TUMULT, SHOUTING DIES, TEN WILL ARRIVE FEMA

Ever heard of the Federal Emergency Management Agency? Washington insiders, addicted to acronyms, call it FEMA now you've heard of it, I'm sure.

For the moment and only for the moment FEMA is the most popular agency of the federal government. It's going to bring relief and comfort to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the Great Flood of 1993 or so the victims want to believe.

It's a strange twist for Americans to want the federal government to intrude into their lives. Some people these days talk about the federal government (and state and local governments for that matter) getting out of education. Give the kids a voucher and let `em go out and buy an education the way you buy a set of tires. Doctors and insurance companies don't want the feds to tell them what to do on health.

Some aviation economists say we should sell our airports to the airlines so that they can manage the ground as efficiently and effectively as they manage their planes in the air. Lots of people want the federal government out of the housing business. Leave it up to the private home builders and venturesome lenders and they will build lots of houses for the poor.

When a tornado hits or a flood hits, all of a sudden it's Uncle Sam Time. Uncle has to do this, Uncle must do that and do it all instantly. Maybe I didn't arrange for crop insurance when I should have. Maybe I'm in the 80% group that decided not to buy federally subsidized flood protection when I could have. Maybe my town didn't build levees (mostly federally financed) when the Corps of Engineers urged them to do so. The leaders of Davenport, Iowa decided against levees most recently because they didn't want to disturb the aesthetics of riverboat casinos. The casinos were above water and empty. The town was under water and empty.

FEMA, the tentative hero of the hour, is understaffed and underbrained. If the current FEMA operation is like its prior responses to Hurricane Andrew and the Los Angeles riot, the agency will stumble and bumble and the water soaked citizens will cry foul. There's never been a big disaster that FEMA couldn't make worse. It's inevitable in the disaster business. So many people need so much help so quickly. Response time is never timely. There aren't enough people or dollars to satisfy the needs.

Listen to the call in folks on radio. For now, the situation is courageously upbeat. Volunteers are filling sandbags. Air and Army National Guard units are helping. The Corps of Engineers is doing what it can. The President and Vice President visit some of the flood sites. The Red Cross and the Salvation Army are on the firing line.

When the river subsides, the three wise men Rather, Brokaw and Jennings will return to Washington and other news. High water is news. Rivers running within their natural banks is not news. That's when the gripes will get the loudest. Putting a flood spin on Kipling, when the tumult and the shouting dies, when the Vice President and President depart, the humble will stand enraged with FEMA; Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet. Help us forget; help us forget.