US Hurricane Crisis: American People's View

[TRCSF]

Do you have a link to this? My understanding is that Bush can't just send them in without a request from the governor. This from Bob's link "They can only step in with medical and relief supplies when local and state assets are overwhelmed or exhausted." Would seem to support that.

Gov. Blanco requested federal assistance on Sunday, before the storm hit.

 

[edward]

Fema is controlled by Homeland Security and Homeland Security does not need any requests or permission to prepare for an emergency. Neither did FEMA in 2002, before it was recently dissected by The Department of Homeland security.

The link below shows what Homeland Security had FEMA do in 2003 in advance of a category 2 hurricane.

With Hurricane Isabel's 110 mile per hour winds only hours away from the U.S. mainland, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pre-positioned people and supplies for an unprecedented rapid emergency response to areas that may need immediate disaster relief once the Category 2 storm makes landfall.

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=1616

and in 2002

Prepositioned thousands of gallons of water and thousands of pounds of ice in case an emergency supply of fresh water and non-electrical refrigeration is needed.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=3785

What happened in the last three years to change this level of preparedness, and the pre-positioning of supplies? Budget cuts. Tax cuts for the wealthy, and an Illegal war in Iraq.

 

[Skyhunter]

I didn't find it at all funny. Maybe your sense of humor is a bit different then mine.

But this is just business as usual for a privatized government. I don't find it funny either. Sarcasm is just a mechanism I use to help me cope with the reality of a corporate run government.

 

[edward]

Letter from the president to Homeland security: open for interpretation

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/reg-ii/hspd_5.pdf

I have posted the link below before so I am feeling a bit deja vuish.
Click on the link, then click on the link at the top of the page to see a power point presentation regarding FEMA.
Remember to click on each page to progress through the presentation.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3Cw8xOM8GIkJ:www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepr/RoundTable/aciUPDATEsadMay01.ppt+FEMA+transportation+contracts&hl=en

 

[edward]

But this is just business as usual for a privatized government. I don't find it funny either. Sarcasm is just a mechanism I use to help me cope with the reality of a corporate run government.

What privitization, I don't see any privitization.

Conservatives make a fetish out of privatization of government functions; after the 2002 elections, George Bush announced plans to privatize up to 850,000 federal jobs. At home, wary of a public backlash, he has moved slowly on that goal. But in Iraq, where there is little public or Congressional oversight, the administration has privatized everything in sight

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0504-04.htm

 

[SOS2008]

Something I find hard to rationalise is this - hurricanes - in this time of year - in that part of the world are expected or at least anticipated. As a result, shouldn't the US (at every level) be ready to serve its citizens? instead of standing idly-by as thousands of innocent men women and children die.

I understand it is ridiculous to evacuate every time there is a risk of a natural disaster for this simply breeds impatience, but why was there not a rapid-response team in place? From what i have read, here and elsewhere, it woul dappear that the national Guard who would have performed this service where out of reach, occupied in Iraq or without equipment - surely as the state, or federal level, it should have been realized that this left the citizens wide open, and at the mercy of the elements - yet seemingly nothing was done.

I simply do not understand how such things happen - in a part of the world that has so much money and so many resources. One may comment if America watched its own back yard than everyone elses, the sprinkler wouldn't soak them through.

-NS

As one can see from the posts in this thread, there are various reasons for the shameful state of things in NO. Interestingly, after the recent Tsunami disaster in Asia/east Africa, I wrote my representatives asking how well prepared the U.S. is for this kind of natural disaster. And as soon as the news began with reports of the hurricane, I asked how much assistance/aid would be offered by other countries, or if the U.S. would be on it's own because we are a wealthy nation, and have pissed everyone off. Interestingly we have been offered aid, for example: http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/03/katrina.castro/index.html?section=cnn_us

First, Bush is responsible for the over-extension of our country overseas in an unnecessary war. This resulted in the lack of National Guard personnel and funds. Also, Bush was busy with his tour to pitch the Iraq war/attacking Cindy and the anti-war movement, so maybe this is why there were delays in federal approval of deployment and his arrival in the area? We've already known our homeland security is a joke. IMO Bush is not racist, just incompetent. The looting reminded me of the incompetency in Iraq. It's sad these folks in the south have to suffer through this to realize Bush's so-called religious fervor isn't the priority it's been made out to be.

Edit: And before anyone does it, this is not turning into another Bush bashing thread without reason. The media and entire nation are questioning his administration regarding this disaster, so get real and understand it is a legitimate factor in discussion of this topic.

 

[Skyhunter]

Letter from the president to Homeland security: open for interpretation

http://www.fema.gov/pdf/reg-ii/hspd_5.pdf

I have posted the link below before so I am feeling a bit deja vuish.
Click on the link, then click on the link at the top of the page to see a power point presentation regarding FEMA.
Remember to click on each page to progress through the presentation.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3Cw8xOM8GIkJ:www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepr/RoundTable/aciUPDATEsadMay01.ppt+FEMA+transportation+contracts&hl=en

Good info Edward. As I stated in another post there is plenty of blame to go around. This disaster was compounded by mistakes made at all State, Local, and Federal levels. I believe it is a failure of ideology not just policy.

My main objection to the conservative notion that government should be run like a business is that the primary concern of a business is profit. The primary concern of the government is the welfare of it's people. I just do not believe that these two separate goals can be made compatible.

Katrina IMHO, has exposed this for all to see.

As far as the blame game the president should just assume responsibility and put an end to it.

(4) The Secretary of Homeland Security is the principal Federal official for domestic incident management. Pursuant to the Homeland Security Act of 2002, the Secretary is responsible for coordinating Federal operations within the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters, and other emergencies. The Secretary shall coordinate the Federal Government's resources utilized in response to or recovery from terrorist attacks, major disasters, or other emergencies if and when anyone of the following four conditions applies: (1) a Federal department or agency acting under its own authority has requested the assistance of the Secretary; (2) the resources of State and local authorities are overwhelmed and Federal assistance has been requested by the appropriate State and local authorities; (3) more than one Federal department or agency has become substantially involved in responding to the incident; or (4) the Secretary has been directed to assume responsibility for managing the domestic incident by the President.

Bush had all the authority he needed to do whatever was necessary. He didn't need anyone to request it. If this degenerates into a blame game he is also responsible for that. If he would just come out and say "I failed" he will earn a lot more respect than if he allows Rove to shift the blame to the State, Local, and Federal agencies.

 

[BobG]

You guys are mixing and matching the military roles all over the place.

Kat has a point about active duty troops. They can't perform law enforcement duties except for a restricted set of situations, none of which were applicable to Katrina. That doesn't mean active duty forces can't respond.

They can respond to a natural disaster to perform humanitarian functions, such as search and rescue, medical teams, and medical evacuations, which is why it was important for Bush to declare the hurricane a federal disaster as soon as possible. That still doesn't give them carte blanche to just fly in and set up operations. They are still controlled by the federal government. The governor still has to tell the feds what she needs so the feds can give the military the orders they need and someone needs to figure out where they can set up.

In other words, it's possible the feds continually pestered Blanco about what help she needed and that she continually blew them off, saying she was busy with a disaster or something, or she continually put off giving them a place to set up or some other bureaucratic snafu, or the best place to set up still needed to be cleared of debris (it's possible an initial delay was preferable to chronic delays caused by setting up in a bad location - but hopefully the locals wouldn't then scream at the feds for something they would have known about and approved in advance). In fact, it's possible Blanco initiated the delay in deploying active duty troops, believing she had adequate National Guard support.

The National Guard has an entirely different set of rules than the Reserves or the active duty force. Louisiana Guard is under control of the governor and she still had nearly two-thirds of her troops state-side. The governor can use the National Guard for a lot more purposes than the active duty forces can be used - the Louisiana Guard could perform law enforcement duties. National Guard units from other states can be used, but then you have to go through the National Guard headquarters. It can be pre-coordinated. Louisiana had an agreement where they would get support from Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida National Guard units in the event they were hit by a hurricane before their equipment returned from Iraq. It can be "quickly" coordinated, like the support from the New Mexico National Guard, for example, even if the coordination at the headquarters end wound up being pretty slow for an emergency response.

In fact, just as Bush initially turned down international help, it's possible Blanco turned down all offers for federal help, believing they had it covered, and that Louisiana just sat there fat, dumb, and happy waiting for Mississippi and Alabama and New Mexico to send the National Guard units they'd promised.

It's hard to know exactly who caused things to move at a crawl, even though it's obvious someone did. It's just so easy to assume it's the Bush administration when the DHS head seems totally ignorant of anything that's transpired during the hurricane and the FEMA director's most significant qualification was his experience as commissioner of the Arabian horses association (or whatever the heck they're called).

 

[Evo]

You guys are mixing and matching the military roles all over the place.

Thanks BobG, I think too many do not understand how things work.

 

[Skyhunter]

Thanks BobG, I think too many do not understand how things work.

Yes, thank you for BobG. That explains how communication and coordination can be so chaotic.

But isn't that part of the reason the Department of Homeland Security was created?

link provided by edward
http://www.fema.gov/pdf/reg-ii/hspd_5.pdf

Would you not agree that as the chief executive in charge during the creation of the department, the person responsible for appointing the Secretary of Homeland Security, and to stop the political blame game, Bush should simply assume responsibility and move the dialogue to finding solutions to what many, including myself believe is a glaring weakness in our ability to secure our homeland?

 

[TRCSF]

In fact, just as Bush initially turned down international help, it's possible Blanco turned down all offers for federal help, believing they had it covered, and that Louisiana just sat there fat, dumb, and happy waiting for Mississippi and Alabama and New Mexico to send the National Guard units they'd promised.
.

Well, no, it's not possible. Since we know Blanco requested federal assistance before the storm hit.

 

[SOS2008]

The National Guard has an entirely different set of rules than the Reserves or the active duty force. Louisiana Guard is under control of the governor and she still had nearly two-thirds of her troops state-side. The governor can use the National Guard for a lot more purposes than the active duty forces can be used - the Louisiana Guard could perform law enforcement duties. National Guard units from other states can be used, but then you have to go through the National Guard headquarters. It can be pre-coordinated. Louisiana had an agreement where they would get support from Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida National Guard units in the event they were hit by a hurricane before their equipment returned from Iraq. It can be "quickly" coordinated, like the support from the New Mexico National Guard, for example, even if the coordination at the headquarters end wound up being pretty slow for an emergency response.

So with 2/3 of the Louisiana Guard still state-side, plus units from neighboring states that could help, was equipment more of a delay due to the war? Sorry if I've misspoken about a diminished National Guard capacity because of the war if the effects weren't significant. In any event, it is disconcerting to see the poor response to this disaster, and it doesn't help knowing that our country is massively in debt at a time when funds are greatly needed to help people in our own country.

Edit: BTW, somewhere there was a post about police abandoning the force in NO, but I just read this is an unfounded rumor.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Well, no, it's not possible. Since we know Blanco requested federal assistance before the storm hit.

The first article I can find in regards to the matter says that Blanco called the White House the morning of the 31st to ask for assistance and that same morning Bush authorized the Northern Command to take action. Blanco stated that the military will take over where her people had already been working. Seems to support what Bob is saying to me.

 

[Art]

Here's how the British broadsheets are presenting the story;

The Sunday Times - World

September 04, 2005

British tourists tell of their terror in rubble
Gareth Walsh and Dipesh Gadher
Caught in the crossfire

THE family of a British hurricane victim told last night how she and her boyfriend had been in fear of their lives as they scavenged for food while the authorities operated a shoot-to-kill policy against looters.
Tourists were forced to rummage among the rubble for food while dodging gangs and law enforcement sharpshooters. At the same time the American authorities were said to have blocked consular officials from entering New Orleans three times to help scores of Britons trapped amid the squalor.

The ordeal continued for tourists evacuated from New Orleans, who were initially told by Foreign Office officials who arranged emergency hotel accommodation that they would have to foot their bills.

Peter McGowan, whose sister Teresa Cherrie was trapped in the devastated area with her boyfriend John Drysdale, described yesterday how they had been reduced to looting to survive: “They are having to scavenge for food and Teresa is terrified,” he said. “At first it was the gangs they feared, then it was trigger-happy cops.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1763948,00.html

Internationally the general consensus is shock and disbelief that the administration which claims to be 'the leader of the free world' apparently couldn't organise a 'piss-up in a brewery'.

‘STUFF happens,” said the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, when called to respond to the looting taking place in Baghdad after the American invasion. “But in terms of what’s going on in that country, it is a fundamental misunderstanding to see those images over and over and over again of some boy walking out with a vase and say, ‘Oh, my goodness, you didn’t have a plan’ ... It’s untidy, and freedom’s untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things. They’re also free to live their lives and do wonderful things, and that’s what’s going to happen here.”

The official response to the looting in New Orleans last week was, however, quite different. The images were not of “newly liberated Iraqis” making away with precious artefacts, but desperate African-Americans in a devastated urban area, most of whom are making off with nappies, bottled water and food. So these are not scenes of freedom at work but anarchy to be suppressed. “These troops are battle-tested. They have M-16s and are locked and loaded,” said the Democrat governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco. “These troops know how to shoot and kill, and I expect they will.” Events on the Gulf coast following Hurricane Katrina have been a metaphor for race in the US. The predominantly black population of New Orleans, along with a sizeable number of poor whites, was left to sink or swim.

Here is a very good article also from the Sunday times which is well worth a read. It is also particularly scathing when one remembers that the Sunday Times is a rightwing publication (owned by R Murdoch )

The Sunday Times - World

September 04, 2005

Focus: When the levees broke, the waters rose and Bush’s credibility sank with New Orleans
The president tumbled to the epic scale of the disaster far, far too late, says Andrew Sullivan... cont'd

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1764115_1,00.html

 

[BobG]

So with 2/3 of the Louisiana Guard still state-side, plus units from neighboring states that could help, was equipment more of a delay due to the war? Sorry if I've misspoken about a diminished National Guard capacity because of the war if the effects weren't significant. In any event, it is disconcerting to see the poor response to this disaster, and it doesn't help knowing that our country is massively in debt at a time when funds are greatly needed to help people in our own country.

Edit: BTW, somewhere there was a post about police abandoning the force in NO, but I just read this is an unfounded rumor.

A more accurate assessment would be a combination of Iraq and bad luck. If the Louisiana National Guard were at full strength, they could have responded better. If the hurricane hadn't also struck the states Louisiana was relying on to help them deal with manpower and equipment shortages, they could have responded better.

The deployed equipment is more significant, but being less than 67% manned is also a strain. I don't remember the exact percentages and categories, but for active duty troops at around 85% or less, people start getting concerned and around 70%, it's a problem that gets higher headquarters actively involved. In this case, the unit's fully manned, but can't perform its stateside mission at 100% capability.

The same problem existed with the Louisiana police force. The numbers were hugely exaggerated (some reported them missing 2/3 of their police force), but they were still severely weakened at around 70% strength.

 

[NewScientist]

Did you see Sean Penn on TV today anybody?

He said he had been working in NO (i think!) and had been out for 7 days yesterday on the boats helping people and he had only seen a couple of non-civilian vessels or out there.

any thoughts?

NS

 

[Astronuc]

Two sides of the same story -

Morning Edition, September 6, 2005 · Commentator Judy Muller says Americans and their elected officials have been ignoring the problems of the poor in recent years -- until being confronted with the overwhelming number of poor residents left homeless by Hurricane Katrina.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4834201

Morning Edition, September 6, 2005 · Commentator Austin Bay did relief work with refugees fleeing Congo in 2002. He says criticism of the federal relief effort in the Gulf Coast springs from ignorance about the realities of giving aid.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4834204

 

[Astronuc]

And something else to think about -

Reporter's Notebook
By Mike Pesca
Are Katrina's Victims 'Refugees' or 'Evacuees?'

NPR.org, September 5, 2005 ·

Hurricane Katrina created thousands of refugees who were forced into states throughout the South, and beyond. But not so fast. Media outlets have been deluged with complaints about the term "refugee." Civil rights activist Al Sharpton said, "They are not refugees. They are citizens of the United States." (NPR has adopted a policy of not referring to them as refugees.)

In some dictionaries the definition of refugee is simply "one seeking refuge." But other dictionaries include the qualifier that the word is usually applied to a person crossing national boundaries because of persecution. Even the etymology of the word contains examples of applying only to trans-national evacuators, and to those who don't leave their borders.

This is more than an argument over semantics. The word refugee has certain connotations. Sharpton's point was that it strips a person of dignity. "They are not refugees wandering somewhere looking for charity," he said. "They are victims of neglect and a situation they should have never been put in in the first place."

Sharpton's response needs some sorting out. First of all, of course these people need charity. There's no shame to that. But Sharpton is also saying that, to some extent, the victims of Katrina were victims of politics. You'd think he would embrace the term refugee specifically for its political connotations.

There is a bigger reason why I think the term is apt. They're refugees because circumstance is turning them into refugees. I was at one of the evacuation points the other day. Thousands of people were standing in mud. They were given food, drink and first aid. But there was little psychological aid, including even such basic information as what state they'd be bused to. If you watched this situation on television, you might not realize how dirty and foul-smelling these people were. There was a reluctance on the part of the rescuers to touch the people. There was a total unwillingness to walk among them. The reaction was understandable. Many of the people they were trying to help had swum through sewage water to get here, and no one was showering anytime soon.

The dynamic I witnessed was clearly of the dirty masses on one side and the soldiers and police on the other. There was a justification for this separation because security was a concern in New Orleans and law enforcement was on edge. But if you looked at the armed men in fatigues on one side of metal barricades, and thousands of grieving people in tattered clothes on the other, you couldn't help but think of Haiti or Kosovo. The people of New Orleans who finally made it out of town, and who are still being plucked from attics weren't people on their way out of town. The people who heeded warnings and had the wherewithal to leave town before Katrina hit were evacuees. These beleaguered people who had lost everything were something else.

 

[edward]

This was a massive failure of federal agencies. Even if no one from louisiana had notified any government agency, (which of course they had) , any federal agency with a single iota of common sense could plainly see on national television that there was a disaster happening that was unparalled in modern American history.

That was evident by Tuesday morning, the same morning that supplies should have started rolling into the city. Reporters got through on highway 90 from the east by noon.

We have been hashing and rehashing about who was responsible for what. I can only keep repeating that The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for any attack or natural disaster.

If the governor had been blown up, would they have sat on their butts and waited for a call?? But she did call didn't she?

The immediate need to rescue victims was slow. There was no water and ice pre positioned. FEMA has a number of companies who are contracted to haul the supplies to designated locations. It was not done.

An employee of a local trucking company told me on Friday that in anticipation of the hurricane they had 50 empty trucks on hold in the midwest and ready to roll since Sunday No fedreral agency had called!

By Frank James and Andrew Martin
Washington Bureau
Published September 3, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck.

Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise."

More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved."

Still, Castleman found it hard to square the lessons he and others learned from the exercise with the frustratingly slow response to the disaster that has unfolded in the wake of Katrina. From the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans to the Mississippi and Alabama communities along the Gulf Coast, hurricane survivors have decried the lack of water, food and security and the slowness of the federal relief efforts.

 

[russ_watters]

The link below shows what Homeland Security had FEMA do in 2003 in advance of a category 2 hurricane.

What happened in the last three years to change this level of preparedness, and the pre-positioning of supplies? Budget cuts. Tax cuts for the wealthy, and an Illegal war in Iraq.

Actually, nothing at all: FEMA was prepositioned for this one. http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/29/katrina.washington.ap/index.html

As the Category 4 the storm surged ashore just east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, its director, Michael Brown, said.

 

[edward]

Actually, nothing at all: FEMA was prepositioned for this one. http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/29/katrina.washington.ap/index.html

That means that they supposedly were there on Sunday.
So why did it take until Wenesday afternoon to get water to the people in the superdoom??

 

[Astronuc]

There is clearly a disconnect somewhere.

Brown's statement seems inconsistent with the slow response or at least what has been reported or alleged.

The east side of New Orleans was flooded and the I-10 bridge was knocked out. With Lake Ponchatrain to the north, I can't see much of a semicircle, unless it was hundreds of miles in radius.

And then there was Mississippi and Alabama to deal with as well.

And was other relief aid turned away? If so, why? I keep hearing rumors of Walmart and other trucks being turned by FEMA personnel, when FEMA's supplies had not apparently arrived. That seems so unbelievable - so is that just a rumor?

 

[BobG]

As the Category 4 the storm surged ashore just east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, its director, Michael Brown, said.

The Coast Guard also pre-positioned resources and were on the scene Tuesday. This was good and each chopper/boat rescued a large number of people each day - it just wasn't enough for the huge number of people still trapped in the city. The bigger problem was that the 'rescued' folks weren't removed from the city - most were sent to the Convention Center.

What happened to the rest of the gang - the medical teams and groups to supply food and water and get the folks out of the city?

 

[TRCSF]

And was other relief aid turned away? If so, why? I keep hearing rumors of Walmart and other trucks being turned by FEMA personnel, when FEMA's supplies had not apparently arrived. That seems so unbelievable - so is that just a rumor?

It wasn't just Walmart trucks. It was the red cross.

Broussard (sp?) president of Jefferson Parish gave an interview to the media yesterday. I think it was CNN. He had a very emotional rant involving the death of a coworker's mother. That was widely repeated. But before that he listed a number of things that FEMA failed to do, including a number of actions that are unexplainable and hampered the relief, including FEMA literally cutting communication lines. Broussard actually had to post state troopers to protect the communication lines from FEMA. I'll see if I can dig up a link.

Yeah, here it is. It was a Meet the Press interview, about halfway down the page. I highly recommend reading the whole thing.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790/

 

[rick1138]

Here is the link:

http://www.zebrality.com/media/2005/aaron_broussard.mov

 

[TRCSF]

Here is the link about FEMA turning away Walmart trucks.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/05blame.html?ex=1283572800&

 

[TRCSF]

Here's the link about FEMA not letting the Red Cross deliver food

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm

 

[TRCSF]

Here's a link for FEMA asking first responders not to respond.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470

 

[russ_watters]

That means that they supposedly were there on Sunday.
So why did it take until Wenesday afternoon to get water to the people in the superdoom??

Where did you hear that it took until Wednesday afternoon to get water to the Superdome? Does it say how much water they already had on hand? Does it say how many people they planned for and for how long?

The simple answer to the general question is that because of the flooding after the hurricane, they got more people than they expected after the hurricane (that's a fact) and ran out of food/water faster than they expected (that's an inference).

 

[TRCSF]

Where did you hear that it took until Wednesday afternoon to get water to the Superdome? Does it say how much water they already had on hand? Does it say how many people they planned for and for how long?

The simple answer to the general question is that because of the flooding after the hurricane, they got more people than they expected after the hurricane (that's a fact) and ran out of food/water faster than they expected (that's an inference).

So you're saying it takes two and a half days to deliver fresh water to New Orleans.

OK.

 

[edward]

Where did you hear that it took until Wednesday afternoon to get water to the Superdome? Does it say how much water they already had on hand? Does it say how many people they planned for and for how long?

From all of those people on the news who were screaming "we need water, we need food. Remember, the ones on the overpass? That was wednesday. Those in the Super dome were complaining of the same thing.

The simple answer to the general question is that because of the flooding after the hurricane, they got more people than they expected after the hurricane (that's a fact) and ran out of food/water faster than they expected (that's an inference).

The locals could /should have planned for the scenario below:

More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.

But the flooding that was planned for was from 20 inches of rain, not the leeve situation.

Off Topic
Russ: Did you notice that it was actually a failure of the two foot thick concrete flood walls along two channels that caused the flooding. Why didn't they try to block the entrances to the channels?

 

[TRCSF]

And here come the damning internal memos...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1102744&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

This indicates that Brown:

1. didn't think it was that bad. "nearly catastropic he calls it."

2. didn't think it was that important. gave rescuers two whole days to mosey on down to NOLA.

3. Was more worried about politics than saving the lives of 10,000 + Americans.

 

[Informal Logic]

And here come the damning internal memos...

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1102744&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312

This indicates that Brown:

1. didn't think it was that bad. "nearly catastropic he calls it."

2. didn't think it was that important. gave rescuers two whole days to mosey on down to NOLA.

3. Was more worried about politics than saving the lives of 10,000 + Americans.

Good to see this sentence: "President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina."

 

[Astronuc]

FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit to Ask for Help
By TED BRIDIS, AP

WASHINGTON (Sept. 7, AP) - The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security workers to support rescuers in the region - and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.

Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.

Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."

The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew. President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.

"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.

Knocke said the 48-hour period suggested for the Homeland employees was to ensure they had adequate training. "They were training to help the life-savers," Knocke said.

They need training in the middle of an emergency? Well, if that's planning! But then on what has DHS and FEMA been spending all those $billions?

I really like this line -

Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.

Most emergency personnel don't have time to do PR when responding to an emergency. Their actions speak for themselves.

Brown seems too concerned about image and not enough about the process - emergency response.

 

[Astronuc]

Firefighters Stuck in Atlanta for Days Awaiting Orders
'FEMA Hired the Best of the Best Firefighters ... and Gave Them Secretary Jobs'
By GREG BLUESTEIN, AP

ATLANTA (Sept. 7) - Hundreds of firefighters who volunteered to help rescue victims of Hurricane Katrina have instead been playing cards, taking classes on FEMA's history, and lounging at a local hotel as they wait for days for deployment orders.

"On the news every night you hear, 'How come everybody forgot us?'" said Joseph Manning, a firefighter from Washington, Penn. "We didn't forget. We're stuck in Atlanta drinking beer."

As of Tuesday, some of the firefighters, like Thomas Blomgren of Battle Creek, Mich., have waited at the hotel for four days. Now he and colleague Steven Richardson have been told they could be dispatched to a relief camp in South Carolina rather than help the devastated Gulf Coast.

"FEMA hired the best of the best firefighters, got them together and gave them secretary jobs," Blomgren said at the hotel near the Atlanta airport that as serving as the staging area for the firefighters.

He and Richardson said they followed FEMA's advice and brought huge packs filled with special firefighting suits, sleeping bags and lifesaving equipment to survive in harsh conditions for as long as a month. "But we'd be better off bringing pencils and cell phones," Blomgren sighed, taking a drag on his cigarrette outside the hotel.

Tony Russell, the FEMA official in charge of the firefighters, says he's trying to get the officers deployed as fast as he can but wants to make certain they're sent where the need is greatest.