an array of government audits and outside analysts have concluded.

As the Federal Emergency Management Agency wraps up the initial phase of its temporary housing program -- ending reliance on cruise ships and hotels for people sent fleeing by the Aug. 29 storm -- the toll of false starts and missed opportunities appears likely to top $1 billion and perhaps much more, according to a series of after-action studies and Department of Homeland Security reports, including one due for release today.