Today marks the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina striking the Gulf Coast.   The ramifications of that storm are still being felt.   Last month, CREW released the most comprehensive matrix available to date detailing all offers of assistance from around the world in the wake of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.   The report and accompanying documents can be found here.  The report paints a very disturbing picture of the failures of the U.S. government to accept and utilize foreign aid in the wake of the devastating hurricane.  When we released the report, Melanie Sloan said:

A review of the State Department documents reveals distressing ineptitude. Countries were trying to donate desperately needed goods and services, but as a result of bureaucratic bungling and indifference, those most in need of these generous offers of aid never received it.

CREW’s matrix is based on 25,000 Department of State (DOS) documents it received as a result of a lawsuit filed under the Freedom of Information Act in December 2005 for records relating to the federal government’s handling and acceptance of international offers of aid after Hurricane Katrina.

The matrix includes all international offers, whether they were rejected or accepted and the reasons why, if available. The documents reveal a number of disturbing responses to offers from 145 countries and 12 international organizations from around the world.