MISSING RELIEF

NYT: FEMA Contractor Failed to Deliver Meals to Puerto Rico

When 18.5 million meals were due, only 50,000 were delivered after Maria.

In the effort to provide meal relief to Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave a $156 million government contract for 30 million meals—and only 50,000 were delivered on schedule. According to The New York Times, FEMA enlisted Tiffany Brown, an entrepreneur “with no experience in large-scale disaster relief” and “at least five canceled government contracts” to provide meal relief. She “hired a wedding caterer in Atlanta with a staff of 11” to freeze-dry meals, and were sent separately from the self-heating containers that were mandated in her contract. “Do not ship another meal. Your contract is terminated,” FEMA contracting officer Carolyn Ward wrote to Brown. “This is a logistical nightmare.” This comes as FEMA is under growing scrutiny for its handling of Hurricane Maria in its early aftermath.