I’ve recently become aware that the first emergency declaration signed by the President for Louisiana was actually signed on Friday, August 26, 3 days before Katrina devastated the area. Even in that early “Statement of Emergency” the heavy role of the Federal Government is clearly defined.

Quote:

“FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, will be provided at 75 percent Federal funding.”
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

How more do you want it spelled out? FEMA was supposed to “identify” and “provide… equipment and resources.” They were supposed to keep an eye on the ball, to say or do something if Negin dropped it.

One thing about this press release, all the parishes cited as being granted a Title V of the Stafford Act are the northern parishes. Take a look at the map:
http://www.bobharris.com/images/stories/Katrina/bushincompetencemap.gif

Oh, I don’t know if any of you know what the Title V of the Stafford Act federally grants, but here’s another citation from that same press release, “The President’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), … under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives, protect property and public health and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe in the parishes of…”

Now, this is what worries me. If – after 9/11, the creation of DHS, the moneys spent on preparing America, all the investigations on 9/11 and the ones for WMD – we still have miscommunication between the different government levels and agencies, how are we sure we are prepared for another terrorist attack?

I think Katrina was the dress rehearsal, and we failed. Katrina was nature’s weapon of mass destruction. We don’t know how many people died, there’s about a million people displaced, some estimate that it could be 100 billion in losses, and we had 2 days of prior notice. What happens when we don’t have a 2 day notice?

(Observe, that I don’t say 2 days to prepare, because preparations for these kinds of events should’ve started the day the DHS was created. Remember, “the mission of DHS includes preparing for natural disasters and terrorist attacks.”)

Is this fiasco not the responsibility of the Federal government? If its not, then that’s the mistake, it should be.

I sure hope that when we finally do have to go on stage this failure saves us.

PS

To Porkopolis: You go and tell New Orleanans they were “saved.” Tell that to Mississippians as well. Tell that to people who lost family members because of starvation. The Federal government started responding when people from their own aisle started questioning their lack of responsiveness.

Video examples:
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Hannity-Colmes-Smith-Rivera-freak-in-NO.wmv
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/The-NewsHour-David-Brooks-bashes-Bush-Katrina.wmv

To all the others that are writing about Local response before Katrina hit are forgetting one simple little detail: THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TOOK OVER ON SUNDAY. The President declared a State of Emergency for the region, that’s above the Governor (who’s supposed to ask the President for the emergency declaration). Furthermore, on a August 29 memo, FEMA Director, Michael Brown, wrote to DHS Secretary, Michael Chertoff, the need for more volunteers in response to the “catastrophic event.” And, FEMA spokeswoman Natalie Rule later stated that “all of our [FEMA’s] first-responder teams pre-deployed [32 teams in all]… and were ready to go by Sunday.” Rule added, “his is deployment that requires that the governor make a request to the federal government.” In other words, Governor Blanco realized Katrina was beyond the scope of the State and that she would have to depend on the Federal government before the storm hit. Then she did what she had to, she called the President and FEMA. The timeline can’t be argued with.

Info on memo (its at the bottom of the page):
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/07/katrina.congress/index.html

Timeline video:
http://movies.crooksandliars.com/Countdown-Timeline-Katrina.wmv

If Nagin had done his job, the timeline of DHS coming in would have not been critical.

I invite you to review:

Looking for holes in this thesis on the so-called lack of federal response in New Orleans

——————–
Preparing America (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp )

“In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America’s families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.”

Planning and Prevention ( http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=14 )

“The mission of DHS includes preparing for natural disasters and terrorist attacks through preventative planning, technology, and coordinated efforts. In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, DHS will be the first federal department to utilize a full range of state, local, and private partnerships to alleviate the effects of a potential disaster.”
——————–

Moreover, you talk about your experience in the Northridge earthquake of 1994, but you forget everything changed after 9/11. The whole process was centralized under the DHS, so your experience, as real and horrific as it might have been, is outdated and can’t be used to compare with Katrina’s aftermath.

——————–
First Responders ( http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=63 )

“The first responders of this nation put themselves on the line every day to protect and help our communities. The Department of Homeland Security is committed to helping first responders nation-wide

-by ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared, equipped and trained for any situation, and

-by bringing together information and resources to prepare for and respond to a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency.”
——————–

With its creation, the DHS became responsible for assuring the preparedness of First Responders. If they aren’t prepared, trained, or are lacking in materials and equipment then its up to DHS to remedy that. Furthermore, Katrina wasn’t a simple everyday storm, it was a storm category five – catastrophic. And, as you’ve stated, the government knew about the threat of levee failure if a storm of enough force passed though New Orleans. The last study of this kind was funded by FEMA, so the Federal government knew this would be an Incident of National Significance.

——————–
Planning and Prevention (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0569.xml )

“For those events that rise to the level of an Incident of National Significance, the Department of Homeland Security provides operational and/or resource coordination for Federal support to on-scene incident command structures.”

Proactive Federal Response to Catastrophic Events

“The National Response Plan provides mechanisms for expedited and proactive Federal relief to ensure critical life-saving assistance and incident containment capabilities are in place to respond quickly and efficiently to catastrophic incidents. These are high-impact, low-probability incidents, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks that result in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions.”
——————–

To top it all off, on Sunday (8/29/05) the President highlighted the Federal government’s responsibility over Katrina when he granted a Presidential Emergency Declaration, and stated that such a declaration “will allow Federal agencies to coordinate all relief efforts.”

——————–
Multi-Agency Coordination Structures (http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0569.xml )

The National Response Plan establishes multi-agency coordinating structures at the field, regional and headquarters levels. These structures:

-Enable the execution of the responsibilities of the President through the appropriate Federal department and agencies;

-Integrate Federal, State, local, tribal, nongovernmental Organization, and private-sector efforts; and

-Provide a national capability that addresses both site-specific incident management activities and broader regional or national issues, such as impacts to the rest of the country, immediate regional or national actions required to avert or prepare for potential subsequent events, and the management of multiple incidents.
——————–

So, contrary to what you say and quote to support your claims, the Department of Homeland Security “assume[d] primary responsibility for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation” the day it was created, and therefore the primary responsibility for this fiasco. Looks to me like the Federal government is as much to blame (if not more) than local and state officials.

I do agree with you on something, leaders are important during moments like this, and I would also like to have a strong mayor, and I have. I lived tough 9/11, lost some friends, had others injured and traumatized. I helped set-up blood drives and shelters for those stuck in the city, and I was inspired by my Mayor, and my Governor, and my President. But everything is different for those suffering Katrina’s wrath.

I believe the Mayor and the Governor took too long in becoming outraged with Federal lack of responsiveness. After reading the DHS website I’m convinced it was the DHS’s responsibility to manage something they know could be this big. – With all that’s gone on, it scares me to think the DHS is responsible for us during a terrorist attack. – I also believe the President, as strong and reassured as he made me feel in 9/11, was the complete opposite for the Katrina survivors. We lost a city, and it took him and his staff three days to realize it. By the way, has anyone seen Dick Chaney?