How could we have let FEMA let us all down?

[RON430]

For those of you who persist with this combination witch hunt and fear mongering over W and FEMA, here's an article from you. And by the way this is from the San Francisco Chronicle which does not qualify as under the control of the religious right.

Police made their storm misery worse
- Chip Johnson
Friday, September 9, 2005


Larry Bradshaw and Lorrie Beth Slonsky, two San Francisco paramedics trapped in New Orleans for five days last week, have a different story to tell than many of the tales that have come out in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

By their account, the cops weren't necessarily the good guys, and it was crystal clear that most of the city government structure collapsed along with the levees that left the city at the mercy of the rising waters.

When Hurricane Katrina hit Aug. 29, Bradshaw and his longtime live-in girlfriend were at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans' French Quarter, in town for a three-day paramedics conference at the convention center.

After the storm died down the next day, they were among 500 people sheltered in hotels throughout the tourist district -- foreign tourists, conference attendees and locals who'd checked in to ride out the storm.

The stranded crowd stared at food and water locked in a drugstore across the street from the hotel only to be shooed away by police officers whenever anyone approached the store. Finally, after hours of cat and mouse, the crowd finally broke into the store.

"At that point, we had not seen any of the TV coverage or looked at a newspaper, but we guessed there were no video images of European and white tourists, like us, looting the Walgreens in the French Quarter,'' the couple wrote in an eight-page account of their experience.

When it became clear that the help they so desperately needed was not coming anytime soon, the group pooled their resources in an effort to buy their way out of the surrounding hell. They ponied up $25,000, enough to lease 10 buses that would carry them out of the city.

But as the buses they paid for approached the city, they were immediately commandeered by the National Guard forces that were in New Orleans, Bradshaw and Slonsky said Thursday in an interview back home.

"If they used the buses to get the most severely ill out of the Superdome and convention center, I have no problem with that,'' Bradshaw said. "The thing that gets me is that if we could get on the phone and get 10 buses, why couldn't FEMA make that call?''

With no food, no water and no transportation out of the city, about 200 of the former hotel guests wandered the streets and tried to set up a camp next to a police command center on Canal Street, where they hoped to get aid, protection and information, the couple said.

But officers told them they couldn't stay, they had no water for them, and they needed to get up on Highway 90, a bridge that spans the Mississippi River, and walk until they saw the rescue buses they promised would be waiting for them.

So late Wednesday afternoon, the group set out for a bridge called the Crescent City Connection, where they would find the help they so desperately needed. But when they arrived atop the highway, the paramedics said, they were met by more police officers, this time from neighboring Gretna, La., who weren't letting anyone pass.

"If I weren't there, and hadn't witnessed it for myself, I don't think I would have ever believed this," Bradshaw said.

The officers fired warning shots into the air and then leveled their weapons at members of the crowd, Bradshaw said. He approached, hands in the air, displaying his paramedic's badge.

"They told us that there would be no Superdomes in their city,'' the couple wrote. "These were code words that if you are poor and black, you are not crossing the Mississippi River -- and you weren't getting out of New Orleans.''

And when exhausted hurricane victims set up temporary shelters on the highway, Gretna police came back a few hours later, fired shots into the air again, told people to "get the f -- off the bridge" and used a helicopter to blow down all the makeshift shelters, the paramedics said.

When the officers had pushed the crowd back far enough, one of them took the group's food and water, dropped it in the trunk of a patrol car and drove away.

Gretna Police Chief Arthur Lawson confirmed that his officers were under his orders to seal off the suburban city of 17,500 residents.

"We had individuals bused into Gretna and dropped off, and we had no idea they were coming. No one ever called us -- we have no shelter in Gretna, and our citizens were under a mandatory evacuation. This place was already locked down.''

The few buses that did show up received much the same treatment as Bradshaw, Slonsky and their compatriots: Gretna police officers did not allow anyone off the buses, and like their brothers in blue across the river, they sent them packing.

Police officers in Gretna also went into the city's lone sporting goods store and pawn shop and removed more than 1,400 weapons from the shelves to ensure the public safety, Lawson said.

Throughout the ordeal, Slonsky said members of the group they camped with became a community that helped each other, shared with each other and, in the end, relied on each other for their very survival.

The San Francisco paramedics were finally airlifted Friday to San Antonio, where they endured another couple of days in cramped conditions while they were examined for disease before being released.

"We got out of there with only the clothes on our back,'' Bradshaw said. "And the money in my underwear,'' added Slonsky.

The unfortunate thing is that I can actually understand a bit of whay Gretna acted the way they did. But if you think this was Ws fault, I feel sorry for you. I am gettng to the point of hoping that when the National Guard pull out, the last thing they do is take that victimized weasel mayor of NO and the governor or looseriana and put them in gitmo until we can try them. Please don't expect me to swallow any nonsense about the impossibility of preparing for this storm. In many respects the outcome, including the flood, were fairly accurately predicted. By their own people. The preparation from the city and the state were criminal IMO. The total lack of planning and coma like reaction to the situation in the days following should land someone some serious jail time. Shame on us for FEMA and their response which has never been gold standard and shame on them criminal incompetence.

[mmarshall]

Thanks, RON.

I'm very concerned about both Bush and Brown taking the blame for things that may have not ( and probably were not ) their fault....Brown to the point of resignation. Bush is often correct....but not in this case. He is buckling under too quickly to the accusations of his enemies.....and is just rolling over and playing dead here. Not only is Brown's departure a major loss for Bush, but having the President take the blame just because he IS President ( like the old sign Harry Truman had on his desk..... "The Buck stops Here" ) doesn't necessarily settle the situation or do the country any good. Let's hear what he has to say, though, in his national address.

[mikeloc24]

At this point I'm frustrated with all the finger pointing...it's ALL of their faults...the mayor, the governor, Mr. Brown, and Bush...they are our elected officials and as such are in charge of our safety to a major extent. And who were the losers in all of this? Poor blacks and the American public as a whole...

[RON430]

Originally Posted by mikeloc24

At this point I'm frustrated with all the finger pointing...it's ALL of their faults...the mayor, the governor, Mr. Brown, and Bush...they are our elected officials and as such are in charge of our safety to a major extent. And who were the losers in all of this? Poor blacks and the American public as a whole...

You know, just saying our option is to vote them out of office at the next election just isn't very satisfying. And now they are going to throw money at it. Lots of our money. Because it makes the media feel better and makes those involved look compassionate, caring, and competent. Unfortunately, for a lot of voters, it will work.

[mmarshall]

Originally Posted by mikeloc24

At this point I'm frustrated with all the finger pointing...it's ALL of their faults...the mayor, the governor, Mr. Brown, and Bush...they are our elected officials and as such are in charge of our safety to a major extent. And who were the losers in all of this? Poor blacks and the American public as a whole...

True to some extent, mike, but FEMA's job is generally to move in after the local authorities...and perhaps the state National Guard.....get things stabilized in the short run. Of course few disasters on the U.S. mainland have been of this magnitude.

Who were the losers? I would say a number of groups.......

1). Obviously, the people of ALL races in the Gulf Coast area who lost homes, loved ones, and property.

2) Insurance companies....especially those that write policies that DO cover flooding. Eventually we all will share in the cost with higher premiums.

3) Those millions of people nationwide that buy and use gasoline. That also includes most of us at CL.

4) The people in the Congress and the White House who have been working to balance the Federal Budget....we can forget about that for the time being.

5) The budgets of the states of Mississippi and Louisiana....and to a lesser extent Alabama.
Their expenses will go up drastically while their income from taxes drops enormously from the heavily damaged areas.

6) The oil industry, temporarily. ( not in the long run). Yes, they have been benefitting from recent high demand and prices........I don't deny that..............but there is an enormous amount of damage to refineries, supply areas, pipelines, and drilling rigs that is going to have to be repaired or replaced.....and that is going to take away some of the money they have been profiting from off of $3-4 gallon prices.

7) One of our favorites at CL.....the auto market. MANY new and used vehicles, both at dealerships and privately-owned, were flood-damaged or otherwise affected by the storm and cannot be sold for full value....if at all. Unfortunately.....and I'm being realistic here.......some dishonest dealers and individuals WILL probably try to sell them anyway at regular price to unsuspecting buyers.

[Lil4X]

Based on the operation of the emergency services organizations working on shelters and recovery, it's obvious several things work, some do not.

• Specific responsibilities have to be assigned in advance.
• Organization must be done at the local level - bring together public, private, and volunteer agencies under a central authority.
• Authority must be absolute. Territorial disputes, political considerations, and individual egos have to be put aside for the duration.
• Focus on the mission: evacuation, shelter, rescue, recovery.
• Experienced executives, accustomed to real-time decision-making should lead the operation.
• Outside-the-box thinking is to be encouraged.
• Communications are the number one priority.
• Military assets should be pre-positioned, Guard units activated, local fire and law enforcement need specific plans to protect shelters.
• Conduct investigations and recriminations after the crisis has passed.
• Experience is everything. Let's use the people experienced in successful operations during Katrina in the next crisis.

[RON430]

I have to say that this is one of the most valuable threads I have seen because of the comments we are getting. Why do I think that way? Because the NO disaster is going to move to new areas. Namely what should be rebuilt, by who, and how; who pays for it, the hunt for more to blame (the FEMA head may have been the smart one because everyone seems to be content with him just resigning), what structural changes need to be made to prevent this in the future, and once again, who is going to pay for it. It helps to get the flavor of what some people think because it will be fascinating to see how the various pols handle it.

The fact that it originated with that story from the Chronicle may have something to do with it. I don't want to rehash what has already been stated. I think most everyone here is smart enough, particularly after reading that lead in story, to realize we had a perfect storm of ineptitude. Let's just hope we don't have a perfect storm of ineptitude with what will take place now.

I may be concentrating on cost but it is going to be considerable. I think there are more political motivations than anything regarding a pullout of Iraq. But isn't interesting how everyone the sky filled with those military helos instantly. I agree but it means we have to pay for a lot of helos to be around and available. The military filled this job pretty well, once the systems premitted it, but if there had been a major earthquake in Cali or another hurricane in the region, things might not have been so peachy.

[EmeraldLexuSC3]

Money Earmarked for Evacuation Redirected

By RITA BEAMISH
Associated Press Writer

As far back as eight years ago, Congress ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to develop a plan for evacuating New Orleans during a massive hurricane, but the money instead went to studying the causeway bridge that spans the city's Lake Pontchartrain, officials say.

The outcome provides one more example of the government's failure to prepare for a massive but foreseeable catastrophe, said the lawmaker who helped secure the money for FEMA to develop the evacuation plan.

"They never used it for the intended purpose," said former Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La. "The whole intent was to give them resources so they could plan an evacuation of New Orleans that anticipated that a very large number of people would never leave."

In Hurricane Katrina's aftermath, attention has focused on the inability of local and federal officials to evacuate or prepare for the large number of poor people, many of them minorities, who had no access to transportation and remained behind.

That possibility was one of the concerns that led Congress in 1997 to set aside $500,000 for FEMA to create "a comprehensive analysis and plan of all evacuation alternatives for the New Orleans metropolitan area."

Frustrated two years later that nothing materialized, Congress strengthened its directive. This time it ordered "an evacuation plan for a Category 3 or greater storm, a levee break, flood or other natural disaster for the New Orleans area."

The $500,000 that Congress appropriated for the evacuation plan went to a commission that studied future options for the 24-mile bridge over Lake Pontchartrain, FEMA spokesman Butch Kinerney said.

The hefty report produced by the Greater New Orleans Expressway Commission "primarily was not about evacuation," said Robert Lambert, the general manager for the bridge expressway. "In general it was an overview of all the things we need to do" for the causeway through 2016.

Lambert said he could not trace how or if FEMA money came to the commission. Nor could Shelby LaSalle, a causeway consulting engineer who worked on the plan.

LaSalle said it would be "ludicrous" to consider his report an evacuation plan, although it had a transportation evacuation section, dated Dec. 19, 1997. That part was tacked on mainly to promote the causeway for future designation as an official evacuation route, LaSalle said.

"We didn't do anything for FEMA," he added.

Asked why the congressional mandate was never fulfilled, Barry Scanlon, senior vice president in the consulting firm of former FEMA Director James Lee Witt, said he believes the agency did what it needed when it gave the money to the state.

"FEMA received an earmark which it processed through to the state as instructed by Congress," Scanlon said. Witt is now a private consultant to Gov. Kathleen Blanco, D-La., on the Katrina aftermath.

Tauzin said he, too, could never find out where the money went. "They gave it to the causeway commission? That's wacky," he said.

At the time eight years ago, the Louisiana delegation had plenty of political muscle to get the money. Then-Rep. Bob Livingston, R-La., was chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, which controls the government's purse strings.

Livingston, now a lobbyist, said he could not explain what happened either, although he knew of other predictive hurricane studies over the years.

"Do I wish the study had been made? Sure, but now that's by the boards. We're doing the best we can right now to repair and rebuild," he said.

FEMA typically contracts its studies to private or government entities. Kinerney, the agency spokesman, said it appeared the money went through the Louisiana government. State emergency and transportation officials said they did not recall it.

After nothing came of its first directive, FEMA addressed the need for an evacuation plan "off and on" over the years, Kinerney said. Last year, the agency undertook the massive "Hurricane Pam" project that was supposed to create a comprehensive emergency plan for New Orleans.

That work was unfinished when Katrina struck, though its first phase involved an elaborate hurricane simulation that was eerily predictive of Katrina's disaster.

Asked about any earlier FEMA-funded plan, Mark Smith, spokesman for the state Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness, said, "To the best of our knowledge we can find no information on this."

Congress' 1999 language directed that FEMA consult with that state agency as well as the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development.

FEMA's parent agency, the Homeland Security Department, did provide $75,000 to print 1 million evacuation maps that were distributed this year for the state's updated transportation evacuation blueprint, state transportation spokesman Mark Lambert said.

That plan used phased evacuation orders and reverse-flow traffic patterns to avoid the highway snarls New Orleans saw during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.

But that plan was designed for traffic management, not to provide transportation or contingencies for the infirm, elderly and poor who could not get out on their own, officials said.

It appears to be a wasteful government (not suprisingly!) at our expense!

[RON430]

I have to tell that I was able to watch about 45 minutes of the ex FEMA director's testimony in front of Congress today and I certainly have different thoughts now. For those of you who are interested I would recommend NOT listening to Rush or Al Franken or any other extremist whacko but find out when CSPAN is rerunning his testimony and just watch it. This guy may not have pegged the competency meter but by no means was he a jerk. The media needed to hang someone and it was him.

Picking up some details of who did what to who, when, in Katrina was quite interesting. And the appropriations over the years that went to Louisiana for emergency preparedness that no one seems to know what happened to the money were pretty disgusting. Sort of makes you wonder if a few other people are hoping to avoid investigation. NOs chief of police obviously resigned today. Pretty strange timing.

There were definitely problems but I am not sure that FEMA was the heavy in this piece. And if I could vote on the rebuild issue again, I might be more inclined to vote No. I hate to think about the best thing being scattering people to the wind but every once in a while you have to wonder if it isn't for the better.