Gee, I thought all hurricane relief problems were the fault of Louisiana Democrats:

PORT ARTHUR, Texas -- Nearly four days after Hurricane Rita hit, many of the storm's sweltering victims along the Texas Gulf Coast were still waiting for electricity, gasoline, water and other relief Tuesday, prompting one top emergency official to complain that people are "living like cavemen."...

Port Arthur Mayor Oscar Ortiz, whose own home was destroyed by fire after the hurricane, said "we've had 101 promises" for aid, "but it's all bureaucracy." ...

John Owens, emergency management coordinator and deputy police chief in the town of 57,000, said pleas for state and federal relief were met with requests for paperwork....

That's AP. Here's the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

..."It's day four and we're still struggling for assets," Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith said. "I've been asking for things, and the government has failed again. There's no way we should have to go through this."

Griffith, speaking at a news conference in Beaumont, said that Jefferson County has submitted hundreds of requests for such items as oxygen for ambulances, generators to restore essential operations and heavy equipment to remove fallen trees and other debris. Only three requests have been filled by state and federal officials, he said.

"We're going to hammer on the government until the people here get the things they need," Griffith said, calling the state and federal response "ridiculous."

Justin DeMelio, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's task force leader for the affected Texas counties, said that FEMA is working through all the requests.

But the requests first must be addressed at the local level, he said. If local officials can't solve a problem, the requests for help go to the state level, then federal....

An earlier story from Beaumont has more:

..."There's a drastic shortage of generators in Beaumont to provide emergency power," Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said. "There are generators at Ford Park, and FEMA is withholding their release. They want to finish their damage assessment."

Jefferson County officials had a plan to distribute Meals-Ready-to-Eat from local fire stations, the paper said. However, Griffith said the MREs, like the generators, were being withheld by FEMA.

"They won't let us have them," Griffith said. "They said we had to go through the state - which we already did - to get them. I'm going over there (to Ford Park) now to figure this out."...