Chapter Appendix B - What Went Right
Section Department of the Treasury
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Department of the Treasury
The Bureau of Public Debt immediately realized that there would be a great need for money in the devastated region, but that ordinary access to cash would be limited at the banks. The Bureau expedited both the replacement of savings bonds that had been destroyed, as well as the redemption of Series EE and I savings bonds that were less than one year old.65 Other organizations in the Department of the Treasury, such as the Financial Management Service (FMS), immediately issued guidance to financial institutions to help them confirm the identify of people trying to redeem Treasury checks - to help the institutions prevent fraud and help the victims obtain needed funds.66 The Internal Revenue Service also took action to advise taxpayers in the affected region of recent changes in tax law that under certain conditions would allow them to withdraw funds early from retirement plans, without the usual penalties.67 Although Treasury checks, savings bonds, and of course, retirement plans, are often considered long-term investments, the Department of the Treasury allowed investors to turn them into sources of cash in this emergency, understanding that without the cash to address immediate needs, there would be no long-term future for these victims.
The Administrative Resource Center within Treasury's Bureau of the Public Debt, provides administrative services to many Federal agencies. The Armed Forces Retirement Home, with residences for elderly veterans in Gulfport, MS and Washington, DC, is one of its customers. As soon as the Administrative Resource Center procurement staff was informed, late on August 29, 2005, of the decision to evacuate approximately 400 residents and essential staff from the flooded Gulfport home to the Washington, DC facility, they set about applying their procurement skills to orchestrate a safe and rapid evacuation and relocation. This included arranging for the rental of buses along with procuring necessary nursing services, lodging, and meals for the several-day journey. The frailest of residents were either redirected to Maxwell Air Force Base, for faster and less stressful transport to Washington, DC, or, in extreme cases, were found places in a nearby nursing home. While the Gulfport residents were in transit to Washington, the Center also quickly procured a host of goods and services to prepare the facilities at the Washington, DC campus for the huge and sudden influx of new residents. This included procuring beds, linens, furniture, air conditioners, and extra support services, such as medical, food, transportation and custodial services. Within eight days of Katrina making landfall, the last busload of Gulfport residents arrived safely at the Washington, DC campus.
While working on the phones for FEMA, Dionne Lewis, a four-year IRS employee for Atlanta Accounts Management, received a call from a distressed person in Texas who was living in the Houston Astrodome. This person had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina and was in desperate need of help. Thrilled to have reached someone with such compassion, the person wanted to know if Ms. Lewis could also help the next person in line there at the Astrodome. She agreed, but little did she know that the call would last throughout her entire shift as one person after another came to the phone to find what help the IRS could offer. There was little time for breaks. Ms. Lewis did not let the magnitude of the calls or the prospect of being on the phone for nearly eight hours keep her from being professional, assuring that each person was informed of their Privacy Act rights, and then affording them an opportunity to tell their story and receive what assistance the IRS could offer. These and other all day long marathon calls occurred quite frequently and became known as the Delta calls. IRS employees answered well over 760,000 registration calls for FEMA and more than 30,000 calls on the special IRS toll-free line for affected taxpayers.
Internal Revenue Service, Portland call site assistor Jon Fredericks, received a call from an eighty-one year-old woman outside of a New Orleans home needing urgent help. She was sitting in the sweltering heat, without power, waiting for someone to evacuate her. She had tried to call several help lines, but had not reached anyone so far except the IRS. Mr. Fredericks told her to stay on the line and with the help of coworker Jim McMahan, contacted city emergency services and alerted them to her situation and location. Within a short time, the rescue team arrived at her home.
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