From the Associated Press Link
The congressional official who relayed word of Bush's decision did so on condition of anonymity because it was not clear when the formal announcement would be made.
Congress approved a $10.5 billion first installment in relief funding last week. A second congressional official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Federal Emergency Management Administration, was spending about $750 million a day and would soon need additional funds.
What, pray tell, are they spending it on? I know it's not Food, Water, Beds, Buses, Heavy Equipment, Transports, Aircraft, and Pop-Tarts!? (Cherry ones are Chertoff's fave)
More below the fold...
How do we break this cost down?
Well, let's make some basic assumptions:
PERSONNEL-SUSTAINING SUPPLIES
500,000* Evacuees in various shelters (* - assumes people who evacuated on their own are self-supplied)
40,000 Soldiers
20,000 Relief Workers (My Swag at the number)
Assume they each will need 2 MREs and 1 liter of water per day...
Take the cost of one MRE:
What's that MRE cost?
Lt. Col. Karen Stoppello, who
orders MREs for Idaho Guard members, estimates MREs at $6.80 per meal. Much of the cost has to do with the specialized packaging that extends shelf life and blocks out contaminants, she said.
What about clean drinking water (those liter bottles they've been tossing all over)?
South Carolina Emergency Management Preparedness (WORD DOCUMENT)
Each Pallet is ~$568 and contains 840 1-liter bottles of water.
How about some Bedding and Tents?
Cots: $10
Tents: (20 Cots to a tent) $100
Most shelters are using permanent structures, but assume the troops and aid workers will need many, so call it 2000 tents.
Multiply it out:
560,000 x $7.00 = $3,920,000 for food
667 pallets of water @ $568/pallet = $378,667 for water
$5 Million for cots (One Time)
$200,000 for Tents (One Time)
$5,000,000 + $200,000 + $4,000,000 (approx) + $380,000 (approx) = $9,600,000 / day
Equipment Needs
Fuel:
Helicopters:
Assume helos are running on Jet Fuel ($1.00/gallon), 24 hours running between teardowns. The Sikorsky HH-60 SeaHawk holds approx 1000 gallons of Jet Fuel for its turbines. Probably needs a refuel every 4 hours, so call it 6000 gallons of Jet Fuel per helicopter per day.
Estimate 150 helicopters engaged in rescue ops, so there's 900000 gallons of jet fuel needed per day.
Military Trucks:
Deuce and a half holds 40 gallons and probably burns through that in a day.
Estimate 500 deuces, so 2000 gallons at $3.00/gallon per day.
Boats and Gas Powered Trucks:
Assume power boats are travelling slowly and need one 5 gallon load of fuel per day... 400 boats would be 2000 gallons at $3.00/gallon per day
Gas Powered Trucks:
Assume trucks need a load of fuel once a day...30 gallons of fuel...and assume 1000 gas powered trucks: 30,000 gallons at $3.00/gallon.
I'm leaving maint. costs out as these costs are more indirect on a daily basis and hard to fully account for!
Fuel Costs: $6,000 (boats) + $90,000 (cars) + $6,000 + $900,000 (helos) = ~$1,000,000 per day
Where is the rest of this money going? That's BARELY $11 MILLION dollars per day!
What other costs are they billing that cost so much? Any thoughts? This ONLY leaves $740 Million Dollars per day to account for!