Donna Brazile, Columnist

“Federal surplus?” That is how some bureaucrat from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) described $85 million in critical household supplies never delivered to folks struggling in the aftermath of two deadly natural disasters, hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

For the past two years, supplies crucial to people who had lost everything, including loved ones, were parked in a warehouse only 10 hours away from those struggling to rebuild homes and lives uprooted by floodwaters from levees the government promised would protect them. What happened? Did FEMA put so much red tape around the warehouse door that it was impossible to strip it off?

Just thinking about the human collateral damage from Hurricane Katrina sweeping across the Gulf coastal states and uprooting people whose families had been there for centuries, it’s hard for me to hold back the tears. Yes, as I continue to witness friends and family members working hard to rebuild their lives and get back on their feet, if not back into their homes, the hurricane’s effect is still painful and very personal. The news that FEMA could not be bothered to deliver crucial supplies to them pains me deeply, and I know that I am not alone.

As Louisianans and other Gulf coastal states brace for what’s predicted to be a vicious hurricane season, the news that supplies were stockpiled and not distributed for two years should serve as another reminder that FEMA remains broken. It’s time Congress and the administration get this runaway train under control.

What were FEMA officials thinking? Just how out of touch are they from the pain and suffering of citizens struggling to get back on their feet? My phone has been ringing off the hook from folks enraged with white-hot fury that FEMA withheld $85 million in critical supplies. What survivors so desperately needed when entering FEMA trailers was denied them until now, years later, when they’re being forced to abandon those trailers on July 1.

Rubbing salt into wounds that are far from healed is James McIntyre, FEMA’s acting press secretary, who told CNN: “Upon review of our assets and our need to continue to store them, we determined that they were excess to FEMA’s needs; therefore, they are being excessed from FEMA’s inventory.” The tone-deaf McIntyre then declined CNN’s request for an on-camera interview, declaring it “not news.”

“Our assets”? Those “assets” were not FEMA’s. The cots, camp stoves, cleansers, first-aid kits, kitchen supplies, coffee makers and camp stoves were bought and paid for by the American people or donated by compassionate companies. They belonged to the hurricane victims — not FEMA.

“FEMA’s needs”? The only needs to consider, then and now, are the needs of the victims — not FEMA. Because FEMA did not address the needs of the victims, the supplies that they did not deliver to fulfill those needs are now in “excess to FEMA’s needs.” The agency’s self-centered audacity is breathtaking.

“Not news”? I beg to differ. It certainly is news that FEMA hoarded, never delivered and is now giving away $85 million in aid that would have provided instant relief for Katrina victims. On second thought, perhaps McIntyre is correct. Indeed it should be “not news” to anyone in America that FEMA screwed up. There is an entire T-shirt industry devoted to what Americans think about FEMA and its ability to do its job.

FEMA was supposed to work with state and local officials to ensure timely disbursement of supplies. And all those officials, federal state and local, were supposed to work with nonprofits and faith-based institutions that tend to know the needs of the people more clearly and exactly than federal or state agencies. But FEMA didn’t, which explains why some local groups were not aware of the supplies. Wasn’t FEMA aware of the need, CNN asked McIntyre? (Warning: Readers with high blood pressure need to take their medication before reading further.) “If the state did not request the supplies,” responded McIntyre, “then FEMA would not know.”

One such organization, Unity, which helps those left homeless in the wake of Katrina, was not on the registry of groups that distributes supplies. So when FEMA decided to finally ditch the supplies — the agency was paying $1 million a year in storage fees to keep the supplies from the hurricane victims — and offered them to Louisiana, state officials claimed that no registered recipients wanted them. (As a Louisiana native, I’m praying that there’s more to the story than the lack of a form specifically requesting them. Were there federal strings attached? Did FEMA want a $2 million payment for the storage fees it had paid?)

Let’s hope that now that this story has broken, FEMA will work quickly with state officials to get the supplies to the most effective and efficient means of distributing them to those still displaced and homeless: nonprofit and faith-based institutions. Since Hurricane Katrina landed on our shores, the survivors of that deadly storm and her ugly companion sister, Hurricane Rita, have bitterly but accurately coined new agency titles for the FEMA acronym. My all-time favorite: “Federal Employees Missing in Action.”

With the news that shouldn’t come as news — FEMA screws up; FEMA denies culpability; FEMA acts only when it serves the agency’s needs; FEMA pays $2 million in storage rather than disperse supplies to help those forced to live under bridges, in tents and in trailers for the past few years. It’s painfully clear that the agency responsible for managing federal disasters is itself a federal disaster. Here’s another favorite of mine — FEMA: “Failure to Effectively Manage Anything.”

The deadline for the Disaster Housing Strategy came and went last week. With hurricane season in full gear, why does this nation not have its 2008 plan to bring together federal, state and local government with nongovernmental and private sector representatives to evaluate housing requirements, identify needs and develop solutions? Answer: FEMA.

Heaven knows there is enough blame to go around regarding FEMA. Yet for some reason, this compliment by President George Bush to the then head of FEMA still rings in my ears: “Thanks, Brownie, heck of a job all right.” Well, all I have to say is this: Thanks, Bushie, heck of a job, all right.

(Donna Brazile is a political commentator on CNN, ABC and NPR, contributing columnist to Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill, and former campaign manager for Al Gore.)