A explaination for why FEMA is behind the ball???
 

This comes from an admittedly left-wing publication... Washington Monthly. However, it brings up some interesting points.
Having watched the head of FEMA on Nightline with Ted Koppel last night, it's pretty clear to me that the guy is clueless and doesn't have the experience to do the job.
I don't know, I was just wondering what other people thought.


CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it and weep:

January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.

April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level."

2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."

December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who, like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.

March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on fighting acts of terrorism.

2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.

Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified for it."

June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay."

June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St. Tammany parishes.

August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.

So: A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA. Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and planning functions were taken away.

Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush administration in a nutshell.

"This comes from an admittedly left-wing publication... Washington Monthly. However, it brings up some interesting points."

The funny thing is that you post this tripe. Come on. People are suffering and you and your left-wing publications are still playing a game of mud-slinging and politics.

Congratulations.

And by the way, if you are past the age of 7 you should not still be into little Japanese cartoon characters, Sanrio items, or own a single item of hello kitty.

-Rudey

Regardless of the source, you can't ignore that the FEMA budget has been slashed in recent years. That's going to have a serious effect on any disaster. I shudder to think what might happen in the weeks to come -- let's not forget that we're in the peak of hurricane season, and speaking as someone who lives on the edge of a huge subduction fault, a catastrophic earthquake could hit the US at any time.

It's also pretty offensive to me that the FEMA director seems to be so willfully blind to the economic and social realities of the people who are most effected in New Orleans. Without sounding like a bleeding heart, I'll just say it's callous and short-sighted to blame the people for the situation they're in, particularly when most of the people who are suffering are either (1) living paycheck to paycheck; (2) on federal assistance; (3) are the working poor without access to private transportation; (4) don't have the financial resources or extended family network in place to make leaving New Orleans possible.

Furthermore, if you want to post this crap, how about I help take it apart? This was a post in the commentary of that BS you posted. Of course, it should have answered all your questions but really learning was not in your agenda.

http://eurota.blogspot.com/2005/09/u...hed-every.html

US Left: All Straws Clutched, Every Barrel Scraped
The Left in the US seems determined to find any angle (ranging from the irrational to the psychotic) to pin the blame of the devastating Hurricane Katrina on President Bush. They have tried so far: the global warming caused it angle, strike one; not enough Louisiana National Guard troops due to the war in Iraq, strike two; now, Bush cut money earmarked for flood control due to the war in Iraq, hopefully strike three.

The latest idea is floated by sometime journalist, sometime Clinton policy advisor, and sometime litigant Sidney Blumenthal. His latest missive can be found in Speigel Online, natch:

In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration cut New Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.

In early 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued a report stating that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of the three most likely disasters in the U.S., including a terrorist attack on New York City. But by 2003 the federal funding for the flood control project essentially dried up as it was drained into the Iraq war. In 2004, the Bush administration cut funding requested by the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for holding back the waters of Lake Pontchartrain by more than 80 percent. Additional cuts at the beginning of this year (for a total reduction in funding of 44.2 percent since 2001) forced the New Orleans district of the Corps to impose a hiring freeze. The Senate had debated adding funds for fixing New Orleans' levees, but it was too late.

There is also wasted space regarding the debunked global warming nonsense. Well, what was the Clinton Administration policy on floods, hurricanes, and the sort in Louisiana? Using the same source as Mr. Blumenthal, the Times-Picayune, we find the following via Lexis-Nexis:

February 17, 1995

An Army Corps of Engineers "hit list" of recommended budget cuts would eliminate new flood-control programs in some of the nation's most flood-prone spots - where recent disasters have left thousands homeless and cost the federal government millions in emergency aid.

Clinton administration officials argue that the flood-control efforts are local projects, not national, and should be paid for by local taxes.

Nationwide, the administration proposes cutting 98 new projects in 35 states and Puerto Rico, for an estimated savings of $29 million in 1996.

Corps officials freely conceded the cuts, which represent only a small portion of savings the corps ultimately must make, may be penny-wise and pound-foolish. But they said they were forced to eliminate some services the corps has historically provided to taxpayers to meet the administration's budget-cutting goals.

June 23, 1995

A hurricane project, approved and financed since 1965, to protect more than 140,000 West Bank residents east of the Harvey Canal is in jeopardy.

The Clinton administration is holding back a Corps of Engineers report recommending that the $120 million project proceed. Unless that report is forwarded to the Office of Management and Budget, Congress cannot authorize money for the project, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson's office said Thursday.

On June 9, John Zirschky, the acting assistant secretary of the Army and the official who refused to forward the report, sent a memo to the corps, saying the recommendation for the project "is not consistent with the policies and budget priorities reflected in the President's Fiscal Year 1996 budget. Accordingly, I will not forward the report to the Office of Management and Budget for clearance."

July 26, 1996

The House voted Thursday for a $19.4 billion energy and water bill that provides $246 million for Army Corps of Engineers projects in Louisiana.

The bill, approved 391-23, is the last of the 13 annual spending measures for 1997 approved by the House.

One area in which the House approved more financing than the president requested was for flood control and maintenance of harbors and shipping routes by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Flood control projects along the Mississippi River and its tributaries were allotted $303 million, or $10 million more than the president wanted.

June 19, 1996

The Army Corps of Engineers, which builds most flood protection levees on a federal-local cost-sharing basis, uses a cost-benefit ratio to justify a project. If the cost of building a levee is considered less than the cost of restoring a flood-ravaged area, the project is more likely to be approved.

For years, the Jean Lafitte-Lower Lafitte-Barataria-Crown Point areas couldn't convince the corps they were worthy of levee protection. But the use of Section 205 and congressional pressure has given the corps a new perspective, Spohrer said.

But even so, when the Clinton administration began to curtail spending on flood control and other projects a year ago, the corps stopped spending on Section 205 projects even after deciding to do a $70,000 preliminary Jean Lafitte study, Spohrer said.

July 22, 1999

In passing a $20.2 billion spending bill this week for water and energy projects, the House Appropriations Committee approved some significant increases in financing for several New Orleans area flood control and navigational projects.

The spending bill is expected on the House floor within the next two weeks.

For the New Orleans District of the Army Corps of Engineers, the panel allocated $106 million for construction projects, about $16 million more than proposed by President Clinton.

The bill would provide $47 million for "southeast Louisiana flood control projects," $16 million for "Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection," $15.9 million for the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal Lock on the Industrial Canal in New Orleans and $2 million for "West Bank hurricane protection -- from New Orleans to Venice."

Most of the projects received significant increases over what the Clinton administration had proposed. The exception: general flood control projects for southeast Louisiana, which remained at the $47 million suggested by Clinton. Local officials had hoped for double that amount.

February 8, 2000

For the metropolitan New Orleans area, Clinton's budget was seen as a mixed bag by local lawmakers and government officials. For instance, while Clinton called for $1.5 billion to be spent at Avondale Industries to continue building LPD-17 landing craft, his budget calls for significantly less than what Congress appropriated last year for Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity hurricane protection and for West Bank flood control projects.

September 29, 2000

The House approved Thursday a $23.6 billion measure for water and energy programs, with sizable increases for several New Orleans area flood-control projects. The Senate will vote Monday, but it may be a while before the bill is enacted.

President Clinton is promising to veto the annual appropriation for the Energy Department and Army Corps of Engineers, not because it is $890 million larger than he proposed, but because it does not include a plan to alter the levels of the Missouri River to protect endangered fish and birds.

May 8, 2005 (extra)

Ten years ago today, the Bonneaus and hundreds of thousands of New Orleans area residents rode out a rain unlike any they had ever experienced. The flood killed six people and generated more claims than any in the history of the National Flood Insurance Program. In its aftermath, Congress created a new role for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and federal and local governments spent more than a half-billion dollars to widen and line drainage canals, bury culverts bigger than cars and beef up pumping stations.

But not even those improvements could prevent massive flooding if a storm of similar intensity were to strike today.

And on it goes. No amount of money can guarantee the risk-free existence so craved by the US Left. The post is not a slam on President Clinton, it merely shows that his administration was not exactly tackling the flood-control issue in Louisiana as Mr. Blumenthal suggests in his anti-Bush "piece". The post asks Mr. Blumenthal and the US Left to stop looting this disaster for very cheap political reasons.

-Rudey

Rudey,
I lived in New Orleans for four years. It is home to some of my fondest memories and to my alma mater. I sit at home each night glued to the TV watching these desperate people. I see places I once frequented destroyed and I troll the internet seeing messages from teachers and friends that I still have left there.
You don't know anything about me.
You may not like my politics and I may not like yours but please don't tell me about how I should feel about this disaster. I believe there are people on both sides of the asile who are responsible for this disaster. I lay blame on the local officals who are democrats for putting people in the Superdome to begin with.
But, I also blame the president and his administration. Babies are dying of dehydration like New Orleans is part of the third world. I watch out military on TV all the time sending supplies and doing air lifts to people in disasters all over the world and I ask "why can't we do that for our own people?" Harry Conick Jr. managed to get into NOLA but the military claims they can't swing it. And I say "what's wrong with this picture?"
And I might add this is not just an issue people on the left are talking about. I watched Joe Scarborough last night asking the same questions about the lack of response in both NOLA and Mississippi. He said at 5 PM yesterday was the first time he had seen anybody from the national guard. He talked about how inefficient the relief effort was going, and how FEMA was sending half full trucks with water but with no food. I don't think it's wrong to question that and ask "How did this happen?"

I provide an explanation of the cuts to FEMA's budget below. It really can't be ignored I suppose.

But really what also bothers me is the need to spend the same amount of money or more, with improvements in technology and economies of scale, on everything in the government. It seems you really can't help people unless you overpay. It's like paying $100 for 100 pennies. Of course that's not administration or party-specific (see Halliburton). We do it with federal budgeting for roads and bloated budgets for fire prevention and the list goes on and on.

-Rudey

Do you own a Hello Kitty rice cooker? I knew a girl in college that had one. Boy was she adorable.

By the way I didn't tell you how to feel about this disaster. It seems your lies extend from articles you post over to your own words? Correct me if I'm mistaken though, OK? :)

OK back to business. You're right. You want someone to blame? Blame CLINTON. Boy was Clinton EVIL.

Stop posting political tripe.

-Rudey

Fine Rudey - disprove any of the timeline events listed in the source... because people can easily draw their own conclusions from it.

Just accept the fact the Bush and FEMA seriously dropped the ball (again) on this one... the question to ask is why? Was it systemic or a result of Administration policies?

Rob,

I already posted a response to how Clinton had decimated the budget for FEMA.

And I know you love to attack the US, but this isn't the time to take cheap shots.

-Rudey

How on Earth can you, in good faith, assign blame in a situation that 1) exceeds every "worst-case scenario" model . . . 2) is not yet even mildly under control . . . and 3) is dissimilar from any other response agenda ever implemented?

Feel free to play Monday-morning quarterback after the situation is resolved, but I can't imagine how you think this could have been handled more easily. Feel free to provide a detailed plan of action, if you have one at hand, to show me the error of my ways . . .

1) Actually it hasn't exceeded the "worst-case scenario" model... the worst case model as presented to the White House in 2002 was a direct hit on New Orleans; so this was slightly less than the "worse-case scenario".

2) No it is not even mildly under control... and that is the problem. The fact that it isn't is one of the things that infuriates me... I mean what was the response time for US assests to be deployed in aid of the Tsunami? That was on the other side of the world, this is in metophorically speaking in the US's living room.

3) It is not dissimilar to any other response agenda ever implemented... oh wait do you mean in the US? Because massive disaster plans have existed and have been implemented by other countries - countries that have sought to send advisors and response teams... but have been rebuffed.

As for how I can assign blame - simple the response "isn't adequate" (or a too little too late) as described by even Bush. Now last time I checked he is the head of the federal government and therefore ulitimately responsible - as for whether he's directly responsible for the lackluster relief effort prior to his arrival... I don't know....

Having been involved into two Canadian relief operations during the 90's - the Red Rive Flood, and the Ice Storm - I took some basic lessons from what was said during the briefings. Despite the fact one was somewhat expected and the other wasn't in both cases a rapid deployment of troops to aid in the relief of the region was emphasized - deploying in company-sized units through out the region (of course more hevaily concentrated in urban areas) to provide security and relief, but more importantly to act as organizational and communications centres.

People need to see the government there and doinging something, and just as importantly communications have to be restored in order to prevent the people from feeling cut off from there government, abandoned, or forgotten.

For those that actually are interested, as opposed to the fools who decide to make this a game of politics, here is a decent article so far:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/02/na...gewanted=print

Government Saw Flood Risk but Not Levee Failure
By SCOTT SHANE and ERIC LIPTON
WASHINGTON, Sept. 1 - When Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, returned in January from a tour of the tsunami devastation in Asia, he urgently gathered his aides to prepare for a similar catastrophe at home.

"New Orleans was the No. 1 disaster we were talking about," recalled Eric L. Tolbert, then a top FEMA official. "We were obsessed with New Orleans because of the risk."

Disaster officials, who had drawn up dozens of plans and conducted preparedness drills for years, had long known that the low-lying city was especially vulnerable. But despite all the warnings, Hurricane Katrina overwhelmed the very government agencies that had rehearsed for such a calamity. On Thursday, as the flooded city descended into near-anarchy, frantic local officials blasted the federal and state emergency response as woefully sluggish and confused.

"We're in our fifth day and adequate help to quell the situation has not arrived yet," said Edwin P. Compass III, the New Orleans police superintendent.

The response will be dissected for years. But on Thursday, disaster experts and frustrated officials said a crucial shortcoming may have been the failure to predict that the levees keeping Lake Pontchartrain out of the city would be breached, not just overflow.

They also said that evacuation measures were inadequate, leaving far too many city residents behind to suffer severe hardships and, in some cases, join marauding gangs.

Large numbers of National Guard troops should have been deployed on flooded streets early in the disaster to keep order, the critics said. And some questioned whether the federal government's intense focus on terrorism had distracted from planning practical steps to cope with a major natural disaster.

Disaster experts acknowledged that the impact of Hurricane Katrina posed unprecedented difficulties. "There are amazing challenges and obstacles," said Joe Becker, the top disaster response official at the American Red Cross.

Under the circumstances, Mr. Becker said, the government response "has been nothing short of heroic."

But he added that the first, life-saving phase of hurricane response, which usually lasts a matter of hours, in this case was stretching over days.

While some in New Orleans fault FEMA - Terry Ebbert, homeland security director for New Orleans, called it a "hamstrung" bureaucracy - others say any blame should be more widely spread. Local, state and federal officials, for example, have cooperated on disaster planning. In 2000, they studied the impact of a fictional "Hurricane Zebra"; last year they drilled with "Hurricane Pam."

Neither exercise expected the levees to fail. In an interview Thursday on "Good Morning America," President Bush said, "I don't think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees." He added, "Now we're having to deal with it, and will."

Some lapses may have occurred because of budget cuts. For example, Mr. Tolbert, the former FEMA official, said that "funding dried up" for follow-up to the 2004 Hurricane Pam exercise, cutting off work on plans to shelter thousands of survivors.

Brian Wolshon, an engineering professor at Louisiana State University who served as a consultant on the state's evacuation plan, said little attention was paid to moving out New Orleans's "low-mobility" population - the elderly, the infirm and the poor without cars or other means of fleeing the city, about 100,000 people.

At disaster planning meetings, he said, "the answer was often silence."

Inevitably, the involvement of dozens of agencies complicated the response. FEMA and its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, were in charge of coordinating 14 federal agencies with state and local authorities. But Mayor C. Ray Nagin of New Orleans complained Wednesday on CNN that there were too many cooks involved.

Unlike a terrorist attack or an earthquake, Hurricane Katrina gave considerable notice of its arrival. It was on Thursday, Aug. 25, that a tropical storm that had formed in the Bahamas reached hurricane strength and got its name.

The same day, Katrina made landfall in Florida, dumping up to 18 inches of rain. It then moved slowly out over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, growing by the hour.

Though its path remained uncertain, the Gulf Coast was clearly threatened, with New Orleans a possible target. Officials from the Pentagon, the National Guard, the Army Corps of Engineers, FEMA and the Homeland Security Department said they were taking steps to prepare for the hurricane's arrival.

Army Corps personnel, in charge of maintaining the levees in New Orleans, started to secure the locks, floodgates and other equipment, said Greg Breerwood, deputy district engineer for project management at the Army Corps of Engineers.

"We knew if it was going to be a Category 5, some levees and some flood walls would be overtopped," he said. "We never did think they would actually be breached." The uncertainty of the storm's course affected Pentagon planning.

"We did not have precision on where it would make landfall," said Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, the head of the National Guard Bureau. "It could have been anywhere from Texas all the way over to Florida."

Some 10,000 National Guard troops were mobilized, 7,000 of them in Louisiana and Mississippi. But the Defense Department could not put soldiers and equipment directly in the possible path of the storm, General Blum said.

On Saturday, at the urging of FEMA, Mr. Bush declared an emergency in Louisiana, allowing the agency to promise financial assistance to state and local governments and to move ready-to-eat meals, medicine, ice, tarpaulins, water and other supplies to the region.

By Sunday, Katrina had become a Category 5 hurricane, with winds of 175 miles per hour. The president extended the emergency declaration to Mississippi and Alabama. Mayor Nagin, who had urged New Orleans residents to flee on Saturday, ordered a mandatory evacuation.

It would have been up to local officials, a FEMA spokeswoman said, to hire buses to move people without transportation out of the city.

Rodney Braxton, the chief lobbyist for New Orleans, said many of the city's poorest "had nowhere to go outside the region and no way to get there." He added: "And there wasn't enough police power to go to each house to say, 'You have to go, come with me.' "

In a city with so many residents living in poverty, the hurricane came at the worst possible time: the end of the month, when those depending on public assistance are waiting for their next checks to be mailed on the first of the month. Without the checks, many residents didn't have money for gasoline, bus fare or lodging.

City officials said they provided free transportation from pick-up points publicized on television, radio and by people shouting through megaphones on the streets. In addition to the Superdome, officials opened schools and the convention center as shelters.

Mr. Braxton said he believed the city was "aggressive enough" in conducting the evacuation. "We had everything we thought we needed in place," he said. "I don't think anybody could ever plan for the magnitude that Katrina ended up being."

But Susan Cutter, a geography professor at the University of South Carolina and an emergency preparedness expert, said Mayor Nagin should have ordered a mandatory evacuation on Thursday or Friday.

"Evacuation is a precaution," she said. "I don't think they would have taken a political hit if they had ordered it, and it helped."

While New Orleans residents fled the city or gathered in the Superdome, federal agencies positioned search and rescue teams and medical assistance teams from Tennessee to Texas, according to Michael Chertoff, secretary of homeland security.

Before it made landfall on Monday, the storm turned slightly to the east, avoiding a direct hit on New Orleans. The winds had eased slightly to 140 miles per hour, reducing Katrina's strength to Category 4, and officials counted themselves lucky.

But on Tuesday, when the levees breached, a desperate situation became catastrophic. There was no fast way to fix them, Mr. Breerwood of the Army Corps said, because delivery of heavy-duty equipment was hindered by the destruction.

The National Guard was having similar troubles. While troops were stationed in the region, they could not move quickly into the New Orleans area. And in Mississippi, the zone of destruction was so widespread, it was difficult to cover it all quickly, officials said.

"It is not a function of more people, but how many people can you move on the road system that exists now in Louisiana and in Mississippi," said General Blum of the National Guard. "How many people can you put through that funnel that a storm has taken four lane highways and turned them into goat trails?"

On Wednesday, Mr. Bush, having cut short his vacation, convened a federal task force. With looting spreading throughout New Orleans, Guard officials said they were doubling the call by this weekend, to 21,000 forces, one-third of them military police officers. On Thursday, General Blum said more than 32,000 Guard members would be deployed in the gulf region by Monday.

Currently, the states' governors control their National Guard, with the Pentagon and other federal agencies like FEMA, coordinating operations with the state. The administration has resisted federalizing the relief operation, in large part because officials say it would severely limit the National Guard's ability to conduct law enforcement missions for which they are specifically trained.

"Federalizing the National Guard for purposes of law enforcement would be a last resort, not a first resort," said Paul McHale, assistant secretary of defense for homeland security, told reporters on Thursday.

A 1878 law restricts active-duty military forces from performing domestic law enforcement duties. But in extreme emergencies, like some of the race riots and civil disorders in the 1960's, federal troops have been sent in to restore order.

The administration has also balked at ordering active-duty military forces, such as the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C., to intervene in a civilian law enforcement role to stop looting and restore order. Late Tuesday, the Pentagon dispatched five ships to the gulf, but four of the ships are coming from Norfolk, Va., four days' sailing time away.

Some military analysts criticized the Pentagon's response.

"Is the problem that they are only just now beginning to understand how serious the damage was?" said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity .org, a national security policy group in Washington. "Did they not have a contingency for a disaster of this magnitude?"

The chaotic response came despite repeated efforts over many years to plan a coordinated defense if the worst should occur. As recently as July 2004, federal, state and local officials cooperated on the Hurricane Pam drill, which predicted 10 to 15 feet of water in parts of the city and the evacuation of one million people.

Martha Madden, who was the Louisiana secretary of environmental quality from 1987-1988, said that the potential for disaster was always obvious and that "FEMA has known this for 20 years."

"Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars were spent, in studies, training and contingency plans, scenarios, all of that," said Ms. Madden, now a consultant in strategic planning.

The Army Corps, she said, should have had arrangements in place with contractors who had emergency supplies at hand, like sandbags or concrete barriers, the way that environmental planners have contracts to handle oil spills.

While his agency is facing harsh criticism, Patrick Rhode, FEMA's deputy director, defended its performance as "probably one of the most efficient and effective responses in the country's history."

He recalled that after Mr. Brown, his boss, returned from his tsunami tour, he asked if the United States was better prepared for a disaster than the ravaged countries he had visited. "We felt relatively comfortable that this country could mobilize the response necessary," he said.

Reporting for this article was contributed by Eric Schmitt, Thom Shanker and Matthew L. Wald from Washington; Christopher Drew and Susan Saulny from Baton Rouge; Joseph B. Treaster from New Orleans; and David Rohde from New York..

-Rudey

I call BS on that "no one expected the breach of the levees" comment. From a report in the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 2000:

The debris, largely the remains of about 70 camps smashed by the waves of a storm surge more than 7 feet above sea level, showed that Georges, a Category 2 storm that only grazed New Orleans, had pushed waves to within a foot of the top of the levees. A stronger storm on a slightly different course -- such as the path Georges was on just 16 hours before landfall -- could have realized emergency officials' worst-case scenario: hundreds of billions of gallons of lake water pouring over the levees into an area averaging 5 feet below sea level with no natural means of drainage.

That would turn the city and the east bank of Jefferson Parish into a lake as much as 30 feet deep, fouled with chemicals and waste from ruined septic systems, businesses and homes. Such a flood could trap hundreds of thousands of people in buildings and in vehicles. At the same time, high winds and tornadoes would tear at everything left standing. Between 25,000 and 100,000 people would die, said John Clizbe, national vice president for disaster services with the American Red Cross. (emphasis mine)

So while we can play politics - and I'll concede that there's been a substantial amount of asshattery on both sides -- to say that no one expected that something like this might happen is just wrong.

BTW, the full article is here: http://www.nola.com/washingaway/thebigone_1.html

I don't think the libs and democrats have any legitimate right to try to make political hay out of this, although they clearly are trying.

The whole state has been a political playground for years (remember Huey Long and his cronies, where offices are passed from family member to family member).

New Orleans is a city without standards, most loved by college boys and conventioneers seeking fun. There is no manufacturing or industry - just tourism.

Although the state is rich in oil production and refining, the oil money, offices, and salaried employees are all in Houston.

Although the situation is tragic, and we need to support the victims, it is a result of local and state neglect - they never upgraded and strengthened the dikes and levees. The water didn't go over the levees - the levees crumbled.

If this was insured by State Farm, the claim would be denied, since insurance covers accidents, not the lack of maintenance.

Just as I don't think federal insurance should go to rebuilt beachfront properties, I don't think federal money should go to rebuild a city below sea level.

This is not about what The Federal Govt. can or should have done!

This was and is the biggest Natural Disaster that has been know to Current Man Kind.

It does take time to get things geard up.



Now, the people whether poor or not were told to get out. By then, it was to late. Unexpected results. Levys breeched and water poured in. No way to get to these People. Told to go to certain places to be safe. A lot bigger than expected to be happened.

Whether it was listened to by the poorest of the poor is not relevent. They were told to get out. Now with the knashing of teeth, pulling or hair, and killing, raping, and looting it was a bit of to late.
E
Yes, it is tramatic, but what ever all of the people scream about, and Kill other People to survive. Is this right?

It is not a Black/White thing, it is the time frame that it takes to get mobilized and get help to them.

People trying to help getting shot at. Police getting shot at and Killed. Police of N O quiting.

I do not have the answer. But, this is an unimpresent Disaster!


Stop it right now. Kill thoughs that are killing, looting raping, Let God Sort them OUT.:confused:

Is this jaundiced, Yes it is. Those that take advantadge of the situation who are stealing things not for survival but avrice and Gteed, well what can I say?

The article talks about expecting flooding, not the levee breaking. What you posted confirms that. It says pouring over the levees, not the levees crumbling, two completely different things. The water didn't pour over the levees, they destroyed them, the city was set up& could have handled it going over but not having that protection is what has allowed the city to become flooded, but it can't handle the whole damn lake coming into the city.

Think about a bathtub overflowing, it could flood the bathroom but more slowly, now imagine that same bathtub breaking, a whole lot more water coming out a whole lot faster. They prepared for the tub to overflow, not break.

Just my $.0354 worth,-Mark

I saw an interview with the current head of the Army Corp of Engineers, who have responsibility for the levees in NOLA. He said that it is the policy of the Army Corp of Engineers to protect against the most likely situation. He went on to say that everybody knew the levees were not made to withstand anything higher than a Category 3 hurricane and that 99.5% of the time, this would be sufficient for New Orleans. That is considered an acceptable probability of failure for them. He then said that unfortunately, this was the .5%.

Hopefully, some lessons will be learned from this though. Such as, when there is a mandatory evacuation, we have a responsibility to ensure that all residents have a MEANS of evacuating to shelters where there is a sufficient supply of food and water for everybody.

An engineer was on CNN Friday who said when water flows over levees, they break soon thereafter. So if they expected flood waters to exceed the height of the levees, then they surely knew that a breach was possible.

Yup, still a BS comment, as far as I'm concerned.

Of course a levee overflowing will lead to the levee failing... any little kid thats ever played on the beach or in a sand box with water should realize that... but for the benifit of those challenged in that regard think about this - what does the water pouring over the levee do to the clay/earth foundation that the levee was built on?

I doubt this was the only mayor to offer help to this disaster.

Daley 'shocked' as feds reject aid
September 3, 2005

BY STEPHANIE ZIMMERMANN AND SCOTT FORNEK Staff Reporters

A visibly angry Mayor Daley said the city had offered emergency, medical and technical help to the federal government as early as Sunday to assist people in the areas stricken by Hurricane Katrina, but as of Friday, the only things the feds said they wanted was a single tank truck.

That truck, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested to support an Illinois-based medical team, was en route Friday.

"We are ready to provide more help than they have requested. We are just waiting for their call," said Daley, adding that he was "shocked" that no one seemed to want the help.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) said he would call for congressional hearings into the federal government's preparations and response.

"The response was achingly slow, and that, I think, is a view shared by Democrats, Republicans, wealthy and poor, black and white," the freshman senator said. "I have not met anybody who has watched this crisis evolve over the last several days who is not just furious at how poorly prepared we appeared to be."

Response 'baffling'

The South Side Democrat called FEMA's slow response "baffling."

"I don't understand how you could have a situation where you've got several days' notice of an enormous hurricane building in the Gulf Coast, you know that New Orleans is 6 feet below sea level. ... The notion that you don't have good plans in place just does not make sense," Obama said.

Obama said he expects his counterparts in Louisiana, Mississippi or Alabama will call for congressional hearings, but he is ready if they do not. "It's heartbreaking and infuriating and, I think, is embarrassing to the American people.''

Daley said the city offered 36 members of the firefighters' technical rescue teams, eight emergency medical technicians, search-and-rescue equipment, more than 100 police officers as well as police vehicles and two boats, 29 clinical and 117 non-clinical health workers, a mobile clinic and eight trained personnel, 140 Streets and Sanitation workers and 29 trucks, plus other supplies. City personnel are willing to operate self-sufficiently and would not depend on local authorities for food, water, shelter and other supplies, he said.

Flanked at a Friday press conference by a who's who from city government, religious organizations and business, the mayor also announced formation of the Chicago Helps Fund for storm victims.

"I'm calling upon every resident of Chicago to donate what they can afford, whether it's 50 cents or 50 dollars," the mayor said.

People can make tax-deductible cash or check donations at any of Bank One's 330 Chicago area branches or by check at Chicago Helps, c/o Bank One, 38891 Eagle Way, Chicago 60678-1388. A phone line to take credit card donations will be set up.

Churches were urged to take up collections this Sunday, and firefighters are planning to collect at major intersections this weekend.

In addition, donations will be taken at this weekend's Jazz Fest in Grant Park, and $2 of every ticket purchased through Ticketmaster for the Chicago Classic football game at Soldier Field today will go to hurricane relief. The Shedd Aquarium announced it will donate $1 from every ticket sold this holiday weekend to relief efforts and has set up "donation stations" at the aquarium.

Homeless shelters enlisted

By midday Friday, Inner Voice, a private agency that runs 27 homeless shelters for the city, had rounded up space in unused facilities for about 2,000 storm refugees, should they need it, said president Brady Harden.

Ed Shurna, executive director of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, suggested the city tap recently vacated units at Cabrini-Green and Lathrop Homes that were slated for demolition but still have heat and electricity available.

Daley reiterated that students from stricken areas are welcome to enroll in the Chicago Public Schools and in the City Colleges. Cardinal Francis George on Friday asked that Catholic schools in the archdiocese waive tuition for displaced children.

More than 400 students have applied to Loyola University Chicago, most coming from its sister Jesuit school, Loyola University New Orleans. Half had been admitted as of late afternoon Friday. Spokeswoman Maeve Kiley said the school "will honor their tuition that they already paid.''

University of Illinois campuses in Urbana-Champaign and Chicago have admitted more than 100 students, including two foreign students who had Fulbright scholarships to attend Tulane.

Northeastern said it would waive tuition and fees for Illinois residents who already paid another school, and would grant in-state tuition to out-of-state students. Northwestern plans to let students pay what they would have at their original school and forward the money to that school.

I think it's somewhat damning that leigions of media and equipment were able to get into the disaster zones in a timely manner, but the military was not.

The stories of aid in people and material being turned down -- and they are numerous -- are beyond belief.

In terms of criticism of the administration's response, it hasn't been one sided with notables such as Newt Gingrich -- certainly not a "liberal democrat" -- and others adding their voices to the chorous.

My opinion is that Federal response has become much too dependent on spending billions on rebuilding rather than being pro-active on prevention. Reactive responses aimed at rebuilding, while important as well, don't save lives in the heat of disaster.

The fact that more than $70 million dollars was cut from levy maintenance and upgrades in New Orleans will resonate politically for a long time to come.

Deltalum--

That is one of my questions, too--with a few choice 4 letter words... How does FOX News channel Sheppard Smith "deployed" there even begin to care... At least Hannity was is true form. And the Fox "good ole boys" are really liking Governor Riley from Alabama--he got everything he's asked for!!! Whoo hoo!!!

The other question I have regardless of what folks thought was how come SOMEBODY JUST DID NOT DO THE RIGHT THING and RISK MAKING THE BEST DECISION FOR the POOR and displaced people of NO?

I mean, the American Red Cross Executive Director on FOX NEWS said, "Duh, ain't nobody tell us we could do that 'cuz I heard they was shooting, etc--I don't wanna risk their lives..." That was a LAME EXCUSE for not doing the RIGHT THING!!!

NO MATTER WHOSE TOES THEY STEPPED ON!!!

EFF the risking, etc...

I'd rather die helping somebody who is destituted than to be sitting in an EFFin' air conditioned bus wondering...

EFF that...

I don't care about chaotic... The DAYUM situation is already chaotic... Ain't NOBODY KNOWS who is in charge...

I guess, I am the only one who'd risk it like that there if I were in my power...

I did make 1 donation... I'mma bout to make another one...

But the partisism is just bullisht...

STOP THE DUMBISHT... AND STEP UP AND CORRECT IT!!!

The Levys did not over flow. They were breached along with the canals in N O.

The Leveys were "Supposed to have with stood a #4 Hurrican." It didnt.

When everyone thought that N O was passed the worst it wasnt and happened and on of the worst disasters happend not only to N O but many Cities who were smaller. Oh, Lest we foget them.:(

Gearing up for such a catastrophic Event is without a doubt one of the toughfest things for any Country, even the Biggest.

But, despite of the People who acted like Animals who were Killing, raping and looting, Aid was coming from all over the country. It does take time!

Why didnt some of these dead beat asswholes help instead of doing the above?:mad:

Lot More to say but will leave for others!:eek: :o

This is the exact question I have been asking all week and I still cannot figure out an answer. I understand food and water had to be mobilized and put in trucks and such to come into the NOLA area, but why not sooner? Was it coming all the way from DC??

Right now there is a story on CNN about a mobile hospital that can't even get down there because it's stuck in red tape. (see link here)

If what i have read is correct, FEMA is now a body of the Office of Homeland Security. Which means in the event of a terrorist attack, FEMA would still be called upon for the response. FEMA is responsible to respond to natural desasters too. Why should the response time be any different? Would it be?

I won't apologize for this sounding like a rant. It should. I'm outraged, and I hope you are too. And if not, why not? People are dying. People are dead. Doesn't that bother you?

New Orleans's Mayor Ray Nagin is up for re-election in February 2006, Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu in November 2007, and Sen. Mary Landrieu in November 2008. All four are Democrats. When they point the finger at the federal government for whatever went wrong in the Katrina response, remember that they are fighting for their political lives.

And, if the President were able to run again, he would be fighting for his.

The administration is highly adept at deflecting criticism through timely photo ops and soundbites. They missed the importance of this one early on and got way behind the power curve. They were slow to react to the emergency and didn't grasp the magnitude of the situation until the criticism started.

The most damning thing, I believe, will turn out to be the political appointment of an old pal with no experience in emergency management as director of FEMA. A guy who was asked to leave his last job running some sort of equine organization because he allegedly didn't do an adequate job.

But this shouldn't be a story about politics -- it's about leadership. It broke down on ALL levels.

Comparing the News Media getting on site faster is like comparing a pea in a box car when it comes to Mobilization of any kind of releif action whether it be the National Guard, Churches, FEMA or any other part of the Federal Govt..

Granted People were told to leave, go to the Super Dome, or the Convention Center for safety. The magnatude of this Katrina was more than anyone really expected until the days before.

My Best friend is a Police Officer in Kansas City, Ks. He is volunteering to go down with fellow Officers of My Department along with Vehicles, and back up personell. Also The Power and Light Co. of My City are also sending equipment and people there along with the Fire Dept.

People to this day are still being told to leave and They Will Not!

This has nothing to do with Black and White, as some want it to become, this has much more magnitude.

It is Oh, "We have a screwed up State" and Lets blame the Federal Govt. for not bailing Our Asses OUT. Dont shoot poor People who are stealing TVs, Computers, Sound Systems, ETC.

Killing and shooting people who are trying to help them? What is wrong with that picture?

Do I feel sory for them, Yes I do and what happened to them.

Remember it was not very damn long ago when a Tornado came through KC and very close to me. My Friends and Neighbors lost homes and everything else.

This is a tragidy beyond proportion that anyone one of us can ever imagine.

There are People all over the USA of All over the world who are saying they will come to our aid.

Just where do any of You think the Federal Money will come from? Hell, from You and Me along with the Money that I and maybe You have sent.

So, blame who ever You want, but it did happen and it is there. Help is coming now, as I said, it Mobilization over night is slow to get cranked up and get there!

But, it is coming from many!

Only partially true.

They had to drive in on the same roads and the news organizations aren't anywhere near as big or well equipped as the military -- or almost any level of government.

It is important for response to be coordinated -- but it is just as important that the response is timely.

Sometimes, to use the new buzz word, it's important to get the boots on the ground quickly and then organize.

It simply can't take several days to load trucks with MRE's, water and ice while people are dying.

How do you know the residents did not have the means to evacuate? There are an estimated 10,000 residents that still have not left and do not want to leave. Who owns the tens of thousands of cars that are currently under water in the poor neighborhoods? Even if someone is poor, if they are able to walk out of town after the flooding then couldn't they have walked out of town before the flooding?

There were probably only a few hundred to a few thousand elderly, bedridden, and wheelchair bound that didn't have the means to get out of town. The poor angle is just a excuse for all the people that were too stupid to leave.

From what I have seen in those areas that were affected, most of those folks are ignorant, mentally challenged and some are retarded.

Then you have to consider these adults have babies and children that do not know any better...

Moreover, you have to consider that some of the smart ones that actually do know that they should leave but refuse to do so are probably the "criminal element" that the National Guard is looking for and probably have something to hide from those in authority--namely soaked out marijuana or other illegal substances...

I think it's more that these are the main ones that you see on tv. Also, if these people are to be thought of as children and incabable of taking care of themselves, wouldn't they have others who ARE capable to take care of them?

I wouldn't consider those people smart.... I would actually consider that pretty ignorant. *Personal opinion*

Keep telling yourself that ideology and see what logical conclusion you come up with given all the variable that amounted to one of the worst human disasters in the Untied States...

No. You see a person as a reasonable adult does not mean that they think like one...

I'm sorry you walked into this one... Do you know what it is like living life on the street? Since your mommy and daddy have sheltered you for your entire life, how do you know what its like to have to hustle for a way of life. No. I am not condoning their actions. But, really, when you do not have a way from the very beginning like you have had and being afforded the access by mommy and daddy for your life, you cannot say how you would do it if you never had support from them.

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On that note, I am in a VERY cynical mood today and I am PMSing. So I am really snap happy and will snip at just about anyone that says some bullshit to me. And yeah, I am grown enough to handle what I can dish out, too...

Except for maybe what Craig (Cashmoney ;) ) might say to me...