FEMA did its job?

Parent Cafe
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<p>Intersting tidbit on FOX news this morning - apparently FEMA is not a first responder, that is the pervue of the state government - but did offer to send in support, etc., Red Cross, to people at the Dome, but was told no by LA office - that they wanted to evacuate, not keep people there. The National Guard can only be called out by the state. A case of too many chiefs, too few workers. The second guessing starts…</p>

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<p>I heard an interview yesterday with a woman who served as an upper-level FEMA administrator for 22 years, spanning both Republican and Democratic administrations. (Sorry, I can’t remember her name). Anyway, she was unequivocal: FEMA’s response was awful. Especially bad was FEMA’s failure to exercise its authority (which it had as soon as a national emergency was declared) to pre-deploy available resources, including, as she said, “military assets.”</p>

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<p>I heard the same interview, and agree. What is coming out is that since FEMA has been moved to be under Homeland Security, the authority is no longer as clear cut. Doesn’t mean I don’t agree that they did a poor job, just that restructuring isn’t working. I see a major shift here. What came out of the news broadcast that I heard is that no matter the pecking order, when does commons ense rule???</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/state/epaper/2005/09/10/m1a_response_0910.html#[/url]”>http://www.palmbeachpost.com/storm/content/state/epaper/2005/09/10/m1a_response_0910.html#&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Government and commen sense?</p>

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<p>Common sense can rule after we kill all the lawyers.</p>

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<p>To those saying Bush was not paying attention</p>

<p>“Before landfall, President Bush, on vacation in Crawford, Texas, was briefed repeatedly on the storm’s progress. He was deeply engaged, issuing disaster relief orders, talking to the governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, and, on the Sunday before landfall, urging citizens in Katrina’s path to seek safety.”</p>

<p>This fairly balanced summary article indicates mistakes were made at all levels but with no malice.</p>

<p><a href=“http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002486672_katresponse11.html[/url]”>http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002486672_katresponse11.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Then how come he said no one knew the levees were going to break</p>

<p>Deeply engaged and he couldn’t leave the ranch</p>

<p>Cheney didn’t leave his vacation until Thursday</p>

<p>Why is FEMA still discussing things, shouldn’t things have been planned out before, especially the legal issues and the chain of command and what to do if the first reposders were overwhelmed? </p>

<p>To many reports of we are figuring that out</p>

<p>What have they been doing for 5 years? </p>

<p>Did Brown have any kind of accountability to Chertoff, and in turn to Bush? </p>

<p>After Pam last year and all the problems were highlighted, did FEMA see?
This was a multi-state disastor and FEMA wasn’t ready</p>

<p>No one knew, who expected, it was bigger than we thought</p>

<p>Well, that is their job to expect the worse and over prepare</p>

<p>Thank Goodness for the people actually doing the real work</p>

<p>They are wonderful</p>

<p>But the FEMA and DHS bosses, well, that is another story</p>

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<p><a href=“http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-plan11sep11,0,2153804.story[/url]”>http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-plan11sep11,0,2153804.story&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>long but interesting</p>

<p>if the Mayor and Gov didn’t do a stellar job, well ,neither did the Feds</p>

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<p>This is the link to the NPR story where Jane Bullock, formerly of FEMA, was interviewed: <a href=“http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4840373[/url]”>FEMA Veteran Decries Agency's Storm Response : NPR;

<p>This American Life, another NPR show, had interviews with Katrina evacuees; some of the stories are horrific. It’s not yet available on line, but this is the link: <a href=“http://www.thislife.org/[/url]”>http://www.thislife.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>

Why am I not surprised to see you agree with Dick the Butcher? ;)</p>

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<p>Don’t forget the little irony in that. FEMA heads are lawyers and spent days trying to deduce legal aspects of actions.</p>

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<p><a href=“http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/site/newsweek/?rf=technorati[/url]”>http://msnbc.msn.com/id/9287434/site/newsweek/?rf=technorati&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Newsweek article</p>