ABSTRACT

In Hurricane Katrina’s devastating immediate aftermath, business as usual was suspended. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), crippled by cutbacks and gutted of personnel, faced the job of finding qualified companies to help with basic and pressing needs. By the first anniversary of Katrina, Congress had appropriated $85 billion for hurricane relief, various foreign governments had contributed around $100 million, and FEMA’s Disaster Relief Fund had received $36.5 billion for Katrina and $1.5 billion for Hurricanes Rita and Wilma. The sheer cost of Katrina and the additional catastrophe of the New Orleans flood caused local, state, and federal agencies to throw up their hands to avoid picking up the tab. Three days post-Katrina, AshBritt, a Florida-based firm, with close ties to Florida governor and presidential brother Jeb Bush, hired the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, Mike Parker, to help maximize contracts for clean-up.