We now know that New Orleans had a plan, but for some reason, it wasnÂ’t implemented. It must have been that damn Iraq War that sucked all the funds from the Louisiana state treasury. In reality, for over six years the state and the city had raked in taxpayer dollars from the federal Office of Domestic Preparedness (ODP) to the tune of 140 million bucks! How do we know this? Because the leaders of disaster agencies in the state of Louisiana told us so and also showed us how this money was spent. As weÂ’ll see, theyÂ’ve done quite well feeding at the homeland security trough.
The Louisiana state-level strategy to respond to disasters or terrorist attacks was submitted to the ODP on 31 December 2003. This was a requirement established by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and was the only federal agency in recent memory to actually withhold funds to states until workable, threat-based plans were submitted for review. Colonel Jay Mayeaux of the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness presented the stateÂ’s strategy and funding streams to train and equip state agencies for disaster response based upon the state plan. These agencies include the Fire Service, Law Enforcement, HazMat (Hazardous Materials), EMS, Public Safety Communications, Public Health, and of course Emergency Management.
For Fiscal Year (FY) 2003, ODP grants were allocated in the following amounts: Equipment - $6,633,000, including $1 million for equipment for the Louisiana Urban Search & Rescue Team; disaster and terrorist response exercises - $1,658,000; training -$497,000; planning and administration - $663,000. In addition to the nearly 9.5 million dollars the state initially received, an FY03 supplemental grant totaling nearly $21 million was allocated that included $17 million for direct assistance to local communities. When funds granted for urban security initiatives for New Orleans and critical infrastructure programs are thrown in, the total supplemental FY 03 monies given to the state amounts to $31,319,661!
But it gets better. In FY 04, the ODP granted over $51 million to the state including about $7 million each for Baton Rouge and New Orleans for further work on the urban area security initiative (UASI). According to state officials, the total for ODP grants to the state of Louisiana from1999 to 2003, including supplemental allocations was $100,502,648![/b]
US taxpayers were also very generous in 2005. The DHS database shows that Louisiana had several disaster response agencies receive continued funding, including $17,679,253 for the state Homeland Security Grant Program; $2,895,235 for Emergency Management Performance Grant Program; $910,368 for the Metropolitan Medical Response System Program; and $14,531,675 for the Urban Area Security Initiative. The total amount of federal grants to state of Louisiana for 2005 was $42,669,788. Since 1999, Louisiana has received over $143 million in direct grants for security, communications, and other disaster response initiatives. This amount doesnÂ’t include direct grants to the city of New Orleans. For example, in FY03 alone the city received about $6.3 million for first responders and $6.4 million for port security.
And according to the Louisiana State Police, they had specifically planned for a variety of disasters including hurricanes, floods, and hazmat (hazardous materials) incidents. The State Police were even called upon to assist during Hurricane Isabel in September of 2003 to provide storm surge models, wind and rain forecasts, and storm track models. In fact, the LSP seems to have wisely spent money on developing a high tech capability to enhance situational awareness, obtaining mapping and geo-spatial imagery technology, aerial photography, petrochemical pipeline information, development of evacuation plans [emphasis added], and communications interoperability. Where all of this expertise and gadgetry disappeared to when Katrina hit is anybodyÂ’s guess.
