Feds Cite Some Progress in Hurricane Prep

Dark clouds cover the sky above the Superdome in New Orleans in this Oct. 3, 2005, file photo. Federal officials are working with state and local governments to ensure people caught in hurricanes this season have better options than the dangerous and fetid conditions they faced in the Superdome after Katrina. The 2006 hurricane season officially starts Thursday June 1. (AP Photo/LM Otero/File) (Lm Otero - AP)

Getting commodities to the right places _ and knowing where they are at any given moment _ was a huge problem after Katrina, and federal officials expect to have a better fix this time.

Some people went for days without food and water after Katrina because FEMA did not know where its supply trucks were once they left the warehouses and had no way to redirect them when they ended up in the wrong place.

Stored at sites in Atlanta and Fort Worth, Texas, are four times as many ready-made meals as last year, more than twice the amount of water and nearly five times as much ice.

Should this stockpile grow short, Paulison said, an agreement is in place with a Defense Department agency to provide backup and supplies.

Besides food, FEMA says it has enough blue, plastic sheeting for at least 90,000 roofs, tarps for 80,000 households, and hundreds of generators for fuel suppliers, hospitals and other priority buildings.

Chertoff has tried to persuade oil companies to put generators at more gas stations so people can get fuel if the power is out after a storm.

In another post-Katrina change, the armed forces are getting a bigger role in coordinating the nation's disaster response, with Pentagon personnel being stationed at FEMA's 10 regional offices.

Additionally, some 367,000 National Guardsmen will be on call for storm duty.

The Federal Aviation Administration will use people already on the ground to clear airport runways, fire up backup generators if needed, and help reopen for emergency flights and regular business. After Katrina, military flights were operating within 24 hours.

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On the Net:

FEMA: http://www.fema.gov

Homeland Security Department: http://dhs.gov