The failure of FEMA to deliver a MERS (Mobile Emergency Response Support) vehicle is one of the crimes ‘American Crime Story’ should cover. Photo/ James Stewart
The producers of “American Crime Story” recently
announced that the second season of the popular true crime anthology TV series will focus on Hurricane Katrina. Critical reaction appeared to be decidedly against the decision to focus on the 2005 hurricane and its aftermath.
“What specific crime was committed?” asks Alexander Koch, writer for MOVIEPILOT. “We’d prefer the show remain more in the true-crime realm,” says CarterMatt.com.
In contrast, my reaction to the producers’ decision could not be more positive. It’s about time for the many crimes of Katrina to be told to a wider audience.
For example, due to poor logistics and planning, FEMA was unable to get life-giving ice to many of the areas that were desperately requesting it. What did arrive were frivolous items like heaters for people with hypothermia. And the list of wasteful federal spending is long: nearly $1 billion on travel trailers that were unusable, temporary blue tarp roofs that cost as much as permanent roofs, and multiple layers of contractors taking their cut for debris removal while local businesses were left out.
But two crimes stand out as the most egregious, yet seem to be the least well known.
