FEMA is not a first responder

[Tgace]

Yep, and they did everything they were prepared to do ... until the levee gave way.

They absolutely did not.

http://blog.kir.com/archives/002378.asp

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his/her emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.

A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected.

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance.

 

[shesulsa]

The National Guardsmen noticed that the one or two inches of rain went to flood stage in a matter of a couple of minutes and were flooded in before any flood warning could be issued. Repeated checks of the levee did not indicate failure until it was too late.

And if this is true ...

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city.

... then why do the FEMA documents state differently? If the levee hadn't failed, they would have been far better off. When it becomes clear that things are happening so fast your evacuation plan isn't going to work, what do you do? Escalate.

And here ...

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

Again, I don't think you understand just how fast everything happened. The people who were supposed to drive those buses to higher ground didn't show - wouldn't show. They couldn't recruit anyone to drive those buses to higher ground, much less evacuate people. I believe they fired most of the police force, in fact, because they abandoned their positions.

Most of the blatherings in that blog show something very simple - the inability to comprehend just how quickly things went from bad to horrific. I could be wrong, but once a city official has turned things over to the state, the state has jurisdiction and once the state turns things over to the feds, the feds have jurisdiction.

All the things that are listed that they should have done is nothing but a big excuse for the feds to not have done their job in a timely manner. So I guess what you're REALLY saying is ... don't rely on your government to do the job you assign to it for you - isn't that right?

 

[Phoenix44]

They absolutely did not.

http://blog.kir.com/archives/002378.asp

Why do people think that somebody's personal blog is a authoritative information resource? I have two blogs. It doesn't make my personal opinion an authoritative source. It just makes it my opinion.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Though I appreciate the "poster's" comments (along with the negative post rating) about my post discussing the shortage of "drivers" able to drive a bus "being short sighted and uninformed", I still find it hard to believe that they couldn't find one person among ALL the refugees being DRIVEN away on the buses, who isn't capable of driving one.

This seems a rather feeble defense. I've driven a bus on occassion, and i'll tell you....it's not that complex.

Maybe THAT 'person' could explain to me the complicated dynamics of bus driving that I am missing, and what about my comment is "short sighted and uninformed".

Whatever else is claimed about the state and local response (or lack thereof), sitting on buses because "they couldn't find drivers" is asinine and indefensible. The idea that I am "uninformed" for suggesting that it wasn't an impediment to question why a bus can't be driven, seems to require some explaination.

Thanks.

 

[Tgace]

People have no idea what FEMA does...they have no troops. When the "feds have jurisdiction" in these situations they are simply co-ordinating the local assets ( i know, i have been under their command in disaster response before). Unless federal troops are involved, which the state and local authorities never stated they would need.

Things "snowballed" because of poor planning and leadership at all levels, but New Orleans was the City and States first responsibility, not the feds.

 

[shesulsa]

People have no idea what FEMA does...they have no troops. When the "feds have jurisdiction" in these situations they are simply co-ordinating the local assets ( i know, i have been under their command in disaster response before). Unless federal troops are involved, which the state and local authorities never stated they would need.

Things "snowballed" because of poor planning and leadership at all levels, but New Orleans was the City and States first responsibility, not the feds.

If FEMA coordinates local and federal assets, then why did they not coordinate troops being sent in sooner? And once again, Tom, the FEMA documents shown on the expose delineated the need for armed troops as requested by the Mayor and the Governor, so ... I don't see why you are saying they did not ask for troops?????

 

[sgtmac_46]

If FEMA coordinates local and federal assets, then why did they not coordinate troops being sent in sooner? And once again, Tom, the FEMA documents shown on the expose delineated the need for armed troops as requested by the Mayor and the Governor, so ... I don't see why you are saying they did not ask for troops?????

The main failure on the local and state level, was the failure to prepare for what, at least to many, was a perfectly predictable catastrophe. It would be like a city in california not being prepared for a major earthquake. I don't want to hear Bush quoted as saying 'nobody knew'. Heck, I knew several years ago. Apparently the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of La. don't watch the Discovery channel.

 

[Tgace]

Exactly....the stadium idea was stellar too.

I dont know how else to put it. Yeah the fed. response was wanting, but to try to give the local gvt. a pass and lay the brunt on FEMA is plain erroneous.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Exactly....the stadium idea was stellar too.

I dont know how else to put it. Yeah the fed. response was wanting, but to try to give the local gvt. a pass and lay the brunt on FEMA is plain erroneous.

Not to mention politically motivated.

 

[Tgace]

Absolutely. I note that even most of the more "Republican" of us here can say that the Feds need to clean house and do some re-planning...however the "other side" seems to want to believe that the City and State gvts. really did all they were capable of and blame it all on the Feds. When you are a leader you can pass along authority but not responsibility. Its a big **** sandwitch but the feds are the last to take a bite IMO.

 

[shesulsa]

Absolutely. I note that even most of the more "Republican" of us here can say that the Feds need to clean house and do some re-planning...however the "other side" seems to want to believe that the City and State gvts. really did all they were capable of and blame it all on the Feds. When you are a leader you can pass along authority but not responsibility. Its a big **** sandwitch but the feds are the last to take a bite IMO.

Has the State put legislation up for vote before the citizens of Louisiana to raise taxes to reconstruct the levee?

I was under the impression that the people voted them down.

 

[sgtmac_46]

Has the State put legislation up for vote before the citizens of Louisiana to raise taxes to reconstruct the levee?

I was under the impression that the people voted them down.

What does that tell us?

 

[shesulsa]

What does that tell us?

I doesn't tell us anything until we know yea or nay and information about any other attempts they've made at reconstructing the levy.

And you know, the point here is that a disaster happened. You can point fingers at victims and talk about prevention all you friggin' want to. The bottom line is, once again, that there is absolutely NO WAY TO PREVENT ALL DISASTERS! And BECAUSE THIS IS TRUE, we have organizations in place to organize relief.

I mean, get real! A guy is walking down the street, he gets shot in a drive-by and it's his fault because he was walkin' down the wrong street. Come on.

 

[7starmantis]

I mean, get real! A guy is walking down the street, he gets shot in a drive-by and it's his fault because he was walkin' down the wrong street. Come on.

Thats a great point, and it brings to light another point. The fault in this situation lies only with the one doing the shooting. We can't place blame on the victim or on the government for not being there to stop the shooting, just the ******* who shot the innocent vitcim.

7sm

 

[shesulsa]

Though I appreciate the "poster's" comments (along with the negative post rating) about my post discussing the shortage of "drivers" able to drive a bus "being short sighted and uninformed", I still find it hard to believe that they couldn't find one person among ALL the refugees being DRIVEN away on the buses, who isn't capable of driving one.

This seems a rather feeble defense. I've driven a bus on occassion, and i'll tell you....it's not that complex.

Maybe THAT 'person' could explain to me the complicated dynamics of bus driving that I am missing, and what about my comment is "short sighted and uninformed".

Whatever else is claimed about the state and local response (or lack thereof), sitting on buses because "they couldn't find drivers" is asinine and indefensible. The idea that I am "uninformed" for suggesting that it wasn't an impediment to question why a bus can't be driven, seems to require some explaination.

Thanks.

It's called "I had to save my own family." You and I are arguing apples and oranges here - your argument seems to be stemming from what people are capable of doing (turn a key, operate the steering wheel, gas and brake) and I'm talking about what people were compelled to do (save their families' lives).

I'm sure there were plenty of people in New Orleans who were CAPABLE of driving a bus. I'm also sure some of them were floating face down in the street already and others helping their kids up onto the roof or into the attic.

So are you saying that if you could drive a bus and tool around town trying to help evacuees out of the city at the cost of abandoning your own family, you'd do it? Most of the people in your profession in that city chose otherwise.

 

[shesulsa]

Thats a great point, and it brings to light another point. The fault in this situation lies only with the one doing the shooting. We can't place blame on the victim or on the government for not being there to stop the shooting, just the ******* who shot the innocent vitcim.

7sm

Agreed - nature will kick our *** every single time. Even when we are most prepared. And we MUST examine the failures of our government. All our governments. Yes the city, yes the state and yes the feds.

What irks me is the unwillingness to point fingers at people holding press conferences saying help has arrived when it indeed hasn't or not holding accountable people who delineate the requested relief from the state, sending it on and then claiming that these things were never requested.

I guess none of it means a whole hell of a lot to someone unless they're the ones who are reassured from the report that the feds are on the way and they don't arrive for days ... the Canadians got there first - what does that say?

Is this really not indicative of a system deserving examination? Is this what we pay taxes for? Is this what we put our faith in law enforcement, state government and when they fail our federal government - 'elected' officials for?

If we do not examine this and hold our governments accountable for their individual failings then we do not deserve liberty.

 

[7starmantis]

I agree, we most assurely need to examine and "prune" because of this situation. However, I probably dont put the same amount of "faith" in the government, law enforcement, or any human person for that matter, than many do.

Examine our government, but include all levels....I agree.

7sm

 

[Kreth]

I mean, get real! A guy is walking down the street, he gets shot in a drive-by and it's his fault because he was walkin' down the wrong street. Come on.

I don't think the analogy holds up. New Orleans was known to be at high-risk for flooding. So maybe a better analogy would be a guy walking down the street at night in a high-crime area with money falling out of his pockets...?

 

[shesulsa]

I don't think the analogy holds up. New Orleans was known to be at high-risk for flooding. So maybe a better analogy would be a guy walking down the street at night in a high-crime area with money falling out of his pockets...?

Okay - following that, let's say he has a knife and pepper spray "just in case." Still won't save him from a drive-by, eh? And does it still mean that we let the shooter off the hook because he shouldn't have been on that street dressed that way with money falling out of his pockets?

 

[Kreth]

Okay - following that, let's say he has a knife and pepper spray "just in case." Still won't save him from a drive-by, eh? And does it still mean that we let the shooter off the hook because he shouldn't have been on that street dressed that way with money falling out of his pockets?

Not at all. But I think blame (in the case of NO) needs to be shared at all levels. The whole thing reminds me of a routine Sam Kinison used to do about starving Ethiopians in the desert. His advice (to paraphrase), "MOVE!"