FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), entrusted with coordinating emergency federal relief after a national disaster, faced a difficult task following the wake of Hurricane Andrew, which hit Florida on 24 August 1992. In May of 1993 the performance of the agency was investigated by a congressional committee. In* South Florida, State, local, and volunteer agencies fell far short of providing the amount of life-sustaining services needed in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. For example, during the first 3 days after Hurricane Andrew, FEMA reports indicate that the combined efforts of Federal, State, local, and volunteer agencies provided enough meals to feed about 30,000 to 50,000 disaster victims a day, although Andrew left about 160,000 to 250,000 people homeless and potentially in need of mass, care. A number of disaster victims in South Florida told us that the relief effort was inadequate. They said that they survived by resorting to .such...