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Katrina Research
During Katrina and for several weeks afterward, I worked with a small
group on democraticunderground.com to compile info about the disaster
and various efforts in response to it, effectual and not.
If you've done this sort of thing, you know that certain key articles
have a way of disappearing off the 'net. We managed to save a few of
those, along with a lot of other information including some survivors’
personal accounts.
The info was compiled in a DU forum thread. The initial post describes
the method used to organize the info. It’s followed by a (lengthy) list of topic/post headings,
which is followed in turn by the actual posts containing the info.
To minimize possible copyright violations, the posts usually contain
four paragraphs or less, plus a link to the source quoted. The page you
are viewing now contains nearly 155,000 words but would be much longer
if the full texts linked to were included.
The organization is only partial -- sorry, it was a crisis-driven group
effort in a not-so-well adapted medium. So there may be info relating
to the same topic in more than one section. To find info on a particular
topic, I recommend you search this page for key words, and be sure to
search through the whole page.
I apologize that, at least for now, many of the links are truncated
and won't work; but there are hundreds of links that would need to be
mended, and when I found access to the original thread denied at least from certain directions, I became concerned that it might be worthwhile to preserve
a copy of the info, even if incomplete, in this form. To get the full URL for any link, try going
to http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x22805
and look for it under the applicable post number indicated below.
If the full link is not shown, right-click on what there is of it and
you should have the option to copy the full link.
The dates in the post headings generally refer to the date on which
the info was found, rather than the date of the source. I do not vouch
for the accuracy of the information, which was compiled from a wide array of sources and which some posters augmented with their own editorial comments.
The first 6th or so is just topic headings; so, like, unless you want an overvew, pls just skip to the words/phrases you're interested in, or the substantive stuff in general.
Research Thread
(From
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=106x22805)
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:07 PM
Original message
DUers Katrina Research Thread: Organized by categories
I am starting this thread to organize information about hurricane Katrina.
Please please please help keep this site organized. We need a place
where people can find information fast. Here is the design. First I
will establish categories as replies to the original post. Each of these
will be like a folder. If you have links to articles please put them
in the right folder-reply-post. The folder-reply-category-posts will
have names such as the following:
Before K: Info about the likely consequences Scientific articles
Befork K: Info about likely consequences madia articles
Before K: What the Government knew
Just before K: Weather and news alerts
Just before K: Govt action..city, state, fed
Before K: FEMA
During K: FEMA
After K: FEMA
If you add any information to these categories, please format the information
as follows:
subject line: date first, title of article
message area: link to the article(that has been refreshed), brief description
of the article or post from it so that someone can immediately figure
out what it is about.
Please use this thread only to organize material into categories. If
you do not see your category already listed, please only add new categories
if you use the format listed above: pre- K, during K, and after K. Tomorrow
we will start a new category called after September 8.
Please also do not use this thread to post replies, comments, or request
for information.
Thanks for your understanding and patience while I get this organized.
If you want to help in this endeavor, I would love to have your support.
I am no Lone Ranger and could use help getting this organized. If you
can help, please PM me and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Thanks so much : grouphug:
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Replies to this thread
Pre K. Weather reports and damage predictions just before
storm.
mom cat
Sep-07-05 04:13 PM
#1
Aug 29: Expert: Katrina could unleash disaster...CNN
mom cat
Sep-07-05 04:19 PM
#2
Aug 29: DU thread: New Orleans braces for monster hurricane
mom cat
Sep-07-05 04:28 PM
#3
Buses were used to PU people at 12 locations:
babylonsister
Sep-09-05 08:46 AM
#249
This link is dead...does anyone have
a copy of it?
lateo
Sep-19-05 03:02 PM
#538
9/9: Simulation Just Pre-K Predicted 61,290 Dead
snot
Sep-09-05 04:54 PM
#265
2004, pre-election:
babylonsister
Sep-10-05 02:05 PM
#315
Sept 10: Santorum slams pre K weather forecasting!
mom cat
Sep-10-05 09:12 PM
#348
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Prior Knowledge Laundry List
snot
Sep-11-05 12:36 PM
#390
Post K: Aid to NOLA blocked
mom cat
Sep-07-05 04:39 PM
#4
Sept 2: National guard not allowing aid into the city
mom cat
Sep-07-05 04:44 PM
#5
ongoing, Katrina Evacuee Relocation Thread
preciousdove
Sep-07-05 06:19 PM
#6
Timeline of aid prevention and refusal:
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:45 AM
#151
Sept 3: Red Cross barred from NOLA
mom cat
Sep-08-05 11:17 AM
#202
Homeland Security
mom cat
Sep-09-05 07:47 PM
#280
9/13 E-mail from friend Re- a Cameraman's View
snot
Sep-13-05 02:14 PM
#433
9/14 Sequel: A Concentration of Horrific
Pain, Lots o' Cops Doing Not Much
snot
Sep-14-05 09:52 PM
#481
Sept 2: Daley 'shocked' at federal snub of offers to help
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:10 PM
#207
Sept 3: New Mexico National Guard delayed
mom cat
Sep-09-05 07:28 PM
#279
Sep 3: Fearing riots, Guard rejects food airdrops
mom cat
Sep-09-05 07:51 PM
#281
Sep 2: Bush: had not requested foreign help and did not
need it
mom cat
Sep-09-05 07:58 PM
#282
9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA's Rescue Team Cools Heels in
Dallas
snot
Sep-11-05 12:58 PM
#400
quod erat demonstrandum: It Was Intentional
understandinglife
Sep-13-05 07:47 PM
#452
more examples of FEMA blocking evacuation and aid
philb
Sep-14-05 09:58 PM
#482
snips from articles on FEMA blocking
aid to N. O.
philb
Sep-14-05 10:00 PM
#483
I'll do what I can.
fooj
Sep-07-05 07:39 PM
#7
After K: FEMA
mom cat
Sep-07-05 07:56 PM
#8
Sept 5: Why FEMA turned awal help..daily Kos
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:16 PM
#9
Sept 5: Fema won't accept Amtrak's help in the evacuation
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:30 PM
#11
Sept 5: FEMA turns back Walmart trucks etc...NYT
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:23 PM
#10
FEMA-Homeland Sec block food from Red Cross
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:34 PM
#12
Sept 2: FEMA turns away morticians
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:43 PM
#13
Sept3: FEMA blocks 500 boats
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:47 PM
#14
Sep FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital
on board
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:53 PM
#15
FEMA attempted to block planes evacuating hospitals
snot
Sep-07-05 10:18 PM
#49
Thread with info re- FEMA refusing or delaying help (all
time periods)
snot
Sep-07-05 10:38 PM
#59
From FEMA's website: FEMA's claims process
snot
Sep-07-05 10:45 PM
#64
Offer of help from foreign nations
snot
Sep-07-05 11:55 PM
#91
Glad that you captured this...it is now MIA
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:19 AM
#139
09/09: more on swedish plane.
skids
Sep-09-05 10:26 AM
#250
Sept 6: Frustrated Firemen hand out flyers for FEMA
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:13 AM
#93
Report from a Psychologist treating evacuees
snot
Sep-08-05 12:32 AM
#105
Sept 6: Would-be rescuers cool their heels (FEMA's own
rescuers)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:35 AM
#107
DU thread with multiple links re- FEMA's botched response
snot
Sep-08-05 12:48 AM
#119
1,000 firefighters to be used as community-relations officers
for FEMA
snot
Sep-08-05 12:58 AM
#123
A compilation of help rejected by FEMA, mostly After
snot
Sep-08-05 01:05 AM
#125
FEMA diverted copters w/ sandbags to pick up people at
a church
snot
Sep-08-05 01:08 AM
#126
***After K: FEMA CHIEF: MICHAEL BROWN
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:28 AM
#133
Sept 6: FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:34 AM
#135
Sept 3: Brown didn't know about the convention center
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:29 AM
#306
FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help
Bush Win Fla. Votes
mom cat
Sep-10-05 08:25 PM
#333
Sept 6: FEMA Turned Away Aid, Rescue Crews, Cut Emergency
Communication
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:31 AM
#140
Sept 2: Loudoun deputies can't reach FEMA, Louisiana officials
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:44 AM
#150
Minstrel' boy's post on this
mom cat
Sep-08-05 04:08 AM
#163
CA firefighters (9/11 rescuers) barred from N.O. for a
week
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:05 AM
#161
Who redirected helicopters leading to flooding of New Orleans?
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:06 AM
#162
Many cases of hampered rescue efforts
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:30 AM
#170
FEMA Deliberately Sabotaging Hurricane Relief Efforts
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:45 AM
#177
Sept 1: FEMA to rescue workers: Pay for your own gas!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:41 AM
#192
Sept 1:THE BOY SCOUTS!! THE FREAKING BOY SCOUTS!!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 10:20 AM
#199
Aug 29: FEMA: First Responders urged not to respond...unless..
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:01 PM
#213
Amazing story of Gore at NOLA - - details of how FEMA tried
to stop him
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:28 PM
#234
JP's Maestri said FEMA didn't keep its word
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:19 PM
#240
9/9 Swedish plane full with aid waiting since 6 days for
an US order
snot
Sep-09-05 04:48 PM
#263
Sept 9: Embattled Brown Taken Off Katrina Duty
mom cat
Sep-09-05 04:55 PM
#266
Sept 2: Slow response bewilders former FEMA officials
mom cat
Sep-09-05 05:06 PM
#267
Sept 5: State of Art Mobile Hospital from UNC Turned Away
mom cat
Sep-09-05 05:44 PM
#270
Sept 4: Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts (100's of medical
people)
mom cat
Sep-09-05 06:19 PM
#275
9/10 (orig 9/2) Per FAA, not ONE plane reported being shot
at
snot
Sep-10-05 09:06 PM
#345
9/10 (orig 9/2) Troops Entering N.O. Find LACK of Violence
snot
Sep-10-05 09:21 PM
#353
See also
snot
Sep-10-05 11:47 PM
#386
9/10 (orig post 9/3) Landrieu Re- FEMA Rejection of Offers,
17th St. Levee
snot
Sep-10-05 10:20 PM
#367
Sept 11: NYT..(no FEMA's failures) Disarray Marked the
Path From Hurricane
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:54 PM
#374
Sept 11: State officials say FEMA too slow on housing
mom cat
Sep-11-05 06:27 PM
#415
Paulson...the new FEMA Director
mom cat
Sep-13-05 06:00 PM
#450
Sept 13 Paulson and duct tape
mom cat
Sep-13-05 06:03 PM
#451
9/13 A Volunteer in Miss.: FEMA Nowhere, but its Obstacles
Are Everywhere
snot
Sep-14-05 12:08 AM
#454
Raw Story, from WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled"
Katrina response
mom cat
Sep-14-05 12:19 AM
#457
9/13 Blanco gives up on FEMA, hires firm herself to recover
Louisiana dead
snot
Sep-14-05 12:42 AM
#463
9/14 Firm hired by Blanco is subsidiary of one FEMA would
have hired
snot
Sep-14-05 11:43 AM
#479
9/13 Chertoff STILL Impeding FEMA Efforts
snot
Sep-14-05 12:56 AM
#467
9-14 re 9-13: Chertoff delayed federal response, memo shows
mom cat
Sep-14-05 09:23 AM
#478
9-14KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed
Federal Katrina Response
mom cat
Sep-15-05 10:49 AM
#487
9/13 WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled" Katrina
response
snot
Sep-14-05 01:05 AM
#468
9/14 Man Saved Day 16 Bec. N.G. Lt. Broke FEMA Order Not
to Search Homes
snot
Sep-15-05 01:24 AM
#485
9/15 Brown admits calling WH within hours of Katrina's
hit
snot
Sep-15-05 09:50 PM
#488
9-15 "Sick and Abandoned" FEMA blocked emergency
hospital
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:07 PM
#490
9-15KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed Federal Katrina
Response
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:12 PM
#491
9/16 FEMA Officials Were Shocked @ Failure of Brown &
Chertoff to Mobilize
snot
Sep-16-05 03:32 PM
#503
More pieces on similar subject
snot
Sep-17-05 06:14 PM
#516
9/16 FEMA Ordered Dr. to STOP Treating Victims--Watched
2 Die
snot
Sep-17-05 01:08 AM
#507
9/16 Oil Workers Get New Homes Fast
snot
Sep-17-05 01:20 AM
#508
9/16 Criteria for FEMA Aid Not to Be Divulged to Victims???
snot
Sep-17-05 01:34 AM
#509
9/17 NYT: FEMA, Slow to the Rescue, Now Stumbles in Aid
Effort
snot
Sep-17-05 02:42 PM
#511
9/17 Michael Moore Rpts His Own Relief Efforts, & FEMA's
Complete Absence
snot
Sep-17-05 03:47 PM
#514
9/18 People Are Still Dying and FEMA's Still Ignoring Them
snot
Sep-18-05 04:47 PM
#520
9/18 FEMA ordering ALL recovered bodies be prayed over
snot
Sep-19-05 01:10 PM
#529
9/18 Where Were the 500 FEMA Busses?
snot
Sep-19-05 01:18 PM
#533
8-29-FEMA and the busses
mom cat
Sep-23-05 02:02 PM
#551
Pre K: Scientific info on probable damage
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:55 PM
#16
Scientific American: Drowning New Orleans
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:17 AM
#96
Popular Mechanics: New Orleans Is Sinking
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:18 AM
#98
Natural Hazards Observer: What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not
Missed NO?
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:36 AM
#108
PBS NOW: New Orleans and the Delta
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:37 AM
#109
LSU Study: Would New Orleans Really Flood in a Major Hurricane
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:38 AM
#110
Nat'l Geographic: Gone with the Water
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:41 AM
#112
9/10 (orig 9/2) Models predicted New Orleans disaster,
experts say
snot
Sep-10-05 09:01 PM
#343
Pre K: Media articles on probable damage
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:57 PM
#17
DU thread with multiple links
snot
Sep-08-05 12:46 AM
#116
Pre K: Fed Govt knowledge about probable damage
mom cat
Sep-07-05 08:58 PM
#18
Disaster in the Making (RE FEMA)
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:22 AM
#100
2001, FEMA warned a hurricane at N.O. was one of 3 most
likely disasters
snot
Sep-08-05 01:21 AM
#129
Sept 9: Hurricane Simulation Predicted 61,290 Dead (They
KNEW!)
mom cat
Sep-09-05 02:23 PM
#256
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Prior Knowledge Laundry List
snot
Sep-11-05 12:37 PM
#391
9/17 Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema Would
Fail Floods
snot
Sep-18-05 01:46 AM
#517
9-18-05-!! Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema
Would Fail Floo
mom cat
Sep-18-05 11:06 PM
#523
Pre K: State of LA knowledge about probable damage
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:00 PM
#19
PBS NOW transcript The City in a Bowl
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:21 AM
#99
Pre K: Feds block action to prevent NOLA didaster
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:01 PM
#20
Corps of Engineers' Civilian Chief Ousted
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:27 PM
#87
Bush fired head of Corps of Engineers for slamming budget
cuts
snot
Sep-08-05 12:51 AM
#120
Aug 31, 2005: Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
mom cat
Sep-10-05 12:14 PM
#310
9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA Action to REDUCE Volunteer Pool
snot
Sep-11-05 12:49 PM
#397
Pre K: Bush guts disaster relief
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:03 PM
#21
NOLA U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Record Cuts
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:24 AM
#102
Disaster in the Making (RE FEMA)
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:25 AM
#103
FEMA packed with W's pals
snot
Sep-08-05 12:42 AM
#114
DU thread with multiple links re- Bush crippling FEMA
snot
Sep-08-05 12:46 AM
#117
Brown's earlier scandal
snot
Sep-08-05 01:24 AM
#131
9/10 (orig 9/2) Brown fired from previous job
snot
Sep-10-05 09:08 PM
#346
9/10 (orig 9/2) More on Brown
snot
Sep-10-05 09:20 PM
#352
9/11 Just when you thought you heard it all about Brownie
snot
Sep-12-05 01:55 AM
#421
Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending
Issues
snot
Sep-08-05 01:33 AM
#134
Mitigation program eliminated, etc.
snot
Sep-08-05 01:41 AM
#136
July 24, 2005 - Poor : You are on your own (for evaccuation)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 11:05 AM
#201
Sept 1 *** Important timeline on FEMA and the cuts****
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:31 PM
#209
FEMA Union Prez says Bush weakened FEMA & that FEMA
was unprepared
snot
Sep-09-05 12:06 AM
#244
9/9 E-mail fr friend re- Article on Brown & Bush Cronyism/Corruption
snot
Sep-09-05 01:29 PM
#252
Aug 29: Disaster experts: Federal government wasn't ready
for Katrina
mom cat
Sep-09-05 04:42 PM
#262
9/10 E-mail fr friend w/ analysis of Brown's resume
snot
Sep-10-05 08:22 PM
#332
Sept10: Texas Republicans on FEMA
mom cat
Sep-10-05 08:52 PM
#339
9/11 (orig post 9/5) From Hurricane Guru Jeff Masters;
Evacuation of Poor
snot
Sep-11-05 12:22 PM
#387
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched
response
snot
Sep-11-05 12:27 PM
#388
9/19 FEMA Employee Opinions worst I have ever seen, period
snot
Sep-19-05 09:47 PM
#543
Pre K: Clinton builds emergency preparedness
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:04 PM
#22
9/10 E-mail fr friend Comparing Pres'l Actions Re- Hurricanes
Past
snot
Sep-10-05 03:08 PM
#316
Just prior to K: Official Fed announcements and declarations
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:19 PM
#23
Dated Aug 27(?):official: White House declaration
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:31 PM
#215
Sept 8: From the WH press release: BUSH DIDN'T MOVE TO
PROTECT NO AT ALL!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:36 PM
#216
Katrinatimeline
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:44 PM
#220
These "missing counties" are included in the
8/29 posting ..
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:20 PM
#218
Sept 8, 2005...copy of Aug 29 from whitehouse .gov.
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:27 PM
#219
Disaster declarations
snot
Sep-08-05 11:49 PM
#242
9/10 (orig 9/4) Bush Suspended Posse Comatatus???
snot
Sep-10-05 11:36 PM
#382
9-13: Sen. Warner & Snow: "revise"
Posse Comitatus & Insurrection
mom cat
Sep-14-05 01:20 AM
#471
Just prior to K: Announcements and declarations of various
states
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:24 PM
#24
DU thread w/ info re- Blanco's announcments August 26 -
28
snot
Sep-07-05 10:02 PM
#44
August 28...Blanco's letter to Bush (trhough the FEMA regional
director)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:45 AM
#143
Are people seriously buying that "Bush told Blanco
first" emergency crap?
mom cat
Sep-08-05 08:08 AM
#184
Yes, they're buying it! Rove/GOP also told WP and Newsweek
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 01:42 PM
#217
Aug Aug 26...Gov Blanco declares state of emergency
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:08 PM
#222
9/10 (orig 9/3) Debunking the WaPo: Blanco Requested Fed
Aid on 8/28!
snot
Sep-10-05 10:30 PM
#371
Natl Hurricane Center's Mayfield held video conf. w/ Bush
8/28
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:57 PM
#212
August 26: Gov, Blanco's press releace: Conference call
for aug27
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:55 PM
#221
Disaster declarations
snot
Sep-08-05 11:50 PM
#243
9/13 Report Confirms Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely
Steps
snot
Sep-14-05 12:22 AM
#458
9/13 Nonpartisan Congressiona Rpt finds LA governor took
necessary steps
snot
Sep-14-05 12:51 AM
#466
Just prior to and durikg K; What the Bush doing and not
doing
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:27 PM
#25
Bush refuses call from Nagin
mom cat
Sep-08-05 07:08 PM
#225
no link found on that site.
mom cat
Sep-23-05 07:35 PM
#553
Great summary of the Bush disregard of the danger: He kept
playing!
mom cat
Sep-10-05 01:51 PM
#314
Sept 13, what Bush was doing
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:15 PM
#442
Just prior to and during K: What top level Bush admins
were doing and not
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:29 PM
#26
9-16- Conflicting accounts from top on Katrina response
mom cat
Sep-16-05 12:04 AM
#496
9/18 Where Were the 500 FEMA Busses?
snot
Sep-19-05 01:17 PM
#532
9/18 Rove was in hospital for 24-36 hours; Gov't paralysed
snot
Sep-19-05 01:22 PM
#534
9/22 Chertoff Relied on Commercial Weather Instead of Nat'l
Hurricane Ctr
snot
Sep-22-05 09:34 PM
#550
Just prior to and durikg K: What FEMA and Homeland Security
were
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:31 PM
#27
MSM last night,-Locals say explosives opened ninth ward
levee
snot
Sep-08-05 12:56 AM
#122
8/29 interview with Mike Brown (FEMA)
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:02 AM
#160
9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA Action to REDUCE Volunteer Pool
snot
Sep-11-05 12:50 PM
#398
9/13 FEMA operation manual for disaster workers
snot
Sep-13-05 02:20 PM
#435
After K: Bush photo op stories
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:32 PM
#28
Sept 4: Bush tour a 'photo op': Louisiana senator
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:23 PM
#85
The firefighters' FEMA story -- last paragraph.
skids
Sep-08-05 12:22 AM
#101
Also discussed in this thread
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:52 AM
#182
Sept2: Bush visit halted 3 tons of food being delivered..(Raw
Story)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 11:51 AM
#204
Sept2: Bush visit halted 3 tons of food being delivered..(Raw
Story)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 11:57 AM
#205
Sept 4: A Bhush with (laura) Bush in NO (feeding stopped)
mom cat
Sep-09-05 07:03 PM
#278
Sept 3: Bush faked levee repair for photo op yesterday
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:34 AM
#308
9/10 (orig 9/2) The 2 Black Girls were just visiting Biloxi
to shop
snot
Sep-10-05 09:24 PM
#355
9/10 (orig 9/2) How CNN Rptd Biloxi Photo Op vs. German
TV
snot
Sep-10-05 09:34 PM
#358
9/10 (orig 9/4) Photo Ops Blocking Relief
snot
Sep-10-05 11:24 PM
#380
9/16 Power ON for Bush's speach, DARKNESS 1 hour later
snot
Sep-16-05 11:01 AM
#498
After K: The collapse if the 17th Street Canaland subsequent
flooding
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:34 PM
#29
Sept 4: Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breaches
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:00 AM
#187
Aug 30: Water rising at 17th St. canal
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 06:52 AM
#302
9-23: The flooding returns to the 9th ward
mom cat
Sep-23-05 05:21 PM
#552
Just prior to and during K... The evaccuation declarations
and efforts
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:35 PM
#30
9/9: Report from Aug. 28 Shows Nagin Ordered Busses to
Be Used
snot
Sep-09-05 04:51 PM
#264
9/10 (orig 9/2) N.O. Told Poor You're on Your Own Getting
Out
snot
Sep-10-05 09:30 PM
#357
9/18 Blanco Still Waiting to Know: Where Were the 500 FEMA
Busses?
snot
Sep-19-05 01:15 PM
#531
Just prior to and during K: The people who could not get
out
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:37 PM
#31
After K: Delays in military deployment, Eventual deployment
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:41 PM
#32
Pre K: Superdome: Refuge of last resort
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:43 PM
#33
Preparations for use of Superdome 3 days food for 15,000
brought to
mom cat
Sep-09-05 01:34 PM
#254
During K: Superdome - conditions inside and out
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:46 PM
#34
After K: Superdome: Conditions become intolerable
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:47 PM
#35
After K: Superdome..Evaccuation stalled
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:49 PM
#36
Sept 2: Geraldo at the dome
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:43 PM
#62
Sept 3: Guardsmen Halt Evacuation at Superdome
mom cat
Sep-09-05 05:25 PM
#269
Baby lived and died in Superdom :
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:47 AM
#152
9/10 (orig 9/4) Evacuees on Superdome Horrors During Final
Days
snot
Sep-10-05 11:07 PM
#375
Military Angry...Bush should have been giving orders
snot
Sep-08-05 12:43 AM
#115
9/10 (orig 9/3) See also these from CNN and BBC:
snot
Sep-10-05 10:26 PM
#369
Officials: Guard Deployment Hurt Response
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:51 PM
#326
9/10 (from post 9/3?) "As a vet, I can't BELIEVE the
lack of response!!!
snot
Sep-10-05 08:47 PM
#338
9/10 (orig 9/2) National Guard Delay (no approval by WH
til Thurs!) Likely
snot
Sep-10-05 09:16 PM
#350
9/10 (orig 9/4) Video and Transcript of Local Officials
Begging for Help
snot
Sep-10-05 11:21 PM
#379
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Northern Command Was Waiting for Bush
Orders
snot
Sep-11-05 12:41 PM
#393
After K: Media hyping violence and "looting"
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:50 PM
#37
Consequences: people stuck on overpass.
skids
Sep-07-05 10:52 PM
#69
Racial bias: European/affluent tourists "looted"
too (same article)
skids
Sep-07-05 10:55 PM
#70
Denial of shooting at helicopters buried in the same report
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:17 AM
#147
9/10 (orig 9/2) Per FAA, not ONE plane reported being shot
at
snot
Sep-10-05 09:03 PM
#344
9/10 (orig 9/2) Troops Entering N.O. Find LACK of Violence
snot
Sep-10-05 09:22 PM
#354
After K: Succesful rescue efforts
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:52 PM
#38
Privately organized planes evacuated hospitals
snot
Sep-07-05 10:20 PM
#50
Navy Pilots Who Rescued Victims Are Reprimanded
snot
Sep-07-05 10:37 PM
#58
College student in 2wd Hyundai evacuates 7 people from
convention center.
skids
Sep-07-05 10:44 PM
#63
The first Renegade bus
skids
Sep-07-05 10:47 PM
#66
More about Jabbar Gibson and the borowed bus
mom cat
Sep-09-05 06:05 PM
#273
09/06: Sports illustrated article
skids
Sep-08-05 12:38 AM
#111
9/10 (orig 9/4) Gibson May Face Arrest After Bus Escape
snot
Sep-10-05 11:28 PM
#381
9/12 Will Pitt's Girlfriend's Ex-Boyfriend from Krypton
snot
Sep-13-05 01:18 AM
#430
After K: blocked rescue efforts (other than FEMA which
is posted above)
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:53 PM
#39
After K: Blocked Escape Efforts
snot
Sep-07-05 11:05 PM
#75
Trapped medical workers in NOLA
snot
Sep-07-05 11:09 PM
#77
Deliberate containment of evacuees in New Orleans
snot
Sep-08-05 01:13 AM
#128
evaccues fired upon to keep then out of a white area:First
person account
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:31 AM
#148
Sept 3: Troops begin combat operations in New Orleans
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:26 AM
#305
Guardian: people could get in...Why couldn't the people
leave,?
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:14 PM
#214
9/9 Cops Nearby Admit They Blocked Survivors from Leaving
N.O.
snot
Sep-09-05 03:01 PM
#258
an account from News Orleans
mom cat
Sep-10-05 12:01 AM
#300
9/10 (orig 9/2) First Hand Account -- Escape Blocked by
Police
snot
Sep-10-05 09:12 PM
#349
Sept 2: Message from a Louisianna relief worker-PLEASE
READ!!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 08:46 AM
#186
Aug 31: Flotilla of rescue boats turned back
mom cat
Sep-08-05 10:42 AM
#200
Sept 3: 200 evacuees turned back by National Guard
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:32 AM
#307
9/10 (orig 9/4) Blogged Report from Charity Hospital
snot
Sep-10-05 11:17 PM
#378
9-13:re earlier pres diversion of power crews away from
hospitals
mom cat
Sep-14-05 01:33 AM
#472
After K: Quotes from Bush, Barbare, and other Bush top
admins and
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:55 PM
#40
Sept 9: DeLay to evacuees: 'Is this kind of fun?'
mom cat
Sep-09-05 06:36 PM
#276
Full story on Chronicle's Domeblog
mom cat
Sep-09-05 06:38 PM
#277
09/09: several quotes DU thread.
skids
Sep-09-05 11:25 PM
#297
09/10: 25 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane
Katrina
skids
Sep-10-05 09:02 AM
#309
Sept 9: A compilation of stupid, insensitive quotes by
Repubs re: Katrina
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:37 PM
#323
Sept 10: DU thread of quotes:
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:07 PM
#364
Sept 10:Rescuers collect dead, Cheney sounds upbeat
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:12 PM
#
Sept 10:on our way to getting on top of the whole Katrina
exercise. Cheney
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:22 PM
#368
Barbara Bush's statement
mom cat
Sep-12-05 11:57 AM
#424
Julian Bind: George Bush should put a muzzle on his mother
mom cat
Sep-12-05 11:58 AM
#425
Sep13VID - Bush on CNN: self-congratulatory about his handling
of Katrina
mom cat
Sep-13-05 05:43 PM
#448
After K: Statements by Democrats appalled by the rescue
efforts
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:57 PM
#41
Sept 8: Pelosi blasts Bush, demands that Brown resign
mom cat
Sep-08-05 06:59 PM
#224
9/18 Clinton holding Bush accountable on Iraq, Katrina
and budget
snot
Sep-19-05 01:12 PM
#530
9/19 Edwards calls for return of depression era programs
snot
Sep-19-05 01:36 PM
#536
After K: Statements by repubs appalled by fed - Bush response
mom cat
Sep-07-05 09:59 PM
#42
After K: Statements by media appalled by the fed - Bush
responce
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:00 PM
#43
Sept 3:New Orleans Paper Slams Federal Response on Saturday
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:18 PM
#82
Sept 2: The big disconnect on New Orleans...CNN
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:33 PM
#89
Holy shit. Cafferty surmises that the Bush photo op and
the convoy
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:58 AM
#157
Sept 4: CBS takes off the gloves!
mom cat
Sep-09-05 05:53 PM
#271
Sept 4: Face the Nation. PDF transcript containg above
quote
mom cat
Sep-09-05 05:56 PM
#272
Sept 4: Sunday papers (including conservative ones) rip
Bush hurricane res
mom cat
Sep-09-05 06:12 PM
#274
**Sept 9:Bush Losing Support From His Base **
mom cat
Sep-09-05 10:56 PM
#294
9/10 (orig post 9/2) CNN on Discrepancy Btw Fed Version
& Truth
snot
Sep-10-05 09:46 PM
#362
9/11 Newsweek: Good Article Summarizing "How Bush
Blew It"
snot
Sep-11-05 01:23 PM
#403
9/16 Show by Ted Koppell going through day by day
snot
Sep-16-05 03:45 PM
#505
9/17 Reaction of European Media
snot
Sep-17-05 03:00 PM
#512
9/19 Scathing Editorial by in Fredericksburg Paper
snot
Sep-19-05 01:37 PM
#537
After K: Statements by citizens appalled by the fed - Bush
responce
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:03 PM
#45
Sept 11: Man in Water in LA Yells: " I voted for that
idiot! How Stupid Am
mom cat
Sep-11-05 05:26 PM
#410
Sept 11:Welcome to DU Dr. Ben Marble of "go fuck yourself
cheney" fame
mom cat
Sep-11-05 05:32 PM
#411
Julian Bonb: George Bush should put a muzzle on his mother
mom cat
Sep-12-05 11:56 AM
#423
After K: Media articles supporting the Bush - fed responce
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:13 PM
#46
Where to Point the Fingers (Krauthammer witches and Jews
article)
mom cat
Sep-09-05 04:09 PM
#259
Sep 13Wash Post exposed shilling for WH re: Blanco smear,
issues retractio
mom cat
Sep-13-05 05:48 PM
#449
After K: Repub support of Bush - fed responce.
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:14 PM
#47
After K: International Relief : offers made: accepted,refused
or stymied
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:16 PM
#48
Sept 6: Canada, France, U.K. Militaries Dispatch Aid to
U.S.
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:41 AM
#113
60 nations offered help
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:55 AM
#183
Extensive list of all countries (in German)
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:21 PM
#230
Sept 7:Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed
for Days
mom cat
Sep-08-05 08:20 PM
#238
9/9 Swedish plane full with aid waiting since 6 days for
an US order
snot
Sep-09-05 05:11 PM
#268
Sept 2: World mobilises to aid US victims
mom cat
Sep-09-05 08:05 PM
#283
Sept 1: Scott McClellan: "We are NOT requesting international
aid."
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:00 AM
#303
Sept 10: German plane with Katrina aid turned back from
U.S.
mom cat
Sep-10-05 01:02 PM
#312
Original article from Der Speigel...in German
mom cat
Sep-10-05 01:04 PM
#313
9/19 Tons of British Aid to Be Burned
snot
Sep-19-05 09:15 PM
#539
After K: Contracts to Halliburton & other Bush supporters:
note if no bid
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:23 PM
#51
Sept 1: *****YES***** SEPT 1!*****Halliburton hired for
storm cleanup*****
mom cat
Sep-08-05 08:33 AM
#185
Sept 4: FEMA privatized hurricane disaster recovery planning
mom cat
Sep-08-05 11:38 AM
#203
Three FEMA contractors arrested for looting in Plaquemines
Parish
snot
Sep-08-05 11:47 PM
#241
9/8 Fed contractors won't have to pay "prevailing
wage" to workers
snot
Sep-09-05 02:47 PM
#257
9/17 Pres. Failed to Comply w/ Req'ts for Activating Emergency
Powers
snot
Sep-17-05 02:40 PM
#510
9/10 (orig post 9/2) Halliburton Contract to Repair Katrina
Damage
snot
Sep-10-05 08:59 PM
#341
9/30 Roof tarping scam.
skids
Sep-30-05 01:31 PM
#557
Pre, during and after: The race factor in the disaster
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:26 PM
#52
Sept 7: Dean Race played role in death toll
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:58 PM
#71
Sept 8: Molly Ivins on the race card and the "looters"
mom cat
Sep-10-05 08:36 PM
#335
9/11 (orig post 9/5) "It's the blacks..we always worried
this would happen
snot
Sep-11-05 12:43 PM
#394
Sep 12: Blasphemy about New Orleans: A god with whom i
am not familiar
mom cat
Sep-12-05 03:40 PM
#426
9/12 Spiegel on Fallout for Rove's Designs on the Black
Vote
snot
Sep-12-05 10:26 PM
#428
Before, during and after K: Ray Nagin
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:30 PM
#53
Sept2: Audio of interview with Nagin ... Kos
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:35 PM
#56
Sept 2: Mayor to Feds: Get off your asses
mom cat
Sep-07-05 10:47 PM
#65
Nagin's Use of N.O. Busses
snot
Sep-08-05 01:00 AM
#124
9/11 Nagin: Only 200 Guardsmen in early days
snot
Sep-11-05 01:16 PM
#401
Attempts to Block Communications
snot
Sep-07-05 10:32 PM
#54
Ham Radio help refused
snot
Sep-07-05 10:40 PM
#60
Evacuees isolated and warned not to talk to media
snot
Sep-07-05 10:42 PM
#61
Telecom Jamming
snot
Sep-07-05 10:48 PM
#67
Cuting of phone lines
mom cat
Sep-09-05 10:21 PM
#292
9/13 Wi-Fi and WiMax to be set up for emergency reconnect
snot
Sep-13-05 02:27 PM
#441
Attempts to Censor or Restrict Media
snot
Sep-07-05 10:32 PM
#55
Media restricted from Astrodome
snot
Sep-07-05 10:36 PM
#57
More problems at Astrodome
snot
Sep-07-05 10:51 PM
#68
Evacuees in lockdown in Colorado
snot
Sep-08-05 12:15 AM
#
Bodies censored
snot
Sep-08-05 12:34 AM
#106
General effort to bar reporters from access to many points
of NOLA
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:38 AM
#173
9/9 E-mail from friend re- Patterns of Press Access Denial
snot
Sep-09-05 01:28 PM
#251
Sept 9: Anderson Cooper says CNN gets restraining order
(against govt)
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:15 PM
#286
Amy Goodman..regarding reporters being threatened by military
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:21 PM
#287
Larry King reporting on CNN request for injunction!
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:25 PM
#288
Sept 6: U.S. agency blocks photos of New Orleans dead
mom cat
Sep-09-05 10:34 PM
#293
Sept 10:***** U.S. drops banning media from body hunt
mom cat
Sep-10-05 12:51 PM
#311
9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMAS's Training on Managing the Media
snot
Sep-11-05 12:55 PM
#399
9/13 Democracy Now: "Is Gov't Trying to Stem Tide
of Images?
snot
Sep-13-05 02:25 PM
#439
9-13: As bodies recovered, reporters are told 'no photos,
no stories'
mom cat
Sep-14-05 01:39 AM
#473
Pre, During & After Timelines
snot
Sep-07-05 10:59 PM
#72
ThinkProgress timeline (found on DU on 9/7)
snot
Sep-07-05 11:00 PM
#73
Washington Monthly FEMA/NOLA timeline
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:32 PM
#88
Talking Points Memo timeline
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:12 AM
#92
AlterNet Blog *Interactive* Timeline "Drowning in
a Bathtub"
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:15 AM
#94
Washington Monthly timeline
snot
Sep-08-05 01:25 AM
#132
John Marshall's timeline
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:41 AM
#175
CNN
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:44 AM
#176
WWTV: Updates as they come in on Katrina
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 05:20 PM
#223
Guerilla News Timeline
snot
Sep-09-05 12:11 AM
#245
9/9 Blog with Compilation of Links to Timelines (&
may be Useful Sites)
snot
Sep-09-05 01:34 PM
#253
katrinatimeline.org
Shadder
Sep-09-05 04:19 PM
#260
Timeline leading upto the Katrina hitting the Gulf Coas
DrDebug
Sep-09-05 08:05 PM
#284
NOLA: the web blog -timeline of the Times Picayune Excellent
mom cat
Sep-11-05 07:24 PM
#416
Other great Katrina Resources...list websites
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:01 PM
#74
Crooks and liers: important video doctumentation
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:06 PM
#76
Lexis-Nexis Hurricane Katrina DATABASE of articles
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:11 PM
#78
And it is free! Free Lexis Nexis for Katrina articles:
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:22 AM
#130
Katrina timeline...DU's own Shadder..Very Good
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:12 PM
#79
Everything you wanted to read about K at Spiegel Mag online
snot
Sep-08-05 12:17 AM
#95
wiki links.
skids
Sep-08-05 12:17 AM
#97
Times-Picayune Special 5-Part Report: Washing Away
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:47 AM
#118
IRE Resources for hurricanes + Katrina Aftermath (vast)
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:51 AM
#121
WWL Blog spot...also WWL TV
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:59 AM
#137
A live blog fron NO throughout the disaster:
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:15 AM
#138
Global Free Press...Katrina Videos
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:05 AM
#146
Katrina Audio, video and image archive
mom cat
Sep-08-05 03:35 AM
#149
discussion of this archive
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:24 PM
#232
Websites with interesting articles:
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:27 AM
#168
John Marshall
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:39 AM
#174
CBS Katrina disaster blog See links to dates below:
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:06 AM
#188
Aug 31:CBS Katrina Disaster Blog
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:16 AM
#189
Sept 1;
mom cat
Sep-08-05 10:04 AM
#196
Sept 2:
mom cat
Sep-08-05 10:07 AM
#197
Sept 3
mom cat
Sep-08-05 10:10 AM
#198
CBS Disaster on the Gulf - home page
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:04 PM
#206
Yurica re- Katrina--Includes disturbing info re- "End
Game"
snot
Sep-09-05 04:35 PM
#261
Snopes.com
snot
Sep-10-05 08:19 PM
#331
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Includes Video & Congressional
Transcripts
snot
Sep-11-05 12:47 PM
#396
9/18 Craigslist
snot
Sep-19-05 01:22 AM
#526
Pre K: Sci Info - Sci. Am. article = Drowning New Orleans
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:13 PM
#80
Pre K: What the Gov Knew - PBS NOW: The City in a Bowl
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:15 PM
#81
Pre K: What the Gov Knew - Disaster in the Making (FEMA)
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:18 PM
#83
Pre K: What the Gov Knew - Record NOLA Cuts (June 2005)
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:21 PM
#84
dammit.... I did this ALL wrong. Really sorry MomCat!!!
Angry Girl
Sep-07-05 11:24 PM
#86
Oh dear me!
mom cat
Sep-07-05 11:41 PM
#90
Done! Ignore these
dupes pls! (too late to self-delete...)
Angry Girl
Sep-08-05 12:30 AM
#104
Thanks!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 01:09 AM
#127
After K: survivor stories
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:33 AM
#141
INCREDIBLE First Person Katrina Account
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:22 PM
#231
Sept 6: First By the Floods, Then By Martial Law
mom cat
Sep-08-05 07:56 PM
#237
Aug 30: Martial Law Declared in New Orleans; Situation
Deteriorating
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 06:49 AM
#301
Bigfoot story
DrDebug
Sep-10-05 07:12 AM
#304
9/10 (orig 9/2) First Hand Account of getting out of N.O.
snot
Sep-10-05 09:10 PM
#347
9/10 (orig 9/4) French Quarter Becomes Oasis of Wary Calm
snot
Sep-10-05 11:12 PM
#376
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Charmaine Neville: Couldn't Afford
to Leave
snot
Sep-11-05 12:45 PM
#395
9/11 Account from a friend of a friend
snot
Sep-11-05 03:01 PM
#406
After K: How this disaster affects the poor
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:34 AM
#142
Sept 2: We Don't See the People in the Rafters
mom cat
Sep-08-05 04:28 AM
#169
Sept 9: Miles Obrien on CNN said the Katrina victims have
to sign a waiver
mom cat
Sep-09-05 01:47 PM
#255
Sept 8: New Orleans Population has the Right of Return
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:14 PM
#320
9/13 WaPo says N.O. Will Not Be Rebuilt
snot
Sep-13-05 02:21 PM
#436
9/13 Argument that BushCo. Intended to "Clean Out"
the Poor
snot
Sep-14-05 12:34 AM
#461
Sept 11: Exiles from a city and from a nation ( Cornell
West)
mom cat
Sep-14-05 09:44 PM
#480
9/14 Bush wants to waive law banning educational segregation
for homeless
snot
Sep-15-05 03:57 AM
#486
9-15 Mental Health Needs of Blacks Acute After Katrina
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:51 PM
#494
9/19 911 Operators Heard: 'Help me, please don't let me
die'
snot
Sep-19-05 10:08 PM
#544
9/19 Most of damaged housing in NO was affordable, low
income (HUD)
snot
Sep-20-05 12:43 AM
#545
After K: Impact of Bush's delays
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:52 AM
#144
Sept 6: Pentagon: USS Bataan Waited Days For Orders to
Help Out
mom cat
Sep-08-05 02:56 AM
#145
Sept 3: BBC: Norththern Command awaits for word from Bush
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:45 PM
#210
BBC video of Sean Kelley's statement
mom cat
Sep-09-05 08:22 PM
#285
Sept 3: BBC: Norththern Command awaits for word from Bush
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:49 PM
#211
9/10 (orig 9/2) Victims eating corpses to survive???
snot
Sep-10-05 09:37 PM
#359
9/11 Cover-Up: N.O. Will Be Toxic for Decades
snot
Sep-11-05 01:49 PM
#405
9/11 Hospitals Euthanized Rather than Let Patients Die
in Agony
snot
Sep-11-05 04:33 PM
#408
9/11 Patients in NO Euthanized
snot
Sep-12-05 01:43 AM
#418
9/13 E-mail from friend Re- a Cameraman's View
snot
Sep-13-05 02:15 PM
#434
9/13 WH Diverted Crews from Power for Hospitals to Power
for Pipelines
snot
Sep-14-05 12:25 AM
#459
Before K: Historical parallels. How other hurricans were
handled
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:48 AM
#153
How Castro handled a hurricane:
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:49 AM
#154
how did they deal with the bodies after the tsunami?
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:51 AM
#155
Compare FEMA Response to Hurricane in FL 2004
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:52 AM
#156
9/10 E-mail fr friend Comparing Pres'l Actions Re- Hurricanes
Past
snot
Sep-10-05 03:16 PM
#318
Before K: Who is responsible for what. Organization of
federal agencies
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 03:59 AM
#158
National Distaster Plan
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:00 AM
#159
9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA contracted IEM to lead planning
for hurricane
snot
Sep-11-05 12:31 PM
#389
9/12 An Engineer Re- Who's Responsible for What
snot
Sep-13-05 01:27 AM
#431
9/13 Chertoff Had Authority but Delayed Fed Response
snot
Sep-14-05 12:01 AM
#453
Great DU threads loaded with info
mom cat
Sep-08-05 04:13 AM
#164
Eloriel's thread...Great info!
mom cat
Sep-08-05 04:15 AM
#165
After K: General conditions of the rescue efforts
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:20 AM
#166
Sgt. Paul Accardo, 36, N.O.P.D., commits suicide amid Katrina
chaos
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:20 AM
#167
9/10 (orig 9/4) Blogged Report from Charity Hospital
snot
Sep-10-05 11:15 PM
#377
After K: Bush requests federal takeover of NOLA
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:33 AM
#171
3/9/05 Bush requested federal takeover
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:34 AM
#172
Pre K: FEMA
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:47 AM
#178
FEMA was there PRIOR to Hurricane Katrina
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:47 AM
#179
Pre K :FEMA responsibility (per their own documents) in
wiki
mom cat
Sep-08-05 12:19 PM
#208
Two Bush 2000 Florida recount aides were rewarded with
top FEMA posts
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:25 PM
#233
FEMA's Hurricane Pam Exercise 2004: Perfect preparation!
John Doe II
Sep-09-05 03:58 AM
#246
FEMA's Individual Assistance Programs:
John Doe II
Sep-09-05 03:59 AM
#247
Post K: Important articles
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:50 AM
#180
Salt Lake City Tribune, 9/6/05
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 04:50 AM
#181
USA-Today 9/5/05: Bush Responsible For FEMA's Disastrous
Failure
John Doe II
Sep-09-05 04:07 AM
#248
FEMA arrives empty-handed: Lafayette, LA
babylonsister
Sep-10-05 09:46 PM
#361
9/19 35-Pages on * Policies that Led to Excessive Deaths,
Destruction
snot
Sep-19-05 01:02 PM
#528
Post K: Who will profit
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:29 AM
#190
Sept 2: Investors bet on Katrina's winners and losers........
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:58 AM
#195
Halliburton Stock at an All Time High
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:13 PM
#226
Sept 8: Old-line families plot the future (of NO)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 07:15 PM
#227
Sept 8: Cashing in ON DISASTER
mom cat
Sep-08-05 07:34 PM
#235
Sept 8: Funeral profiteering
mom cat
Sep-08-05 07:40 PM
#236
Exxon's $10 Billion Fill-Up: Cashing in on Crunch (Quarterly
Record)
mom cat
Sep-08-05 08:27 PM
#239
9/9 Private, Armed "Blackwater" Forces patrol
while Red Cross Excluded
snot
Sep-10-05 03:15 PM
#317
9/13 Democracy Now on Armed Security Contractors in N.O.
snot
Sep-13-05 02:24 PM
#438
Sept 10: Firms with Bush ties snag Katrina deals Sat Sep
10,11:03
mom cat
Sep-10-05 04:16 PM
#319
9/12 Same story reported by Wired.com
snot
Sep-12-05 10:15 PM
#427
sept 7:Pat Robertson's Katrina Cash
mom cat
Sep-10-05 07:44 PM
#328
9/10 Who collects and counts the dead
snot
Sep-10-05 08:32 PM
#334
9/10 The N.O. Gentry
snot
Sep-10-05 08:41 PM
#336
9/10 The N.O. Gentry
snot
Sep-10-05 08:41 PM
#337
9/10 (orig post 9/2) Halliburton Contract to Repair Katrina
Damage
snot
Sep-10-05 08:57 PM
#340
Sept 10: DU thread on the profiteering issues and * talking
points
mom cat
Sep-10-05 09:01 PM
#342
Deleted message
Name removed
Sep-10-05 09:41 PM
#360
9/11 ‘They’ are trying to take our city from
us.
snot
Sep-12-05 01:58 AM
#422
9/13 Firms with Bush Ties Snagging Deals
snot
Sep-13-05 02:26 PM
#440
9-14:NYT: DHS Official Vows Investigation of No-Bid Relief
Contracts
mom cat
Sep-14-05 02:47 AM
#476
9-14 (FERC) Regulators to aid hurricane-hit utilities (Bush
Supporters)
mom cat
Sep-14-05 03:10 AM
#477
9/16 America's Biggest Recovery Program: New Deal for the
Rich
snot
Sep-16-05 11:08 AM
#500
9/18 "OPEC" meetings about draining/screwing
Americans
snot
Sep-18-05 04:58 PM
#521
Looking for a Corpse to Make a Case
mom cat
Sep-18-05 11:17 PM
#524
9/19 "Disaster Profiteering Act" H.R.3766
snot
Sep-19-05 09:18 PM
#540
9/19 Katrina Reconstruction = Rove 2006 GOP Congressional
Slush Fund?
snot
Sep-19-05 09:19 PM
#541
"The Red Cross Money Pit"
mom cat
Sep-25-05 03:22 PM
#554
Post K: Katrina and links to global warming
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:31 AM
#191
The contents above should be in a separate post.
mom cat
Sep-08-05 09:48 AM
#193
Al Gore: On Katrina, Global Warming
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:45 PM
#447
9-16 Hurricane Intensity Linked to Climate Change
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:55 PM
#495
Just before K: Govt action: Army Corps of Engineer contracts
suegeo
Sep-08-05 09:57 AM
#194
Post K: Conditions of evacuated survivors
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:18 PM
#228
Oklahoma FEMA camp
John Doe II
Sep-08-05 07:19 PM
#229
9/10 (orig post 9/3) Evacuees Housed in Ark. Toxic Waste
Dump?
snot
Sep-10-05 10:15 PM
#366
9/13 FEMA to Set Up Camp Cities to House 200K for 3 Years
snot
Sep-13-05 02:23 PM
#437
9/14 VFP Reaching Those Who Remained--Who Are Doing Better
than Evacuees
snot
Sep-15-05 12:56 AM
#484
9/30 Only 109 families placed in FEMA housing, 100's of
millions spent.
skids
Sep-30-05 12:08 PM
#556
Levee breeches
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:39 PM
#289
Sept 4: Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breaches
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:42 PM
#290
Sept 3: Report from the leevee
mom cat
Sep-09-05 09:54 PM
#291
9/13 E-mail from friend Re- Geologist's View
snot
Sep-13-05 02:10 PM
#432
Blanco V Bush
mom cat
Sep-09-05 11:16 PM
#295
Sept 9: NPR Reports: GW to Blanco"I'll send in the
troops if you answer to
mom cat
Sep-09-05 11:20 PM
#296
Sept 9: Audio of the report
mom cat
Sep-09-05 11:37 PM
#298
A Mole in Gov Blanco's office reports
mom cat
Sep-09-05 11:44 PM
#299
9/10 (orig 9/2) National Guard Delay (no approval by WH
til Thurs!) Likely
snot
Sep-10-05 09:17 PM
#351
9/10 (orig 9/3) Behind Scenes Struggle; WH Tries to Shift
Blame
snot
Sep-10-05 10:28 PM
#370
9/10 (orig 9/4) Bush Suspended Posse Comatatus???
snot
Sep-10-05 11:38 PM
#383
9/11 (orig post 9/5) Northern Command Was Waiting for Bush
Orders
snot
Sep-11-05 12:40 PM
#392
9/11 Nagin: Only 200 Guardsmen in early days
snot
Sep-11-05 01:19 PM
#402
9/11 MSNBC: Bush Gets Call From Blanco and Goes to Bed
snot
Sep-11-05 04:29 PM
#407
(self-deleted--wrong place)
snot
Sep-12-05 01:46 AM
#419
9/12 An Engineer Re- Who's Responsible for What
snot
Sep-13-05 01:09 AM
#429
9/18 Blanco says feds pledged buses
snot
Sep-18-05 04:06 AM
#518
9/19 Non-Partisan Report Clears Blanco
snot
Sep-19-05 09:28 PM
#542
Democratic moves to help the victims:
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:21 PM
#321
Sept 10:John Kerry Offers Major Package of Legislation
to Help Small Busin
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:24 PM
#322
The death toll
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:42 PM
#324
Sept 10: 50,000 body bags ordered
mom cat
Sep-10-05 06:46 PM
#325
9/10 Who collects and counts the dead
snot
Sep-10-05 10:12 PM
#365
9/11 DU Thread Devoted to Body Count
snot
Sep-12-05 01:21 AM
#417
9/13 FEMA outsources Katrina body count to firm implicated
in body-dumping
snot
Sep-14-05 12:15 AM
#455
9-13: BREAKING HARD: FEMA, Bush, SCI, and 1999 Funeralgate
as Governor
mom cat
Sep-14-05 01:14 AM
#470
9/13 As bodies recovered, reporters are told 'no photos,
no stories'
snot
Sep-14-05 12:16 AM
#456
9/13 Blanco gives up on FEMA, hires firm herself to recover
Louisiana dead
snot
Sep-14-05 12:44 AM
#464
9/13 Bush & Body Count Contractor Go Way Back
snot
Sep-14-05 12:46 AM
#465
9/16 Spike in Discovered Corpses as Workers Now Enter Hardest
Hit Areas
snot
Sep-16-05 11:47 PM
#506
9/20 Mystery over true death toll in Mississippi
snot
Sep-21-05 01:17 AM
#547
9/20 Story on Body Collectors w/ Nos. of Workers, Teams,
Etc.
snot
Sep-21-05 02:28 AM
#548
Katrina commentary in cartoon format
mom cat
Sep-10-05 07:01 PM
#327
Post Katrina Polls
mom cat
Sep-10-05 08:04 PM
#329
Sept 10: Eye of the Political Storm Bush approval at 38%
mom cat
Sep-10-05 08:17 PM
#330
9/15/05 FOX News Poll: Post Katrina, Bush Job Rating at
Record Low (41%)
mom cat
Sep-16-05 12:07 AM
#497
9-19-05 Lowest Rating for Bush in Eighth September Poll
mom cat
Sep-18-05 10:46 PM
#522
Bush Katrina Ratings Fall After Speech
mom cat
Sep-18-05 11:22 PM
#525
After K..forced evacuation of NOLA
mom cat
Sep-10-05 09:26 PM
#356
Sept 10: Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:01 PM
#363
Spin, shifting the blame, outright falsehoods and talking
points
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:35 PM
#372
Sept 10: The fake Times-Pycaune article and other lies
exposed
mom cat
Sep-10-05 10:39 PM
#373
9/10 (orig 9/4) Bush Admin Peddling Blame Elsewhere
snot
Sep-10-05 11:44 PM
#384
9/10 (orig 9/4) Bush Admin Shifting Blame Elsewhere
snot
Sep-10-05 11:44 PM
#385
9/11 (orig 9/10) RNC Talking Points (per Randi Rhodes)
snot
Sep-11-05 01:35 PM
#404
9/11 A Du'er from LA Explains LA Politics
snot
Sep-12-05 01:51 AM
#420
Sept 13: debunking the "Truth about NO" chain
letter
mom cat
Sep-14-05 12:32 AM
#460
9-15NY Times: Karl Rove in charge of Katrina Reconstruction
Effort
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:22 PM
#492
9/16 E-mail Shows Feds Seeking to Blame Environmental Groups
snot
Sep-16-05 03:18 PM
#501
SUPER Spin--So Sick it Attains Hilarity--
snot
Sep-18-05 04:21 AM
#519
BAHAMONDE TESTIMONY: Condemns FEMA Response (LAT, WaPo,
NYT & NBC)
Nothing Without Hope
Oct-22-05 12:16 AM
#559
how the animals suffered, official actions that made it
worse
mom cat
Sep-11-05 05:22 PM
#409
Sept 11: The water is wide. I can not get across...photos
mom cat
Sep-11-05 05:43 PM
#412
Environmental impact of K...and the Bush denial and cover-up
mom cat
Sep-11-05 06:12 PM
#413
Sep 11:Cover-up: toxic waters 'will make New Orleans unsafe
for a decade'
mom cat
Sep-11-05 06:14 PM
#414
9/19 FEMA: "Just scrape off the mold"; cheaper
that they die than rebuild
snot
Sep-19-05 12:56 PM
#527
The political aftermath
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:20 PM
#443
Bush "takes responsibility"
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:22 PM
#444
9/13 Basically the same story--Bush Takes Responsiblity
snot
Sep-14-05 01:08 AM
#469
Post Katrina Bush power grab and increased repression
mom cat
Sep-14-05 02:28 AM
#474
Sep 13 -Bush says he may need more power in disasters
mom cat
Sep-14-05 02:32 AM
#475
9-16 Conservatives Balk As Spending Soars In Katrina's
Wake
mom cat
Sep-15-05 11:40 PM
#493
9/19 Poll Results After Bush N.O. Speech
snot
Sep-19-05 01:33 PM
#535
use to force after K against civilians
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:29 PM
#445
Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New Orleans
mom cat
Sep-13-05 03:34 PM
#446
9/13 Move in Senate to "Revise" Posse Comitatus!
snot
Sep-14-05 12:38 AM
#462
9/16 *'s speech: POWER GRAB FOR POTUS AND MILITARY
snot
Sep-16-05 11:05 AM
#499
9/16 This looks like an expanded version of same post
snot
Sep-16-05 03:43 PM
#504
9/16 Bush Power Grab
snot
Sep-16-05 03:26 PM
#502
9/17 (orig. 8/10) Plans: Use of Terrorist Attacks to Justify
Martial Law
snot
Sep-17-05 03:16 PM
#513
After K: Reconstruction & $$ Distribution (Other than
Who Profits, above)
snot
Sep-15-05 10:46 PM
#489
After K: FEMA Contracts body removal to company that fed
corpses to pigs
IanDB1
Sep-17-05 05:46 PM
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
1. Pre K. Weather reports and damage predictions just before storm.
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 04:20 PM by mom catPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:19 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. Aug 29: Expert: Katrina could unleash disaster...CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/28/katrina.doomsday/...
Expert: Katrina could unleash disaster
Monday, August 29, 2005; Posted: 11:54 a.m. EDT (15:54 GMT) Levees,
such as this one along Bayou Lafourche, are vulnerable because they're
made of earth, an expert says.
-- Flooding from Hurricane Katrina's Monday landfall could wreak catastrophe
on New Orleans, overwhelming the city's water and sewage systems and
leaving survivors in a bowl of toxic soup, a top hurricane expert said.
more
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:28 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. Aug 29: DU thread: New Orleans braces for monster hurricane
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 04:36 PM by mom catWhat DU knew on Aug 29th
It is amazing! http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
babylonsister (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 08:46 AM
Response to Reply #3
249. Buses were used to PU people at 12 locations:
Buses were used to pick up people at 12 locations - Prior to storm
Edited on Fri Sep-09-05 04:59 AM by DoYouEverWonder
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Around 112,000 Orleanians do not own cars, according to census data.
Nagin urged those people to seek rides with friends, family, neighbors
and church members. Those who could not find rides were urged to get
to the Superdome as quickly as possible.
Regional Transit Authority buses were scheduled to ferry people to the
dome from 12 locations around the city beginning at noon today.
Meantime, to make sure word of the mandatory evacuation gets out, Nagin
said that police and fire crews would be driving through neighborhoods
Sunday with bullhorns, directing people to leave.
The evacuation order contained exemptions for certain people, including
city, state and federal officials, inmates of the parish prison, those
in hospitals, tourists staying in hotels and members of the media.
An emergency order Nagin announced Sunday in declaring the mandatory
evacuation gives authorities the right to commandeer private buildings
and vehicles — including boats — as they see fit.
The mayor did not say which buildings might be seized for public use.
For the time being, the Superdome will be used as a “shelter of
last resort” for those unable to evacuate the city. If the dome
fills to capacity, other buildings could be appropriated, Nagin said.
Nagin said the dome’s availability to residents doesn’t
mean that going there is a good idea.http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo
...
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
lateo (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 03:02 PM
Response to Reply #249
538. This link is dead...does anyone have a copy of it?
TIA
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 04:54 PM
Response to Reply #1
265. 9/9: Simulation Just Pre-K Predicted 61,290 Dead
Hurricane Simulation Predicted 61,290 Dead
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
By RON FOURNIER and TED BRIDIS
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_re_us/katrina... ;_ylt=AotFRjeFf_Ee0quwpSe6Qums0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg
- As Katrina roared into the Gulf of Mexico, emergency planners pored
over maps and charts of a hurricane simulation that projected 61,290
dead and 384,257 injured or sick in a catastrophic flood that would
leave swaths of southeast Louisiana uninhabitable for more than a year.
These planners were not involved in the frantic preparations for Katrina.
By coincidence, they were working on a yearlong project to prepare federal
and state officials for a Category 3 hurricane striking New Orleans.
Their fictitious storm eerily foreshadowed the havoc wrought by Category
4 Katrina a few days later, raising questions about whether government
leaders did everything possible — as early as possible —
to protect New Orleans residents from a well-documented threat.
After watching many of their predictions prove grimly accurate, "Hurricane
Pam" planners now hope they were wrong about one detail —
the death toll. The 61,290 estimate is six times what New Orleans Mayor
C. Ray Nagin has warned people to expect.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
babylonsister (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 02:05 PM
Response to Reply #1
315. 2004, pre-election:
EXCLUSIVE!!! FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help
Bush W
http://jasonleopold.blogspot.com/2005/09/exclusive-fema ...
snip - Michael Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, approved payments in excess of $31 million in taxpayer money
to thousands of Florida residents who were unaffected by Hurricane Frances
and three other hurricanes last year in an effort to help President
Bush win a majority of votes in that state during his reelection campaign,
according to published reports. Much more at the above link.
And now we know why George will never fire him.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:12 PM
Response to Reply #1
348. Sept 10: Santorum slams pre K weather forecasting!
Santorum criticizes Weather Service
Has sponsored bill to prevent government weather notices, to benefit
private companies, including donor
Saturday, September 10, 2005
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
By Maeve Reston, Post-Gazette National Bureau
WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rick Santorum, who has sponsored legislation to limit
the information that the National Weather Service can provide to the
public, told radio reporters this week that Congress should investigate
whether the federal agency's initial warnings on the severity of Hurricane
Katrina were adequate.
The Pennsylvania Republican's remarks drew fire from a union representing
employees of the National Weather Service, which is a subsidiary of
the U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
They also were closely scrutinized by Democrats, who have contended
that his legislation is intended to benefit private weather companies,
at least one of which has contributed to his campaign.
During a conference call that Santorum conducted with Pennsylvania radio
reporters Thursday, a public radio correspondent asked him about the
weather service's performance in preparing Gulf Coast residents for
Hurricane Katrina and whether the rescue and recovery response could
have been improved if his legislation had been law.
Santorum said he didn't think the weather service had given "sufficient
warning" initially about the hurricane's path or what its impact
would be when it hit Florida. He said he was "not going to suggest
there were any major errors," but that the adequacy of the warnings
should to be investigated along with other aspects of how government
agencies have dealt with Katrina.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:36 PM
Response to Reply #1
390. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) Prior Knowledge Laundry List
Katrina 'Prior Knowledge' Laundry List:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:39 PM
Response to Original message
4. Post K: Aid to NOLA blocked
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 04:44 PM
Response to Reply #4
5. Sept 2: National guard not allowing aid into the city
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 04:49 PM by mom cat
http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/3941.php
National Guard not allowing aid into the city
by SB Friday, Sep. 02, 2005 at 1:11 AM
Also. minstrel Boy's thread on this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
preciousdove (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. ongoing, Katrina Evacuee Relocation Thread
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 06:21 PM by preciousdove
Please post here:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 03:45 AM
Response to Reply #4
151. Timeline of aid prevention and refusal:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:17 AM
Response to Reply #4
202. Sept 3: Red Cross barred from NOLA
http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4...
Disaster FAQs (Red Cross web site)
Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?
Acess to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities
and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter
New Orleans against their orders.
The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues
to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans
following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating
and encourage others to come into the city.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #202
280. Homeland Security
LA Homeland Security *confirms* ARC kept out!
by shock
Fri Sep 2nd, 2005 at 21:24:54 PDT
I just called the (Federal) Dept. of Homeland security (202-282-8000)
and asked them the following question:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/3/02454/07418
LA Homeland Security *confirms* ARC kept out! "Is it true what
the American Red Cross has reported that they have not been allowed
into the city of New Orleans by the DHS since Hurricane Katrina because
their 'presence would keep people from evacuating'"?
First, they put me on hold. Then I heard 2 beeps and the click that
I assume means they were recording me. Then they asked me my name. (I
told them, but now I sort of regret it...) Then they transferred me
to Chris at the "Law Enforcement Fusion Desk". I read my question
again.
snip
Then I asked who at the DHS was responsible for the policy that kept
the Red Cross out.
He said that would have to be Michael Chertoff.
Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 02:14 PM
Response to Reply #202
433. 9/13 E-mail from friend Re- a Cameraman's View
(He mentions that the Red Cross COULD easily get in if they wanted to,
but that they and most of the media seemed to be afraid--but that it
wasn't really that dangerous, because all the cameraman encountered
while criss-crossing the city were exhausted pleas for help.)
Katrina: a cameraman's journal in NOLA <http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/13/katrina_a_camerama...
>
Xeni Jardin:
Excerpt from a personal diary written by a friend who's a news cameraman
working in New Orleans. Name and affiliation withheld by request. This
was written on Sunday, September 4th, six days after the storm hit.
New Orleans - The Real Story
It’s September 4th in New Orleans, and unfortunately - no one
is getting it right, not the Feds, the State, the Local folks or the
media. I’m sure that many people are trying, but for what ever
reason- it is a rotting, deteriorating mess.
I’m only writing this because of what I watched on tv last night.
It was the first chance I’ve had to see some of the coverage and
what I watched was pathetic. I sensed it yesterday when, amongst the
chaos of the unfolding disaster, you realized some of the differences
between what is happening here compared to major calamities we’ve
endured recently.
There are almost no news crews in the field trying to cover the story.
Hundreds, if not thousands of media people are in the region - but I
have driven back and forth through some of the worst neighborhoods in
the city and you don’t see them. You don’t see the National
Guard…..you don’t see ANYONE, except for the poor unfortunate
souls wandering the streets looking for food or water. Many of them
are on their last legs; they are literally not long for this world.
It is surreal; it’s like a zombie scene from Dawn of the Dead.
It’s disgraceful that in our times, we are seeing the complete
disintegration of our ability to care for our own.
This is a racist issue, there’s no other way to look at it. These
are the poorest of the poor. The people left behind in New Orleans are
there for one reason only; they had no means to remove themselves from
the city. Everyone who could get out, got out.
What’s missing from the rescue is apparent to anyone. A simple
plan. It’s like no one ever gave it a real thought. Simple things
like storage of emergency rations, clothing, tents, etc. in strategic
locations….communications that allow different entities to talk
to one another, emergency plans and routing for moving large numbers
of people (easily done with the hundreds of public and school transit
buses available locally), and the list goes on. Everyone on the street
that I have met is so grateful for anything that you can give them.
You have to be careful or you could start a riot just giving away a
bottle of water.
Driving or walking through the flood area, you see people in the shadows
on every block. As you walk around - they come out and they are so dehydrated,
carrying babies, or leading you to their father or their mother or a
friend who needs help. They all say that they want to get out; they
just don’t have a way. And they uniformly complain about the police
not stopping to help. Over and over you hear the same thing....”They
just drawin’ down on people”, meaning they are pulling their
guns.
I can only judge from what I saw, but in walking through the worst areas,
every looter I saw was taking food and water. They could be shot for
entering supermarkets, which by the way are mostly fully stocked with
food, water, juices and soda. It’s disgraceful, it’s been
almost a week and yet there seems as though no one in Washington, or
Baton Rouge who gets the enormity of what is unfolding.
There are dead bodies on the street. Yesterday, I watched as a man tried
to flag down a cop. There was a middle aged woman who had been dead
for days, and yet no authority seems concerned. We can see that there
was no plan for the living, but you would think that there would be
some respect for the dead. When he was finally able to get a cop to
stop - not an easy thing to do since they drive through at such high
speed…. the cop said that they didn’t care about removing
bodies. Someone’s mother, or child, she was still there late last
night as I drove out.
I have driven from one end of New Orleans to the other - a drive of
over 7 miles, and repeatedly not seen one cop, guardsman, trooper….
And where is the Red Cross? Not ONE. Everyone on the street says, “Where’s
the Red Cross? I gave them so much money after 9/11 and the tsunami
- where’s the Red Cross”. The cops I’ve asked say
they are not here because they are afraid. The Red Cross says that the
authorities are not letting them in the city. I find that hard to believe.
The police can’t even secure a few blocks, let alone keep the
Red Cross out. Helping victims in New Orleans is exactly why the Red
Cross was created.
People are dying, I’ve seen it personally, and the main organization
we look to is no where to be seen. Just like the media who sit on a
safe block, or hang around the Superdome or the convention center because
it is safe, maybe they are shunning the poor because they are scared.
If they are being truthful, then they should take a stand, and deploy
their personnel. Otherwise, they are complicit in an ill conceived plot
to starve survivors out.
What is particularly sad to me is that I’m no hero. I’m
basically a coward, but I don’t find anyone I’ve met on
the street to be threatening. They are suffering and desperate and no
one has uttered a word other then “help me” or “thank
you”.
I watched one of these news robots on the air last night standing at
Camp and Canal Street - where it is safe - doing a national live shot
saying that “everything is in place now” and “food
is being distributed”, and “the National Guard is deployed
in force….on the street” - it was pure fiction. This guy
hasn’t left the safety of his air conditioned trailer complete
with Subway sandwiches (from Baton Rouge) and Gatorade. It’s pathetic.
One can only hope that our Federal officials will get a handle on the
Herculean task ahead and that the citizenry will hold them responsible
for the unnecessary loss of life.
As for the media… do a little fact checking, read more than one
paper. Stay away from CNN, MSNBC and Fox. NPR and Nightline do a good
job of looking beyond the headlines. By the way, The Salvation Army
is here and they have been able to help in some places. This is a racist/socioeconomic
situation.
We all know that if it were somewhere else, like an affluent resort
town or a Bush county in Florida, things would be different. Yes, there
was looting and gunfire, and there are criminals out there, but they
were a small minority of the population. There were tens of thousands
of poor, black folk who stayed out of it, and they are still waiting
today for any kind of help.
Image <http://flickr.com/photos/ioerror/42603081/ > : Razorwire
first, supplies second. Shot by Jacob Appelbaum.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 09:52 PM
Response to Reply #433
481. 9/14 Sequel: A Concentration of Horrific Pain, Lots o' Cops
Doing Not Much
Katrina: a TV cameraman's diary, part two. <http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/14/katrina_a_tv_camer...
>
Xeni Jardin:
<http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeljohnson/42526114/ >
Part two of a diary written by a friend who's a television news cameraman
working in New Orleans.
New Orleans - September 9th
I’ve been here in New Orleans a week and on a daily basis I’m
witnessing the staggering expanse of Katrina’s destruction. I’ve
driven over a thousand miles around the city and the individual tragedies
stretch from block to block. Whether traveling by air boat (remember
the tv show “Flipper”?) or Humvee or by foot, every single
street contains the remnants of someone’s life. Endless debris
fields - entire life savings. The wreckage crosses all economic lines.
A particularly tragic moment was walking through personal items left
behind at the Louisiana Superdome. Most of the people who were evacuated
there are dirt poor. They live on the street or in shacks or tenements
in this city that has more than it’s share of poverty. Their lives
could easily be stored in a shopping cart or suitcase. As the Bush administration
was shamed into action, this sad cargo was loaded onto buses - but told
to leave behind anything that couldn’t fit on their laps. They
were not even allowed to take their pets, which is one of the many reasons
people have stayed behind in their homes. Cats and particularly dogs
were roaming through the empty parking lot of the Superdome looking
for their owners. National Guardsmen took some as pets and mascots on
their “deuce and a half” cargo trucks.
There are still thousands of residents who remain in their homes. Some
are doing ok, they have water and food, and are willing to do what it
takes to stick it out. It seems as though they will eventually have
to leave. The cops and army troops are now well deployed and some are
handing out water and small amounts of food, mostly MRE’s. They
don’t want anyone to become too comfortable, and it seems as though
they will soon start to remove people.
I witnessed an emotional scene yesterday as a Louisiana state senator
traveled through his district talking to firemen and cops. He spoke
to some of his constituents as they alighted from boats that had just
plucked them from their flooded homes in St. Bernard Parish. As the
senator was introducing himself to a woman holding a small dog, the
tension was immediate. “Why do we have to leave? This is all we
have. I don’t want to go, this is my home. My sister is dead,
and now you want to send me somewhere but you don’t know where,
why are you doing this to me?” The desperation and fear is so
personal, I feel unworthy even witnessing such deep heartfelt pain.
But it is everywhere and it is the same scene over and over - and there
is nothing that anyone can say or do that will make it any better. Everyone
here is suffering the loss of a relative or friend or home or a job.
And it goes on for miles and miles and miles.
What is striking is the incredible toll Katrina has taken emotionally.
We often tend to focus on the dollar amount, the material costs and
time. It’s as though all of the emotion and suffering is compounded
by the shear enormity of the disaster. It’s hard to put into words
just how much pain is concentrated in this region. So many people have
lost their homes, their possessions, and loved ones.
I keep returning to the scene last Thursday at an overpass on I-10 in
Metarie, just outside New Orleans. Every minute or so, a helicopter
would land with flood survivors stunned and confused, many in tears
having been plucked from their roof after days without food or water.
Some were angry, not knowing where their loved ones were, or whether
they were even alive. Many would just suffer in silence sitting under
the hot sun. If you were lucky - you had an umbrella or a piece of cardboard
for shade. These are poor people and for some of them this disaster
is another chapter in a life of poverty that they have come to accept….quietly.
For others, suffering quietly was not their choice, and they were drawn
to me as if carrying a tv camera meant that I had the answers. Where
are we going? What are we going to do? Where is my baby? Why are the
cops aiming their guns at us? So much emotion packed into such a small
area, it was as if the world was literally coming to an end in one spot.
You can’t imagine what it was like to see so much tragedy unfold
in one small place. By 3pm there were close to 3,000 people, the lucky
ones seeking shelter in the shade under an overpass. Elderly people,
newborn babies, diabetics, amputees, heatstroke victims, and no more
than 8 or 10 paramedics overwhelmed by hundreds victims, some of whom
looked as though they were dying. It’s an eerie feeling driving
or boating through the empty city knowing that these are the souls that
once inhabited these empty homes and streets. And so many that didn’t
make it out are left behind - some of them rotting on the sidewalk even
today.
The lack of a plan is still the big story. Who is in charge? What is
going to be done first? What are the goals? Evacuation? No evacuation?
The New Orleans Police Department is trying to rebuild itself, and the
National Guard seems to be the most organized. But there are way too
many cops from as far away as Reno driving around with shotguns and
M-16’s.
This is like a giant summer camp for law enforcement. There are hundreds
of black and whites, armored cars, assault vehicles, and lawmen carrying
every type of firearm ever made. It’s as though every police chief
in the country put 20 officers in 5 cars and sent them to New Orleans
- on overtime.
Of course, many are helping, but some have no orders or task to complete.
So they drive around all day taking pictures, and then they go and sleep
in their cars with the engine running and the air conditioning on. They
are sightseers with guns taking “happy snaps” to show to
all the folks at home. Complete with long tales of how they saved New
Orleans.
Previously:
A cameraman's journal in NOLA <http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/13/katrina_a_camerama...
>
Image <http://www.flickr.com/photos/joeljohnson/42526114/ > :
New Orleans, shot September 11 by Joel Johnson <http://joeljohnson.com/
> .
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:10 PM
Response to Reply #4
207. Sept 2: Daley 'shocked' at federal snub of offers to help
Daley 'shocked' at federal snub of offers to help
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale...
Tribune staff reports
Published September 2, 2005, 10:24 PM CDTFrustration about the federal
response to Hurricane Katrina has reached Chicago City Hall, as Mayor
Richard Daley today noted a tepid response by federal officials to the
city's offers of disaster aid.
The city is willing to send hundreds of personnel, including firefighters
and police, and dozens of vehicles to assist on the storm-battered Gulf
Coast, but so far the Federal Emergency Management Agency has requested
only a single tank truck, Daley said.
"I was shocked," he said.
"We are ready to provide considerably more help than they have
requested," the mayor said, barely able to contain his anger during
a City Hall news conference. "We are just waiting for the call."
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #4
279. Sept 3: New Mexico National Guard delayed
Edited on Fri Sep-09-05 07:29 PM by mom cat
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina...
Congress Likely to Probe Guard Response By SHARON THEIMER, Associated
Press Writer
Sat Sep 3, 6:38 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Another
10,000 National Guard troops are being sent to the hurricane-ravaged
Gulf Coast, raising their number to about 40,000, but questions linger
about the speed with which troops were deployed. Several states ready
and willing to send National Guard troops to the rescue in New Orleans
didn't get the go-ahead until days after the storm struck — a
delay nearly certain to be investigated by Congress.
Edit for sp.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson offered Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco
help from his state's National Guard last Sunday, the day before Hurricane
Katrina hit Louisiana. Blanco accepted, but paperwork needed to get
the troops en route didn't come from Washington until late Thursday.
California troops just began arriving in Louisiana on Friday, three
days after flood waters devastated New Orleans and chaos broke out.
In fact,
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 07:51 PM
Response to Reply #4
281. Sep 3: Fearing riots, Guard rejects food airdrops
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=...
Fearing riots, Guard rejects food airdrops
Officials exploring other options for delivering supplies
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, September 3, 2005
ARLINGTON, Va. —
Authorities are avoiding airdropping provisions into New Orleans —
the traditional way of supplying disaster victims — out of fear
of sparking riots, a state official said.
While the military has used helicopters to drop provisions to some stranded
in New Orleans, authorities have not launched the massive supply airdrops
seen in Afghanistan at the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Several C-130 Hercules aircraft are stationed at Little Rock Air Force
Base, but authorities have not ordered them to drop supplies to flood
victims, Arkansas Air National Guard officials said.
Airdropping supplies could actually worsen the situation, said Army
National Guard Lt. Kevin Cowan, with the state Office of Emergency Preparedness.Printer
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 07:58 PM
Response to Reply #4
282. Sep 2: Bush: had not requested foreign help and did not need
it
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2... /
FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
US sends mixed signals on accepting aid from abroad
By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff | September 2, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The offers of foreign aid keep pouring in: helicopters
from Canada, cash from Japan, tents and military aircraft from France
-- even oil from Venezuela, a political foe. At least 25 countries have
offered humanitarian assistance to the United States to recover from
Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in US history.
But despite the increasingly desperate situation on the ground, the
Bush administration has sent mixed signals about whether it will take
these global well-wishers up on their offers.
President Bush indicated yesterday morning that the United States had
not requested foreign help and didn't need it.
''I'm not expecting much from foreign nations because we haven't asked
for it," Bush told ABC's ''Good Morning America." ''I do suspect
a lot of sympathy, and perhaps some will send cash dollars. But this
country is going to rise up and take care of it. You know, we love help,
but we're going to take care of our own business, as well."Printer
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #4
400. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA's Rescue Team Cools Heels in Dallas
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Would-be rescuers cool their heels (FEMA urban search/rescue)
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/katrin...
They have been trimming one another's hair, lounging on hotel chairs,
chatting on cellphones. They've been up at dawn, exercising in front
of the hotel, trying to stay busy.
What they haven't been doing is dangling from helicopters over flooded
neighborhoods or going into half-collapsed buildings searching for hurricane
victims to rescue.
The 83 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search
and Rescue team from Orange County, Calif., have been told to stay downtown
at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion.
The reason for the extended holdover? Team members were told that conditions
were too chaotic in New Orleans, which has been plagued by violence
and reports of gunfire aimed at rescuers, and the National Guard needed
more time to restore order. In addition, problems getting supplies to
the rescue crews already there, as well as victims, had not been worked
out.
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understandinglife (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 07:47 PM
Response to Reply #4
452. quod erat demonstrandum: It Was Intentional
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... Peace.
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philb (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 09:58 PM
Response to Reply #4
482. more examples of FEMA blocking evacuation and aid
FEMA Blocking Relief Efforts - Compilation of Mainstream and Alternative
Press reports
FEMA Blocks Katrina Aid from Chicago
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/09/07/fema/index...
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm
FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e
FEMA turns away experienced firefighters
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048
FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec...
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/ruthgroup/112613655425... /
FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec...
FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826
FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509 ..
FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&BRD=
FEMA turns away generators
http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond"
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470
FEMA Blocks Journalists From Photographing Katrina's Victims
Journalist Groups Protest FEMA Ban on Photos of Dead
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di...
FEMA blocks volunteer firefighters from helping Katrina victims Friday,
Sep. 2, 2005
http://www.gazette.net/stories/090205/montcou165700_319... FEMA blocks
dead body examination in NOLA
http://talkleft.com/new_archives/012192.html
FEMA locks Mac users
from hurricane relief http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=12557
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philb (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 10:00 PM
Response to Reply #482
483. snips from articles on FEMA blocking aid to N. O.
Aaron Broussard, President of Jefferson Parrish, appeared this Sunday
on Meet the Press. He made some extremely serious charges that officials
at FEMA had actively interfered in assistance efforts in his Parrish.
Responding to host Tim Russert’s questions on local and state-level
accountability, he said:
Let me give you just three quick examples. We had Wal-Mart deliver three
trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They
said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons
of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast
Guard said, "Come get the fuel right away." When we got there
with our trucks, they got a word. "FEMA says don't give you the
fuel." Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our
emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice. Our sheriff,
Harry Lee, goes back in, he reconnects the line. He posts armed guards
on our line and says, "No one is getting near these lines."
Sheriff Harry Lee said that if America--American government would have
responded like Wal-Mart has responded, we wouldn't be in this crisis
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179790 /
FEMA cut the communication lines in Jefferson Parish 1 day before the
Hurricane hit and the sherriff had to reconnect them and put armed guards
to prevent FEMA from trying to cut the lines again. Wal-Mart had food
and water ready to take to the victims before the aftermath and FEMA
stopped them before they reached Jefferson Parish. http://forums.officer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35819
WASHINGTON -- The government's disaster chief waited until hours after
Hurricane Katrina already had struck the Gulf Coast before asking his
boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region --
and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff
roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on the morning of Aug.
29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey
a positive image" about the government's response for victims.
The same day he wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue
departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks
or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request
for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to
coordinate fire and rescue efforts.
Meanwhile, the airline industry said the government's request for help
evacuating storm victims didn't come until late Thursday afternoon.
The president of the Air Transport Association, James May, said the
Homeland Security Department called then to ask if the group could participate
in an airlift for refugees. Wednesday, September 07, 2005 BY TED BRIDIS
Associated Press
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fooj (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 07:39 PM
Response to Original message
7. I'll do what I can.
Recommend.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 07:56 PM
Response to Original message
8. After K: FEMA
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:16 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Sept 5: Why FEMA turned awal help..daily Kos
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048
Why FEMA turned away help
by Ducktape
Mon Sep 5th, 2005 at 07:55:38 PDT
For days after the disaster, help and volunteers of all sorts headed
for New Orleans with relief supplies and expertise, only to be stopped
and turned away by FEMA.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:30 PM
Response to Reply #9
11. Sept 5: Fema won't accept Amtrak's help in the evacuation
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main page content:
Federal agency 'slow' to accept business help
By FT Reporters in New York
Published: September 5 2005 03:00 | Last updated: September 5 2005 03:00
From Wal-Mart's satellite-based communications systems to FedEx's aircraft,
US business has in some cases managed to provide a swifter response
to the initial impact of hurricane Katrina than the federal and state
authorities.But critics of the handling of the crisis by government
agencies said they were slow in accepting offers of help.
Mary Landrieu, the Democratic US senator from Louisiana, accused the
Federal Emergency Management Agency of having "dragging its feet"
when Amtrak offered trains to evacuate victimsPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:23 PM
Response to Reply #8
10. Sept 5: FEMA turns back Walmart trucks etc...NYT
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec...
The Fallout
After Failures, Government Officials Play Blame Game
E-Mail This
Printer-Friendly
Reprints
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: September 5, 2005
This article was reported by Scott Shane, Eric Lipton and Christopher
Drew and written by Mr. Shane.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 - As the Bush administration tried to show a more
forceful effort to help the victims of Hurricane Katrina, government
officials on Sunday escalated their criticism and sniping over who was
to blame for the problems plaguing the initial response.
Skip to next paragraph
Storm and Crisis
Photographs from a devastated region.
• Photographs From Last Week
Retracing the Storm
Faced with a massive disaster, everything fell apart in New Orleans.
(Related Article)
• Damage in New Orleans
• Satellite Images Interview With New Orleans Mayor
Mayor C. Ray Nagin's radio interview.
• Transcript
THE SCENE Rescuers'
frustrations mounted in New Orleans as people who remained in their
homes refused to leave.
• Roadblocks for Medical Aid
THE FALLOUT Officials escalated their criticism over who was to blame
for the problems plaguing the initial response.
• The Political Response
ECONOMIC DIVIDE The tales of two families displaced by the disaster
expose a chasm between haves and have-nots.
THE POLICE After suicides and desertions, New Orleans is offering officers
paid vacations.
NEWSPAPER'S ODYSSEY The Times-Picayune was forced to look for a new
home while managing to publish.
HOW TO HELP A partial list of relief organizations and other information
on the Web.
YOUR STORY Share your experiences via e-mail or in this forum.
While rescuers were still trying to reach people stranded by the floods,
perhaps the only consensus among local, state and federal officials
was that the system had failed. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:34 PM
Response to Reply #8
12. FEMA-Homeland Sec block food from Red Cross
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm
Homeland Security won't let Red Cross deliver food
Saturday, September 03, 2005
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
As the National
Guard delivered food to the New Orleans convention center yesterday,
American Red Cross officials said that federal emergency management
authorities would not allow them to do the same.
Other relief agencies say the area is so damaged and dangerous that
they doubted they could conduct mass feeding there now.
"The Homeland Security Department has requested and continues to
request that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans,"
said Renita Hosler, spokeswoman for the Red Cross.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:43 PM
Response to Reply #8
13. Sept 2: FEMA turns away morticians
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&
Disaster touches area residents
By JILL ZAREND-KUBATKO, Valley Life Editor September 02, 2005 Tom Dudelston,
a funeral director with J. Warren Funeral Services in Casa Grande, had
hoped to use vacation to help those who could not escape the blighted
area. "I'm trying to go," Dudelston said around 1 p.m. Thursday.
"But I have hit some complications I had not expected. I was trying
to offer my services with some of my skills. It is kind of pending.
I was going to do it to help. I am still hoping I can get in there.
I won't know until later today. I have talked with an organization here
in Arizona that helps in situations like this. I was hoping I could
circumvent that and take care of myself and get in there."
By 3:45 p.m. he had the news he didn't want to hear.
"I am not going anywhere, I spoke with D-MORT, a group of funeral
directors and embalmers, and I cannot go," he said, his voice filled
with disappointment.
The Associated Press displays daily images in newspapers and on Web
sites featuring the dead lying on the ground or seated in chairs, with
no one to tend to them. "USA Today talks about the body count and
the things that are going on since it has been declared a national disaster
area," he explained. "They won't let anyone in there. You
have to be FEMA-certified and I am not," he said.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:47 PM
Response to Reply #8
14. Sept3: FEMA blocks 500 boats
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826
Just to give you a sense of just how badly FEMA has f*cked up.
by pelican
Sat Sep 3rd, 2005 at 14:17:18 PDT
This was posted by a Clarkie over at the Securing America:Just to give
you a sense of just how badly FEMA has f*cked up.
Posted by Clark Warner on September 3, 2005 - 2:23pm.
This is beyond my comprehension and after spending two frustrating days
trying to just get someone to let us help we've FINNALLY been told we
can conduct "renegade" boat rescues via the just concluded
press conference that Gov. Blanco just held.
Why is this JUST NOW being allowed? Well let's start from the very beginning.
On Wednesday morning a group of approximately 1,000 citizens pulling
500 boats left the Acadiana Mall in Lafayette in the early morning and
headed to New Orleans with a police escort from the Jefferson Parish
Sheriff's Department. The flotillia of trucks pulling boats stretched
over FIVE miles. This citizen rescue group was organized by La. State
Senator, Nick Gautreaux from Vermilion Parish. The group was comprised
of experienced boaters, licensed fishermen and hunters, people who have
spent their entire adult life and teenage years on the waterways of
Louisiana.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:53 PM
Response to Reply #8
15. Sep FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on
board
FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board
http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/premium/acc...
Chicago Tribune...requires registration
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 10:18 PM
Response to Reply #8
49. FEMA attempted to block planes evacuating hospitals
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 10:21 PM by snot
This story also shows how, with Gore's help, the rescuers ultimately
prevailed despite unbelievable obstruction by both FEMA and the military.
http://www.algore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task... :
Gore at NOLA: The Fastercures Airlift From New Orleans
Wednesday, 07 September 2005
From TMP Cafe
by Greg Simon, President FasterCures
On September 3rd and 4th, FasterCures worked with a small dedicated
group of people to airlift approximately 270 medical patients and evacuees
from the New Orleans airport to hospitals and shelters in Knoxville
and Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is the story of how it happened.
On Thursday, September 1st, my friend Jill Chozen of San Francisco called
to ask if I could put someone in touch with Al Gore. Dr. David Kline,
the father in law of Jill’s friend Denise Kline, was stranded
in Charity hospital in New Orleans. The situation was dire and becoming
worse by the minute – food and water running out, no power, four
feet of water surrounding the hospital and alligators eating corpses
outside. David is a neurosurgeon and needed to take his patients out
of the hospital as soon as possible. David asked Denise to find Al Gore
for help because David knew Gore from operating on Gore’s son
after a life threatening auto accident nearly 16 years ago.
I emailed Gore with Denise Kline’s number after speaking to Jill
and got an answer immediately. Gore had phoned David in the hospital
several times and ascertained that he was now on the way to an Apache
Helicopter landing site with his patients. Things were looking up.
The next day, Friday September 2nd, I heard an NPR story that things
were getting worse at Charity hospital – they were actually taking
in more patients because the other nearby hospital –Tulane—was
closed. When I arrived at work, I knew what we had to do –we had
to evacuate medical patients from Charity to safety. (Much more at link
above . . . )
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 10:38 PM
Response to Reply #8
59. Thread with info re- FEMA refusing or delaying help (all time
periods)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 10:45 PM
Response to Reply #8
64. From FEMA's website: FEMA's claims process
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 11:55 PM
Response to Reply #8
91. Offer of help from foreign nations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
WP,pg1: Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed for Days
Offers of Aid Immediate, but U.S. Approval Delayed for Days
By Elizabeth Williamson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 7, 2005; Page A01
Offers of foreign aid worth tens of millions of dollars -- including
a Swedish water purification system, a German cellular telephone network
and two Canadian rescue ships -- have been delayed for days awaiting
review by backlogged federal agencies, according to European diplomats
and information collected by the State Department.
Since Hurricane Katrina, more than 90 countries and international organizations
offered to assist in recovery efforts for the flood-stricken region,
but nearly all endeavors remained mired yesterday in bureaucratic entanglements,
in most cases, at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
In Germany, a massive telecommunication system and two technicians await
the green light to fly to Louisiana, after its donors spent four days
searching for someone willing to accept the gift.
"FEMA? That was a lost case," said Mirit Hemy, an executive
with the Netherlands-based New Skies Satellite who made the phone calls.
"We got zero help, and we lost one week trying to get hold of them."
In Sweden, a transport plane loaded with a water purification system
and a cellular network has been ready to take off for four days, while
Swedish officials wait for flight clearance. Nearly a week after they
were offered, four Canadian rescue vessels and two helicopters have
been accepted but probably won't arrive from Halifax, Nova Scotia, until
Saturday. The Canadians' offer of search-and-rescue divers has so far
gone begging....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20 ...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:19 AM
Response to Reply #91
139. Glad that you captured this...it is now MIA
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 02:23 AM by mom cat
We are unable to locate the page you requested.
The page may have moved or may no longer be available
You may also want to try our search
to locate news and information on washingtonpost.com
Edited to add this link to the error message that shows up when you
click the WAPO link in the parent post by snot:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/error.html
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skids (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 10:26 AM
Response to Reply #91
250. 09/09: more on swedish plane.http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:13 AM
Response to Reply #8
93. Sept 6: Frustrated Firemen hand out flyers for FEMA
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:32 AM
Response to Reply #8
105. Report from a Psychologist treating evacuees
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
(EDITED--see original post for more)
Psychologist working with Katrina refugees tells sad story
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 06:13 PM by Elad
Here is the email I received from my professional organization etree
detailing the experience of a psychologist working with the refugees
and the horrible experiences they are having. This is the only way we
can find out what is really going on.
The email reads --
The following comes from a friend of mine who is a licensed
psychologist. She donated her time and her talent working with Katrina
refugees at first, Reunion Arena and then, the Civic Center. This is
her first hand account and reaction to what she had to deal with.
Then to the helpers and what is happening there. Turf wars have already
sprung up. In the name of "I know better than you do," chaos
and wasted energy are multiplying. The Red Cross was initially in charge
of certifying the credentials of the helping therapists. After Oklahoma
City and the pretenders who arrived there, this seemed like a wonderful
clearing house. Everyone who wanted to help had to go through a brief
orientation and a thorough checking of credentials. Only licensed professionals
were allowed. Driver's licenses were checked for criminal records. This
seemed to be a common sense excellent approach to the question of rapists,
pedophiles, and other thugs being denied access to a vulnerable population.
Actually, things ran better than I expected at
the beginning. Then in came the physicians who I guess felt that their
non-existent coursework in this area qualified them to better run things.
Immediate chaos, disorganization, and all sorts of ersatz
"helpers" began running around. They grabbed our current Red
Cross
badges and then stopped us from going back on the floor to finish seeing
our patients without the new badges, which they just happened to be
out of. We had an optometrist with prescriptive lenses but no glasses
or readers and no idea when he'd ever see any. We had a deaf booth but
no deaf helpers. In the midst of all this chaos, thousands and thousands
of the walking wounded mixing with the powerless well-intentioned came
the whispered word, pandemic. Lots of people are suddenly getting sick,
and we have to have precautions. Don't eat or drink or touch the patients.
We only have one bottle of disinfectant in the mental health section,
so come back here--the length of the Convention Center--after each patient.
"What of the people who are being cycled out of here?" "What
are we
sending into the population?" If people are sick and contagious,
where are the precautions to separate the vulnerable? What of precautions
such as masks and gloves to keep the medical professionals and first
responders safe? All the here and now is suspended in the hope that
maybe tomorrow will take care of itself and the worst won't happen.
Those are the question we asked on the first day. NO ONE IS IN CHARGE!!!
Therefore, there is no consistent answer or approach or forethought.
I am no infection guru but as soon as I heard on day one that people
with no water were forced to drink water with bloated bodies, feces,
and rats in it, the thought of cholera, typhoid, and delayed disease
immediately occurred to me. What if the fears of disease are correct?
People are fanning out throughout America. Where is the CDC?
In the age of computers, we are doing worse than the pencil squibs and
the rolls of paper to log in the displaced after World War II. Literacy
and computer access seems to be considered as a given for people who
have lost it all. Accessing FEMA is through a website. People are in
shelters waiting for FEMA to come "in a few days." "Be
patient." The Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana pumped my hand and
replied to my desperate queries about how to help people find their
parents and babies, "Be patient--give us a few days."
I am sure that there is a special ring of hell for the media: The
survivor stories end-on-end for the titillation of the public. I heard
Soledad O'Brien say something about the still unrecognized need to address
the psychological trauma. I sent a response to the CNN tip-line that
there were hordes of every manner of mental health professional working
24/7. CNN's response? Dr. Phil and the stories of the survivors"
on Larry King. They went to the guy who lost his clinical license for
serious professional infractions to tell the stories? I could see the
"entertainer" down there gathering tales of the already exploited
so that he and Larry could both pimp their ratings. The real unsung
mental health heroes, the counselors, psychologists, social workers
and psychiatrists dealing with un-medicated psychosis and severe traumatic
responses were represented by Dr. "Keep-It-Real"? We don't
need tabloid help from the media. Scream about accountability and point
fingers for those who can't. Where is the real help from the media?
Help us find those babies and parents and missing family. We have a
man in one of the shelters who is caring for four kids. They call him
uncle. He is actually the cousin of the fiancé of the mother
who is probably dead. The children are silent. They sit and play and
weep with open mouths that can't scream. Where is the media to scream
for them?
Finally, to hell with this "no blame game." The stories that
I know to be true are enough to make me boil. The compassionate foreign
doctors who can't find anyone to validate their credentials, the expensive
mobile hospital still sitting parked waiting for federal paperwork to
move into Louisiana, the five C130s sitting on the Tarmac in San Diego
since the night of Katrina, still waiting for orders to move. Where
the hell are the beds? We have some old people sleeping on hot plastic
pool floats with no sheets. They are still no showers for people who
have walked for hours through fetid waters. Their skin is breaking out
in rashes. Still no showers. Where the hell are the DeCon showers bought
with Homeland Security money that can shower 30 people at a time. The
convention centers have no bathing facilities so the filth and skin
reactions are getting worse. What of lice? There are no clothes for
the really heavy and large. I was reduced to writing the women I knew
who went to Weight Watchers to comb their attics for "before"
outfits. When I arrived with the sack of my gatherings, I had to engage
in a full scale battle and puff myself up to all my red-headed doctor
fury to get them distributed to the women still sitting there in their
stinking clothes.
The people that survived this tragedy and the people who help them all
know one truth. The help and the love and the care that has been
extended to them have been on a citizen-to-citizen basis. The churches,doctors,
therapists, and ordinary citizens who are giving all they can in time
and resources are managing to band-aid at the most elementary level-neighbor
to neighbor. The government has failed!!! We are more vulnerable now
than before 9/11 because faith in the system is gone. No system can
sustain itself as a viable entity when the citizenry are the walking
wounded. Victims implode a system from within and expose its decay.
This is the beginning of the end unless we can get a drastic change
of philosophy and restore the government to a system "by the people
for the people." Right now nobody down here believes we have that.
Anne Gervasi
Euless, TX 76039
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:35 AM
Response to Reply #8
107. Sept 6: Would-be rescuers cool their heels (FEMA's own rescuers)
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 01:01 AM by mom cat
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/katrin...
Would-be rescuers cool their heels
Chaos in New Orleans delays California team eager to enter fray08:56
AM CDT on Tuesday, September 6, 2005By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning
News They have been trimming one another's hair, lounging on hotel chairs,
chatting on cellphones. They've been up at dawn, exercising in front
of the hotel, trying to stay busy.
What they haven't been doing is dangling from helicopters over flooded
neighborhoods or going into half-collapsed buildings searching for hurricane
victims to rescue.
The 83 members of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Urban Search
and Rescue team from Orange County, Calif., have been told to stay downtown
at the Hyatt Regency Dallas at Reunion. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:48 AM
Response to Reply #8
119. DU thread with multiple links re- FEMA's botched response
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Note, this post covers a lot of topics so you'll have to scroll down
to get to this one.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:58 AM
Response to Reply #8
123. 1,000 firefighters to be used as community-relations officers
for FEMA
http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197
Frustrated: Fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA
By Lisa Rosetta
The Salt Lake Tribune
Firefighters endure a day of FEMA training, which included a course
on sexual harassment. Some firefighters say their skills are being wasted.
(Leah Hogsten/The Salt Lake Tribune)
ATLANTA - Not long after some 1,000 firefighters sat down for eight
hours of training, the whispering began: "What are we doing here?"
As New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin pleaded on national
television for firefighters - his own are exhausted after working around
the clock for a week - a battalion of highly trained men and women sat
idle Sunday in a muggy Sheraton Hotel conference room in Atlanta.
Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and
throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations
officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate
fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA. (MORE)
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:05 AM
Response to Reply #8
125. A compilation of help rejected by FEMA, mostly After
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Can FEMA do anything right?!! Look at this list!
Edited on Tue Sep-06-05 10:39 AM by peabody71
FEMA won't accept Amtrak's help in evacuations http://news.ft.com/cms/s/84aa35cc-1da8-11da-b40b-00000e
...
FEMA turns away experienced firefighters http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/5/105538/7048
FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec
... ;en=1d14ebfbd942a7d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspec
... ;en=1d14ebfbd942a7d0&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
FEMA won't let Red Cross deliver food http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05246/565143.stm
FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15147862&
;BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6
FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/3/171718/0826
FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509
... ;cset=true
FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050902dale
...
FEMA turns away generators http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWLBLOG.ac3fcea.html
FEMA: "First Responders Urged Not To Respond" http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:08 AM
Response to Reply #8
126. FEMA diverted copters w/ sandbags to pick up people at a church
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
FEMA sent Helicopters for LEVEE to Church instead
Edited on Tue Sep-06-05 05:41 PM by DoYouEverWonder
http://www.wdsu.com/weather/4917809/detail.html
Nagin reqeusted helicopters to drop sandbags on the 17th Street Levee
when it started showing signs of trouble. NAGIN had the sandbags ready,
all he needed was the helicopters.
HS/FEMA told him copters were on the way. They NEVER came. They went
to a CHURCH instead.
So to pick up a 1000 people stranded at a CHURCH, 10,000's of peoples
and their homes were doomed.
Nagin: Entire City Will Soon Be Underwater
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is "very upset" that an attempt
to fix the breach in the levee at the 17th Street canal has failed,
and he said the challenges that the city is facing have "escalated
to another level."
"The sandbagging that we had hoped would happen didn't materialize
today, so the water continued to rise at that particular location,"
he said.
In an exclusive interview with WDSU anchor Norman Robinson, Nagin said
the rising water has caused the generators to stop operating because
the water got too high. Due to that, Nagin said he's been advised by
the head technician at the sewage and water board that water in the
east bank area of Orleans and Jefferson parishes will rise to levels
equal to Lake Pontchartrain.
FEMA sent Helicopters for Levee to Church instead.
He said he was told that the helicopters may have been diverted to rescue
about 1,000 people in a church, but he is still not sure who gave the
order.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:28 AM
Response to Reply #8
133. ***After K: FEMA CHIEF: MICHAEL BROWN
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:34 AM
Response to Reply #133
135. Sept 6: FEMA Chief Waited Until After Storm Hit
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=1102744&CMP...
FEMA Chief Waited After Storm to Act, Gave Volunteers 2 Days to Arrive,
'Convey Positive Image'
By TED BRIDIS Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON Sep 6, 2005 — The government's disaster chief waited
until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast
before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees
to the region and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal
documents.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly
five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among
duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image"
about the government's response for victims.
Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams
across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first
department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.Dems Blast
Bush Over Hurricane Response
Rehnquist Leaves Conservative Legacy
The Note: Red Versus Blue, Part XXXII
Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic
event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely
ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet
our responsibilities." Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
DrDebug (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 07:29 AM
Response to Reply #133
306. Sept 3: Brown didn't know about the convention center
Edited on Sat Sep-10-05 07:29 AM by DrDebug
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/03/national/nationalspec...
CNN's Paula Zahn was incredulous. "Sir," she said, "you
aren't just telling me you just learned that the folks at the convention
center didn't have food and water until today, are you? You had no idea
they were completely cut off?"
"Paula," Mr. Brown replied unequivocally, "the federal
government did not even know about the convention center people until
today."
The comment symbolized what some have described as a deeply flawed federal
response. President Bush praised Mr. Brown's performance on Friday
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 08:25 PM
Response to Reply #133
333. FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help Bush
Win Fla. Votes
http://jasonleopold.blogspot.com/2005/09/exclusive-fema...
Friday, September 09, 2005
EXCLUSIVE!!! FEMA Chief Brown Paid Millions in False Claims to Help
Bush Win Fla. Votes in '04
By Jason Leopold
© 2005 Jason Leopold
Michael Brown, the embattled head of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, approved payments in excess of $31 million in taxpayer money
to thousands of Florida residents who were unaffected by Hurricane Frances
and three other hurricanes last year in an effort to help President
Bush win a majority of votes in that state during his reelection campaign,
according to published reports.
“Some Homeland Security sources said FEMA's efforts to distribute
funds quickly after Frances and three other hurricanes that hit the
key political battleground state of Florida in a six-week period last
fall were undertaken with a keen awareness of the looming presidential
elections,” according to a May 19 Washington Post story.Homeland
Security sources told the Post that after the hurricanes that Brown
“and his allies him to succeed Tom Ridge as Homeland Security
secretary because of their claim that he helped deliver Florida to President
Bush by efficiently responding to the Florida hurricanes.” The
South Florida Sun-Sentinel uncovered emails from Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
that confirmed those allegations and directly implicated Brown as playing
politics at the expense of hurricane victims.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:31 AM
Response to Reply #8
140. Sept 6: FEMA Turned Away Aid, Rescue Crews, Cut Emergency
Communication
Lines.
http://dominionpaper.ca/international_news/2005/09/06/f...
FEMA Turned Away Aid, Rescue Crews, Cut Emergency Communication Lines:
Witnesses
Agency draws ire of frustrated volunteers and donors
by Dru Oja Jay
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, several witnesses have alleged
that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) turned away volunteers
who were ready to help New Orleans residents people trapped in their
flooded homes. Other witnesses have said that FEMA turned away offers
of aid, prevented water and fuel from reaching people on the ground,
and cut emergency communications lines.
The agency has cited security and safety concerns.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 03:44 AM
Response to Reply #8
150. Sept 2: Loudoun deputies can't reach FEMA, Louisiana officials
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 03:46 AM by mom cat
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/Web/2005/092005/0902...
Loudoun deputies can't reach FEMA, Louisiana officials
Loudoun County deputies headed for Louisiana told to turn aroundDate
published: 9/2/2005 LEESBURG, Va. (AP) - A group of Loudoun County sheriff's
deputies heading to Louisiana to help maintain order among hurricane
refugees had to turn around at the Virginia border when they couldn't
get confirmation from emergency management officials, the Loudoun County
sheriff said.
After attempting for 12 hours to reach officials at the Federal Emergency
Management Agency and the Louisiana Emergency Operations Center, the
deputies were told to head home. The group of 22 officers and six emergency
medical technicians was expected to arrive back in Leesburg by 2 a.m.
Friday, according to a statement from the sheriff's office.
"How many people have to die in the interim while they try to make
this happen?" Sheriff Stephen O. Simpson told WRC-TV.
edited to add date
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:08 AM
Response to Reply #150
163. Minstrel' boy's post on this
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:05 AM
Response to Reply #8
161. CA firefighters (9/11 rescuers) barred from N.O. for a weekhttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:06 AM
Response to Reply #8
162. Who redirected helicopters leading to flooding of New Orleans?
http://www.bloggledygook.com/bloggledygook/2005/08
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:30 AM
Response to Reply #8
170. Many cases of hampered rescue efforts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:45 AM
Response to Reply #8
177. FEMA Deliberately Sabotaging Hurricane Relief Effortshttp://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 09:41 AM
Response to Reply #8
192. Sept 1: FEMA to rescue workers: Pay for your own gas!
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/9/1/211114/2959
BREAKING: FEMA to rescue workers: Pay for your own gas!
by MaximusNYC
Thu Sep 1st, 2005 at 18:11:14 PDT
I've previously diaried about how I'm receiving e-mail from CNN viewers
because my three-year-old blog, The Situation Room, has the same name
as Wolf Blitzer's new show.
This latest message -- addressed to Jack Cafferty -- is one of the most
startling I've seen yet:
MaximusNYC's diary :: ::
In today's segment of The Situation Room, you gave a personal response
to the federal government's handling (mis-handling) of the unprecedented
tragedy in Louisiana. Of specific note is the absence of coordi .nation
of the
government's response by means of FEMA.
For your information:
FEMA called in a company that owns and operates a fleet of air boats,
to aide with the search and recovery of citizens trying to survive the
disaster and who are still in their homes, etc. A friend of mine (from
Arkansas) is one of the owner/operators of an air boat in that fleet.
He responded to FEMA's request and went down to assist, all at his own
expense. When there,
he reported to a FEMA manager or supervisor who told him, and I quote:
"We need your assistance and can use your help every day, there's
a lot of folks who have not been found. But, you will have to pay for
your own gasoline for your air boat."
The cost of gasoline for that air boat, for each day, amounts to approximately
$550.00 per day, minimum. With the current gasoline crisis, it could
cost considerably more, up to $600 - $700 per day.
This young man volunteered his time AND his boat to help - and was then
told by FEMA that he would have to pay, additionally, out of his own
pocket, all of the costs for his gasoline - to find the people who were
in flooded homes across the entire flooded area in the City of New Orleans,
where FEMA is assigned.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 10:20 AM
Response to Reply #8
199. Sept 1:THE BOY SCOUTS!! THE FREAKING BOY SCOUTS!!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
givemebackmycountry (1000+ posts) Thu Sep-01-05 09:05 PM
Original message
THE BOY SCOUTS!! THE FREAKING BOY SCOUTS!!
Did I just hear this hand job asshole from FEMA (with no experience)
say the are mobilizing the BOY SCOUTS???
He actually said THE FREAKING BOY SCOUTS!!!
Good GOD who the hell is in charge here????
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Replies to this thread
X They don't even know how to camp in a rain storm LisaM Sep-01-05 09:07
PM #1
X Where exactly did you hear that? skooooo Sep-01-05 09:07 PM #2
X WTF???? KyndCulture Sep-01-05 09:08 PM #3
X On freaking CNN!! givemebackmycountry Sep-01-05 09:09 PM #4
X I heard that - Brown said that - if I could get thru the screen I
would donsu Sep-01-05 09:09 PM #5
X "Platoon of Boy Scouts Gunned Down in N.O".... madeline_con
Sep-01-05 09:10 PM #6
X Hey a troop of Boy Scouts LiveWire Sep-01-05 09:10 PM #7
X Well, it's more than the adults are doing ... madeline_con Sep-01-05
09:12 PM #10
X but why send in boys to do a mans job in this kind of danger? Sydnie
Sep-01-05 09:12 PM #12
X I guess they won't be feeding gays and atheists then, or giving them
water NNadir Sep-01-05 09:11 PM #8
X Funneee! madeline_con Sep-01-05 09:12 PM #11
X Not funny, LiveWire Sep-01-05 09:27 PM #28
X Brilliant. We'll send children to go where the cops fear to tread
txindy Sep-01-05 09:11 PM #9
X wow just wow. socordsx Sep-01-05 09:13 PM #16
X i am getting boyscouts into it in my area seabeyond Sep-01-05 09:13
PM #13
X agreed justabob Sep-01-05 09:16 PM #23
X They ARE mobilizing scouts justabob Sep-01-05 09:13 PM #14
X after the summer the Boy Scouts had julialnyc Sep-01-05 09:13 PM #15
X My head hurts. Lindsay Sep-01-05 09:14 PM #17
X Well since the NG is in Iraq....... Jacobin Sep-01-05 09:14 PM #18
X I had the same thought MN ChimpH8R Sep-01-05 09:15 PM #20
X No...*This is the scope of *We're* facing? JaneGat Sep-01-05 09:15
PM #19
X They are going to "mobilize" Boy Scouts??? SillyGoose Sep-01-05
09:16 PM #21
X If this wasn't so heartbreaking Libby2 Sep-01-05 09:16 PM #22
X I'm sending my dog. growlypants Sep-01-05 09:17 PM #24
X Hell it least their moto is "BE PREPARED" if they had been
in charge demo dutch Sep-01-05 09:18 PM #25
X Is the government so incompetent that NYC Sep-01-05 09:25 PM #26
X The Get Smart rescue team... Javaman Sep-01-05 09:27 PM #27
X The Boy Scouts are also a nickname for the NFL Saints KamaAina Sep-01-05
09:31 PM #29
X Uh, don't they have school they need to be in? Jose Diablo Sep-01-05
10:26 PM #30
X CNN just in: Mr_Jefferson_24 Sep-01-05 10:41 PM #31
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:01 PM
Response to Reply #8
213. Aug 29: FEMA: First Responders urged not to respond...unless..
( This request not to respond unless contacted by State officials came
one day after Gov Blanco had sent her request to the president via the
FEMA regional office! The request was already made!)
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18470
Home » News » 2005
Search FEMA
» Advanced Search
News Releases
Current Disasters
Current FEMA News
News Releases Archives
USFA Press Releases
Photo Archive First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact
Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local AuthoritiesRelease Date: August
29, 2005
Release Number: HQ-05-174» More Information on Alabama Hurricane
Katrina
» More Information on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina
» More Information on Louisiana Hurricane Katrina
» More Information on Florida Hurricane Katrina» En Español
WASHINGTON D.C. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security
for Emergency Preparedness and Response and head of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), today urged all fire and emergency services
departments not to respond to counties and states affected by Hurricane
Katrina without being requested and lawfully dispatched by state and
local authorities under mutual aid agreements and the Emergency Management
Assistance CompactPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 07:28 PM
Response to Reply #8
234. Amazing story of Gore at NOLA - - details of how FEMA tried
to stop him
http://www.algore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 09:19 PM
Response to Reply #8
240. JP's Maestri said FEMA didn't keep its word
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo...
Friday, September 02, 2005
JP's Maestri said
FEMA didn't keep its word
Mark Schleifstein
Staff writer
Jefferson Parish Emergency Preparedness Director Walter Maestri said
Friday night that the Federal Emergency Management Agency reneged on
a promise to begin relieving county emergency preparedness staffers
48 hours after Hurricane Katrina hit the New Orleans metropolitan area.
Maestri’s staff has been working almost around the clock since
Katrina approached the Louisiana coastline on Sunday. Today, the staff
is
expected to finally switch to a 12 hours on/12 hours off schedule, he
said,
adding that they’re both tired and demoralized by the lack of
assistance from federal officials.
“We had been told we would be on our own for 48 hours,”
Maestri said.
“Prepare to survive and in 48 hours the cavalry would arrive.
“Well, where are they?” he said.
Maestri said the agreement was signed by officials with the Southeastern
Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Officials Association, the state and
the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of this year’s
Hurricane Pam tabletop exercise. That exercise began the process of
writing a series of manuals explaining how to respond to a catastrophic
disaster. Financed by FEMA, it included a variety of federal, state
and local officials.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 04:48 PM
Response to Reply #8
263. 9/9 Swedish plane full with aid waiting since 6 days for an
US order
Not sure if this is FEMA, but . . .
Swedish plane full with aid waiting since 6 days for an US order
Sweden's government spokeman Per Ström criticised the passivity
of the US concerning international aid.
Since 6 days (I repeat "six days") a swedish plane carrying
equipment to clean water is waiting on a military airport to receive
an order from the US where it shall fly to. So far no order has been
received.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,373833,00....
(in German)
Here an article a few days before:
http://www.thelocal.se/article.php?ID=2018&date=2005090...
Ström said the plane would continue to wait but could take off
at any moment if the US wishes so.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 04:55 PM
Response to Reply #8
266. Sept 9: Embattled Brown Taken Off Katrina Duty
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050909/ap...
Embattled Brown Taken Off Katrina Duty
By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer
41 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - Federal
Emergency Management Agency Director Michael Brown, the principal target
of harsh criticism of the Bush administration's response to Hurricane
Katrina, was relieved of his onsite command Friday.
He will be replaced by Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, who was
overseeing New Orleans relief, recovery and rescue efforts, Homeland
Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced.
Earlier, Brown confirmed the switch. Asked if he was being made a scapegoat
for a federal relief effort that has drawn widespread and sharp criticism,
Brown told The Associated Press after a long pause: "By the press,
yes. By the president, no."
"Michael Brown has done everything he possibly could to coordinate
the federal response to this unprecedented challenge," Chertoff
told reporters in Baton Rouge, La. Chertoff sidestepped a question on
whether the move was the first step toward Brown's leaving FEMA.Printer
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 05:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
267. Sept 2: Slow response bewilders former FEMA officialsPosted
on Fri, Sep. 02, 2005
Slow response bewilders former FEMA officials
BY FRANK JAMES AND ANDREW MARTIN
Chicago Tribune
http://www.macon.com/mld/macon/news/politics/12549282.h...
WASHINGTON - (KRT) - Government disaster officials had an action plan
if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it
when Hurricane Katrina struck.
Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal
officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then
the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called
"a very good exercise."
More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the tabletop
scenario as 120-mile-an-hour winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread
flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.
"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican
appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private
sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal
with, not all of them were solved."
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 05:44 PM
Response to Reply #8
270. Sept 5: State of Art Mobile Hospital from UNC Turned Away
State of Art Mobile Hospital from UNC Turned Away
by Cal45
Mon Sep 5th, 2005 at 14:11:22 PDT
"We have tried so hard to do the right thing. It took us 30 hours
to get here," said one of the frustrated surgeons, Dr. Preston
"Chip" Rich of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill. That government officials can't straighten out the mess and get
them assigned to a relief effort now that they're just a few miles away
"is just mind-boggling," he said in a phone interview.
Next door in Mississippi, the North Carolina mobile hospital waiting
to help also offered impressive state-of-the-art medical care.
It was developed with millions of tax dollars through the Office of
Homeland Security after 9-11. With capacity for 113 beds, it is designed
to handle disasters and mass casualties.
State of Art Mobile Hospital from UNC Turned Away
link to original:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/5/171122/0018
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 06:19 PM
Response to Reply #8
275. Sept 4: Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts (100's of medical
people)Doctors Hamstrung in Relief Efforts
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20050904/D8CDKNCG0.html
Sep 4, 3:31 PM (ET)
By MARILYNN MARCHIONE
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Volunteer physicians are pouring in to care
for the sick, but red tape is keeping hundreds of others from caring
for Hurricane Katrina survivors while health problems escalate.
Among the doctors stymied from helping out are 100 surgeons and paramedics
in a state-of-the-art mobile hospital marooned in rural Mississippi.
"The bell was rung, the e-mails were sent off. ...We all got off
work and deployed," said one of the frustrated surgeons, Dr. Preston
"Chip" Rich of the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill.
"We have tried so hard to do the right thing. It took us 30 hours
to get here," he said. That government officials can't straighten
out the mess and get them assigned to a relief effort now that they're
just a few miles away "is just mind-boggling," he said.Printer
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:06 PM
Response to Reply #8
345. 9/10 (orig 9/2) Per FAA, not ONE plane reported being shot
at
Despite claims that rescue helicopters and planes had to be turned back
because they were being shot at . . . .
Planes Did NOT Report Being Shot At
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1087205
Laura Brown, a Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman in
Washington, said she had no such report.
"We're controlling every single aircraft in that airspace and none
of
them reported being fired on," she said, adding that the FAA was
in
contact with the military as well as civilian aircraft.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:21 PM
Response to Reply #8
353. 9/10 (orig 9/2) Troops Entering N.O. Find LACK of Violence
Met by Despair, Not Violence
As they begin to patrol the chaotic city, troops are surprised by what
they don't find.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-tr ...
The truck lurched through the streets, past buildings burning unabated
and MPs in gun turrets. When they stopped to gear up for their arrival
at the New Orleans Convention Center, where more than 15,000 people
had been living in squalor since Katrina, these words echoed —
for the first time, one would imagine — through the intersection
of Poydras Avenue and Carondelet Street: "Lock and load!"
"Sixteen in the clip!" one Guardsman shouted, a common refrain
used to indicate that rifles are fully loaded.
But when they arrived, they did not find marauding mobs. They did not
come under fire. They found people who had lost everything in the storm
and, since then, their dignity.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 11:47 PM
Response to Reply #353
386. See also
DU post at http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 10:20 PM
Response to Reply #8
367. 9/10 (orig post 9/3) Landrieu Re- FEMA Rejection of Offers,
17th St. Levee
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo...
Landrieu slams FEMA
U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, D-La., Saturday accused the Federal Emergency
Management Agency of failing to accept offers that would have eased
post-hurricane problems in New Orleans -- including a plan for the Forest
Service to douse fires in the city with aircraft used to fight fire.
On Friday, Landrieu asked President Bush to appoint a cabinet-level
official to oversee Hurricane Katrina relief and recovery efforts. She
reiterated that request on Saturday.
"Yesterday, I was hoping President Bush would come away from his
tour
of the regional devastation triggered by Hurricane Katrina with a new
understanding for the magnitude of the suffering and for the abject
failures of the current Federal Emergency Management Agency,"
Landrieu said. "Twenty-four hours later, the President has yet
to answer my
call for a cabinet-level official to lead our efforts. Meanwhile, FEMA,
now a shell of what it once was, continues to be overwhelmed by the
task at
hand.
Landrieu said that FEMA has inexplicably failed to take advantage of
offers of help. "I understand that the U.S. Forest Service had
water-tanker aircraft available to help douse the fires raging on our
riverfront, but FEMA has yet to accept the aid. When Amtrak offered
trains to evacuate significant numbers of victims - far more efficiently
than buses - FEMA again dragged its feet," Landrieu said. "Offers
of medicine, communications equipment and other desperately needed items
continue to flow in, only to be ignored by the agency.
Landrieu said that her "greatest disappointment" is the lack
of progress fixing the breached 17th Street levee. "Touring this
critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to
be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of
this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning,
less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed
a hastily prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity; and
the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to
a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black and white, rich and poor, young
and old - deserve far better from their national government," Landrieu
said.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 10:54 PM
Response to Reply #8
374. Sept 11: NYT..(no FEMA's failures) Disarray Marked the Path
From Hurricane
Edited on Sat Sep-10-05 11:03 PM by mom cat
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/11/national/nationalspec...
Disarray Marked the Path From Hurricane to Anarchy
By ERIC LIPTON, CHRISTOPHER DREW, SCOTT SHANE and DAVID ROHDE
Published: September 11, 2005
Excellent detailed analysis of FEMA's failures.
The official autopsies of the flawed response to the catastrophic storm
have already begun in Washington, and may offer lessons for dealing
with a terrorist attack or even another hurricane this season. But an
initial examination of Hurricane Katrina's aftermath demonstrates the
extent to which the federal government failed to fulfill the pledge
it made after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to face domestic threats as
a unified, seamless force.
Instead, the crisis in New Orleans deepened because of a virtual standoff
between hesitant federal officials and besieged authorities in Louisiana,
interviews with dozens of officials show.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials expected the state and
city to direct their own efforts and ask for help as needed. Leaders
in Louisiana and New Orleans, though, were so overwhelmed by the scale
of the storm that they were not only unable to manage the crisis, but
they were not always exactly sure what they needed. While local officials
assumed that Washington would provide rapid and considerable aid, federal
officials, weighing legalities and logistics, proceeded at a deliberate
pace.
snip
Russ Knocke, press secretary at the Department of Homeland Security,
said that any detailed examination of the response to the storm's assault
will uncover shortcomings by many parties. "I don't believe there
is one critical error," he said. "There are going to be some
missteps that were made by everyone involved."
But Richard A. Falkenrath, a former homeland security adviser in the
Bush White House, said the chief federal failure was not anticipating
that the city and state would be so compromised. He said the response
exposed "false advertising" about how the government has been
transformed four years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Printer
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 06:27 PM
Response to Reply #8
415. Sept 11: State officials say FEMA too slow on housing
State officials say FEMA too slow on housing
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breakingtp/index.ssf?/mtlo...
By Ed Anderson
Baton Rouge bureau
BATON ROUGE – The Federal Emergency Management Agency is moving
too slowly in bringing temporary housing into Louisiana for its displaced
victims of Hurricane Katrina, state officials complained Sunday.
Col. Jeff Smith, deputy director of the state Office of Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness, said with tens of thousands of Louisiana
residents in evacuation centers in the state and more dispersed around
the country, FEMA has not moved swiftly enough to bring in trailers
and mobile homes or find vacant apartments or homes for the displaced
victims.
“We have a main concern with temporary housing,’’
Smith said. “We don’t feel that process is moving fast enough.
There needs to be trailers rolling and things happening that just aren’t
happening...This is truly a national issue.’’
Two weeks after disasters struck in other states, FEMA had temporary
housing in place for the displaced, Smith said.
“Other states have had trailers set up by this time,’’
Smith said.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 06:00 PM
Response to Reply #8
450. Paulson...the new FEMA Director
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 06:03 PM
Response to Reply #450
451. Sept 13 Paulson and duct tape
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
WilliamPitt (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-12-05 10:47 PM
Original message
Oh, Jesus Baldheaded Christ on a Crutch
The new FEMA guy, Paulson, sounds good....right?
30-year fire rescue guy...right?
Paulson was the guy who recommended "plastic sheeting and duct
tape" be used by Americans to protect themselves.
Pardon me while I go fling myself into traffic.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:08 AM
Response to Reply #8
454. 9/13 A Volunteer in Miss.: FEMA Nowhere, but its Obstacles
Are Everywhere
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
An Attorney's Efforts to provide Legal Aid in Mississippi
The person who wrote this I believe is an attorney. Her name is Karen
Lash:
"Below is an op-ed like article about my day in the Mississippi
coastal city of Gulfport on Saturday September 10 -- rather than delay
getting the word out by submitting it to a newspaper, I'm sending it
into cyperspace in the hopes you'll forward it to your friends, and
take action on one or more of the bulleted items listed at the end.
THANK YOU!
Bureaucracy kills. And in Gulfport, Mississippi, bureaucracy reigns.
I arrived in Jackson, Mississippi from Washington DC last Wednesday,
hoping to help the Mississippi Center for Justice coordinate pro bono
attorneys, law professors and legal aid offices, an army of whom are
ready to respond to the overwhelming need hurricane victims have for
legal assistance. In the midst of this effort, two other out-of-state
volunteers and I left for the Mississippi coast. Armed with 25 copies
of Help After a Disaster, FEMA's applicant guide, and cases of bottled
water, we headed south to let people know law schools and lawyers would
be providing help with the myriad legal issues they'd be facing.
But when I arrived in Gulfport on Saturday, I was simply not prepared
for what I saw. Chaos, devastation and an apparent inability to deliver
the most basic help to so many people in so much despair. It was day
13 after Katrina struck, and no one was coordinating the relief effort
in one of the poorest communities along the coast.
We never found a resident who had ever seen even one FEMA official.
No one had been able to successfully complete 'Registration Intake"
via the 1-800 number. Most people we met still didn't have electricity
or phone service. We finally heard of one man who got through to FEMA
– at 2:30 a.m. But when asked for insurance information he didn't
have and didn't know how he could get since he'd lost everything and
had no place else to turn, he just broke down and cried. The bureaucracy
was killing him.
It's no wonder. The September 11 Clarion-Ledger, Jackson's local paper,
reported that U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering (R) had said FEMA needs 10,000
operators to properly staff the phones but Homeland Security regulations
require employees to pass security clearance, typically a months-long
process. The paper quotes Pickering as concluding 'In other words, the
phone line is useless."
Meanwhile, our efforts were complicated because our phones rarely rang
-- spotty cell reception. Although I could usually call out, I wasn't
able to receive calls.
Again, the Clarion-Leger provided some insight. Representative Pickering's
office reported that two days after the hurricane hit, a company offered
to launch balloons that would restore cellular phone service in the
region – for free. FEMA told him the company would have to go
through a typically months-long competitive bidding process. The bureaucracy
simply could not be avoided. FEMA representatives were nowhere to be
found, but their rules and regulations are everywhere.
We stopped first at the Good Deeds Community Center, a makeshift refuge
for 100s of North Gulfport and Turkey Creek residents. Red Cross volunteers
told us the Florida church that had been feeding more than 600 residents
two hot meals a day was leaving on Sunday and asked if we could track
down another mobile kitchen. Without a second thought, we set out to
help. But this was crucial stuff. Why were we doing it? Where was FEMA?
That effort had us going to area churches – where we found similar
stories. Arkansas church members set up at the Grace Memorial Baptist
Church had been serving up hundreds of hot meals since Thursday. They
were almost out of food, leaving on Monday, but offered us their several
hundred peanut butter and jelly sandwich surplus. We gratefully took
it.
Another church in Ocean Springs didn't have a kitchen or cleaning supplies
but could send new clothes and canned goods in a truck returning to
Kentucky. Everywhere we went people asked for bleach – both to
kill the bacteria from raw sewage so they could safely take a bath,
and also to stop the spread of black mold that was swallowing the walls
of those fortunate enough to still have a home.
The sympathetic workers in the county courthouse had few ideas for us.
When asked where FEMA was one responded 'your guess is as good as mine."
Looking for another church we'd heard was preparing large numbers of
hot meals, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in a redzone. We
passed the ominous buildings some of which had a bright orange spraypainted
'X" – indicating that the dead bodies still in the building
had been identified so rescue workers had moved on. We also passed a
van with Indiana license plates, and signs hanging in the windows that
read 'CAN'T FIND MY FATHER – PLEASE HELP."
Returning to Good Deeds to report on our progress, we saw a county worker
pull up with a truckload of ice. Twenty minutes later, with the truck
unattended, no one aware of its precious cargo, and the ice quickly
melting in the stifling sun, my colleagues and I hopped into the back
of the truck. Yelling 'free ice" we urged people to take as many
bags as they could carry and distribute it to neighbors on their way
home.
Meanwhile, the onsite Red Cross volunteers gave out the last of their
day's food and toy stash from their U-Haul, distraught because without
hot food coming on Sunday, Good Deeds would be closed. No one knows
what will happen next. There is simply no delivery or distribution system
in place. Without the inspiration of leaders from groups like North
Gulfport Community Land Trust and Turkey Creek Community Initiatives,
and an army of volunteers, nothing would be getting done.
We next drove down Rippy Road, the center of the northern Gulfport community
of Turkey Creek, to see firsthand its destruction. The historic residences
in this African American neighborhood were part of a settlement built
by freed slaves in the Reconstruction Era. Many of those homes are now
uninhabitable.
While in another church parking lot, all three of us on separate cellphone
conversations, one of my colleagues whooped with delight when she heard
that the Kentucky-bound truck had arrived at Good Deeds – 'I'm
in the chain gang unloading now" reported the Harrison County Supervisor
staffer who has been working 14-hour days for eleven days straight.
Unfortunately I had to report that the Long Beach pastor trying to track
down a volunteer McDonald's truck could not be located and that no one
knew where it had gone. We still had hope the Colorado Springs volunteers
we met in the county courthouse could make a miracle happen as they'd
promised to look for a mobile kitchen and cleaning supplies.
There's no question that eventually the need for legal services will
be top priority and that it will be an on-going effort – likely
for years. The Mississippi Bar, clinical law professors and students,
and pro bono law firm and legal aid attorneys are continuing their Herculean
efforts. Lawyers will be critical. Only they can help people get legal
guardianship of the children they now care for, help the newly disabled
get SSI benefits, elderly homeowners avoid predatory lenders, families
file for bankruptcy, the insured appeal denials of coverage because
damage is deemed caused by flood (not covered) not hurricane (which
is), and help with myriad other legal issues.
However, the immediate imperative is to cut through the bureaucracy
and get the hurricane's victims the most basic of life's needs –
now. The United States is the most powerful and richest nation in the
history of the world. That power and resources now needs to be used
to get life's essentials to thousands of people who are facing chaos,
devastation and death. But what we saw, or didn't see, was as potentially
devastating. A system that has broken down will bring down all who are
in need. Headlines tell us that the relief effort is stepping up, but
to the people we met in North Gulfport and Turkey Creek, and hundreds
of places like them, those headlines are meaningless.
Please contact your Congressman and Senators and demand the FEMA redtape
be cut;
Contact your local churches and synagogues to see how you can help their
efforts – be aware the needs change every 36 hours at least so
contact with churches in the affected areas is key;
Donate money to community-based organizations and legal aid organizations
in the affected states;
Brainstorm new ways to get help to the most affected areas immediately.
Before returning to Jackson, we left the 25 copies of the FEMA guide
with the Supervisor's staffer at Good Deeds. She promised to distribute
them at Sunday church services. "
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:19 AM
Response to Reply #8
457. Raw Story, from WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled"
Katrina response
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Raw Story, from WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled" Katrina
response
Edited on Tue Sep-13-05 02:22 PM by highplainsdem
Separately, internal documents and emails from FEMA and other government
agencies dating back to Aug. 31 and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal
show the extent to which the federal government bungled its response
to the hurricane. The documents highlight serious deficiencies in the
Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan, a post-Sept.
11 playbook on how to deal with catastrophic events. Mr. Chertoff activated
the National Response Plan last Tuesday by declaring the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina an "Incident of National Significance."
In one instance, federal environmental health specialists, who were
charged with protecting both rescue workers and evacuees, weren't called
in by the Department of Homeland Security until Sunday -- 12 days after
the Occupational Safety & Health Administration announced it had
teams from various agencies standing by ready to assist. Even now, with
mounting evidence of environmental problems, the deployment is being
held up by continuing interagency wrangling, according to officials
at the National Institutes of Health, which also is involved in the
effort.
In addition, FEMA's official requests, known as tasking assignments
and used by the agency to demand help from other government agencies,
show that it first asked the Department of Transportation to look for
buses to help evacuate the more than 20,000 people who had taken refuge
at the Superdome in New Orleans at 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 31. At the time,
it only asked for 455 buses and 300 ambulances for the enormous task.
Almost 18 hours later, it canceled the request for the ambulances because
it turned out, as one FEMA employee put it, "the DOT doesn't do
ambulances."
FEMA ended up modifying the number of buses it thought it needed to
get the job done, until it settled on a final request of 1,355 buses
at 8:05 p.m. on Sept. 3. The buses, though, trickled into New Orleans,
with only a dozen or so arriving on the first day.
The Raw Story article,
with excerpts from the Wall Street Journal, is at
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Paper_Internal_documents_ ...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:42 AM
Response to Reply #8
463. 9/13 Blanco gives up on FEMA, hires firm herself to recover
Louisiana dead
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Blanco gives up on FEMA, hires firm herself to recover Louisiana dead
Louisiana Hires Contractor to Help Recover Bodies
Sept. 13 (Bloomberg)
-- Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco said the state hired a contractor
to recover bodies left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, saying she
had given up on the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"In recent days, I have spoken with FEMA and administration officials
to convey my absolute frustration regarding the lack of urgency and
the lack of respect of our people whose lives were lost as a result
of Hurricane Katrina,'' Blanco told reporters in Baton Rouge today during
a meeting with state officials.
Blanco said Kenyon International Emergency Services, a Houston-based
unit of Service Corp. International that has worked on Asian tsunami
recovery effort, will find the corpses left after Katrina roared ashore
on the U.S. Gulf Coast Aug. 29. The storm killed thousands, caused an
estimated $100 billion in damage and left 80 percent of New Orleans
submerged in water....
***
Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff said the agency that runs
FEMA created a "system of recovery" a week ago and is responsible
for the recovery of bodies, Blanco said, adding that even the highest
government officials couldn't "break through the bureaucracy to
get the coordination done." She also blamed the agency for not
committing enough workers to the effort.
Respect
"I cannot bear to wait any longer," Blanco said today during
a meeting with state officials. "In death as in life our people
deserve more respect than they have received."...
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=add...
ON EDIT: Re. FEMA's contracting with Kenyon --
Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency
Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because
it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.
Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From
what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 11:43 AM
Response to Reply #463
479. 9/14 Firm hired by Blanco is subsidiary of one FEMA would
have hired
Search this page for "DMORT" for more.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
22. No, Kenyon International is a subsidary of SCI... it is the same
company.
Blanco signed the FEMA contract. FEMA was in negotiations or something
with SCI's Kenyon International
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:56 AM
Response to Reply #8
467. 9/13 Chertoff STILL Impeding FEMA Efforts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Whistleblower: Chertoff Impeding Rescue NOW!
HS is scrambling to resurrect/protect it's tarnished image, and that
of *, so much, they are screwing up even more! They definitely got the
call from Rove..."look good, at any cost!"
<http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/13/164257/615 >On last
night's Nightline, FEMA staffer Leo Bosner appeared, careful to say
he was giving his personal views, not the agency's official ones. He
spoke quietly but did not mince words:
"Right now as we talk, unfortunately, Homeland Security is actually
impeding - in my view - impeding the rescue effort. As I mentioned,
we're running a 24/7 operation down there and we're trying to do the
best we can at FEMA. And we're getting held back because we're bombarded
with telephone calls, day and night, from Homeland Security, saying,
`Oh, Secretary Chertoff has a press conference coming up, uh, stop everything
and get us this information: Can you tell us exactly how many pounds
of ice have been delivered to such and such county,' or, `Why are the
number of rescues different from what they were six hours ago?' They're
impeding the effort right now."
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 09:23 AM
Response to Reply #467
478. 9-14 re 9-13: Chertoff delayed federal response, memo showsPosted
on Tue, Sep. 13, 2005
• Knight Ridder
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/news/politic... Chertoff
delayed federal response, memo shows
BY JONATHAN S. LANDAY, ALISON YOUNG AND SHANNON MCCAFFREY
Knight Ridder NewspapersWASHINGTON - (KRT) - The federal official with
the power to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina
was Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not the former FEMA
chief who was relieved of his duties and resigned earlier this week,
federal documents reviewed by Knight Ridder show.
Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, Chertoff could have ordered
federal agencies into action without any request from state or local
officials. Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown had
only limited authority to do so until about 36 hours after the storm
hit, when Chertoff designated him as the "principal federal official"
in charge of the storm.
As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water and shelter
in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics
assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost
hundreds of lives.
But Chertoff - not Brown - was in charge of managing the national response
to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response Plan,
the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle major
natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President
Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security
director.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-15-05 10:49 AM
Response to Reply #478
487. 9-14KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed Federal Katrina
Response
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ep/20050914/en...
KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed Federal Katrina Response Wed
Sep 14, 6:38 PM ET
NEW YORK In a major scoop, three reporters with Knight Ridder's Washington
bureau report that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not
ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown, was the federal official with the power
to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina. In a damning
allegation, they suggest that Chertoff may have been confused about
his lead role in disaster response and that of his department.
The reporters -- Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey
-- say this is based on federal documents they reviewed this week.
Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, they report, Chertoff could
have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state
or local officials. Brown, they add, had only limited authority to do
so until about 36 hours after the storm hit, when Chertoff designated
him as the "principal federal official" in charge of the storm.Printer
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 01:05 AM
Response to Reply #8
468. 9/13 WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled" Katrina
response
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Raw Story, from WSJ: Internal docs show feds "bungled" Katrina
response
Separately, internal documents and emails from FEMA and other government
agencies dating back to Aug. 31 and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal
show the extent to which the federal government bungled its response
to the hurricane. The documents highlight serious deficiencies in the
Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan, a post-Sept.
11 playbook on how to deal with catastrophic events. Mr. Chertoff activated
the National Response Plan last Tuesday by declaring the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina an "Incident of National Significance."
In one instance, federal environmental health specialists, who were
charged with protecting both rescue workers and evacuees, weren't called
in by the Department of Homeland Security until Sunday -- 12 days after
the Occupational Safety & Health Administration announced it had
teams from various agencies standing by ready to assist. Even now, with
mounting evidence of environmental problems, the deployment is being
held up by continuing interagency wrangling, according to officials
at the National Institutes of Health, which also is involved in the
effort.
In addition, FEMA's official requests, known as tasking assignments
and used by the agency to demand help from other government agencies,
show that it first asked the Department of Transportation to look for
buses to help evacuate the more than 20,000 people who had taken refuge
at the Superdome in New Orleans at 1:45 a.m. on Aug. 31. At the time,
it only asked for 455 buses and 300 ambulances for the enormous task.
Almost 18 hours later, it canceled the request for the ambulances because
it turned out, as one FEMA employee put it, "the DOT doesn't do
ambulances."
FEMA ended up modifying the number of buses it thought it needed to
get the job done, until it settled on a final request of 1,355 buses
at 8:05 p.m. on Sept. 3. The buses, though, trickled into New Orleans,
with only a dozen or so arriving on the first day.
The Raw Story article, with excerpts from the Wall Street Journal, is
at
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Paper_Internal_documents_...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-15-05 01:24 AM
Response to Reply #8
485. 9/14 Man Saved Day 16 Bec. N.G. Lt. Broke FEMA Order Not to
Search Homes
Edited on Thu Sep-15-05 01:26 AM by snot
From http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/14/12516/3649 :
Survivor rescued 16 days after the hurricane
By KEITH SHARON
The Orange County Register
September 14, 2005
NEW ORLEANS - . . . A human foot arching at an odd angle was visible
through the front window of a locked and dark home.
The National Guard team of searchers was about to call in a "DB,"
or dead body . . . in the Broadmoor district when Lt. Frederick Fell
decided to investigate.
In the past few days, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has ordered
searchers not to break into homes. They are supposed to look in through
a window and knock on the door. If no one cries out for help, they are
supposed to move on. If they see a body, they are supposed to log the
address and move on.
< snip >
Fell broke the rules and ordered his men to bash open the door, launching
a series of events that would save a man's life and revitalize California
Task Force 5 from Orange County.
< snip >
. . . 16 days after Hurricane Katrina smacked this aging community in
the face, an unconscious and emaciated man identified as Edgar Hollingsworth,
74, was rescued. The man is expected to survive.
< snip >
Medics from California Task Force 5, which had been searching in the
same neighborhood, were eventually able to get intravenous fluids through
a vein under the man's clavicle in an intricate curbside medical procedure
that may have saved the man's life.
The man had been lying on the couch in his locked and sweltering home.
< snip >
They pulled him out of the house and laid him on the sidewalk. He looked
as if he weighed less than 80 pounds.
< snip >
"They were surprised at the hospital that anyone in his condition
would still be alive," Czuleger said. "In 24 hours, he would
have been dead.
"I think the young Army guy that found him saved his life."
< snip >
Hollingsworth had been lying naked on his blue-green couch. It was unclear
if he had eaten or drunk anything for several days. He was not surrounded
by food or water containers. His house was still in disarray from the
storm. A chair had landed on top of the kitchen table.
< snip >
A pit-bull puppy was also pulled from the house. It appeared to be healthy
and was transported to the hospital along with Edgar Hollingsworth.
Earlier, they had been frustrated when FEMA delayed their deployment
for four days, housing them in the Hyatt Regency in Dallas.
They were frustrated further when they were given the FEMA order that
they weren't allowed to force their way into houses to search them.
< snip >
Thank you, California National Guard. Too bad that half the Louisiana
National Guard -- and their equipment -- were halfway around the world
fighting George W Bush's illegitimate war, instead of saving the lives
of people like Edgar Hollingsworth.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-15-05 09:50 PM
Response to Reply #8
488. 9/15 Brown admits calling WH within hours of Katrina's hit
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Brown admits calling WH within hours of Katrina's hit
NEW YORK - The former FEMA director who became a lightning rod for the
sluggish federal response to Hurricane Katrina blamed state officials
for the delays, according to a newspaper report.
Michael Brown told The New York Times that within hours of Katrina's
attack on New Orleans he told the White House that Louisiana officials
lacked an organized response, leading to an "out of control"
situation.
Brown said he called Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and
White House chief of staff Andrew Card to let them know the situation
was out of control.
His account suggests the White House knew right away that the storm
was leaving the coast in shambles.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050915/ap_on_re_us/katrina...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-15-05 11:07 PM
Response to Reply #8
490. 9-15 "Sick and Abandoned" FEMA blocked emergency
hospital
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Herbert/NYT: "Sick and Abandoned" FEMA blocked emergency hospital
Edited on Thu Sep-15-05 12:14 PM by Nothing Without Hope
supplies and generator fuel from reaching Methodist Hospital, in the
eastern part of New Orleans. The supplies sent from out of state by
the hospital's owners to save dying patients and keep the emergency
generators going was confiscated by FEMA. As a result, more patients
died.
The story follows a tragic, despicable pattern that is all too familiar
by now, but it's good to see it in the New York Times two and a half
weeks after the storm. The outrage should not be allowed to cool.
September 15, 2005
Sick and Abandoned
By BOB HERBERT, op/ed columnist
(snip)
The patients and staff at Methodist could have been evacuated before
Hurricane Katrina hit. But instead they were condemned to several days
of fear and agony by bad decision-making in Louisiana and the chaotic
ineptitude of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some of the patients
died.
Incredibly, when the out-of-state corporate owners of the hospital responded
to the flooding by sending emergency relief supplies, they were confiscated
at the airport by FEMA and sent elsewhere.
(snip)
Everybody's suffering would have been eased if the emergency relief
effort mounted by the hospital's owner, Universal Health Services in
King of Prussia, Pa., had not been interfered with by FEMA. Company
officials sent desperately needed water, food, diesel fuel to power
the hospital's generators and helicopters to ferry in the supplies and
evacuate the most vulnerable individuals.
Bruce Gilbert, Universal's general counsel, told me yesterday, "Those
supplies were in fact taken from us by FEMA, and we were unable to get
them to the hospital. We then determined that it would be better to
send our supplies, food and water to Lafayette <130 miles from New
Orleans> and have our helicopters fly them from Lafayette to the
hospital."
(snip)
E-mail: bobherb@nytimes.com
Bob Herbert ends
his article by pointing out that the story of the deadly consequences
of the confiscated emergency supplies for Methodist hospital is "just
one small part of the New Orleans catastrophe," hinting at the
sheer scale of the massive societal failure that was allowed to happen.
He concludes, "Welcome to the United States in 2005."
The abandonment of sick people is STILL going on under FEMA's murderously
negligent direction. People are STILL dying of hunger and thirst in
New Orleans and most probably all over the region devastated by the
hurricane. For example this man in New Orleans, who was alone and abandoned
without food or water:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/14/12516/3649
(DU thread on this dKos story here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph
... )
Mr. Hollingsworth
is still alive only because a California National Guard refused to follow
orders from FEMA not to break into houses after he saw a foot in the
window. This was TWO AND A HALF WEEKS AFTER THE STORM. There must be
hundreds- thousands?- of others who are still dying or died within the
last few days. There can be no conceivable excuse for this. It is negligent
homicide on a massive scale.
We cannot let the outrage cool.
Right now there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people who have STILL
not been rescued or helped. The GOP do not care, and some of them are
positively gleeful (like that Baton Rouge pol who was overheard by a
Wash Post reporter as he told lobbyists "We finally cleaned up
public housing in New Orleans. We couldn't do it, but God did").
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
Thread title: WP: Sympathetic Tone Eludes Some in GOP (Hit Jarring Notes
re. Katrina)
We must hold them accountable and not let up on our efforts to motivate
action to aid the victims and get the truth out about what has been
and is being done to them in our name. And we must also be alert to
block efforts by the Bush Administration not only to evade blame but
also to use this national tragedy to grab ever more power in defiance
of the Constitution:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
Thread title: Bush says he may need more power in disasters
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
Thread title: NPR Reports: GW to Blanco"I'll send in the troops
if you answer to the WH"
Finally, though you may consider this off-topic, I feel it's vitally
important to be alert to horrible actions done by the Bush Administration
while the nation is in a state of shock over the Katrina aftermath.
We need DU threads collecting these "under the radar" stories.
A prime example: THE PENTAGON'S DRAFT PLAN FOR MAKING PRE-EMPTIVE NUCLEAR
ATTACKS OFFICIAL US MILITARY POLICY IS NEARING APPROVAL.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
Thread title: Pentagon Revises Nuclear Strike Plan
That's right, folks, if this is approved, Bush will be able to nuke
anybody he wants if his handlers tell him that they MIGHT be CONSIDERING
using bioweapons, or chemical ones at some point. We'd probably be in
a nuclear World War III by this time if that had been on the books when
he went into Iraq. And you know they've wanted "regime change"
by any means in Iran for a long time and now they're giving those coded
phrases about Syria too. THIS IS NO TIME TO LOSE ATTENTION!!!Printer
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-15-05 11:12 PM
Response to Reply #8
491. 9-15KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed Federal Katrina
Response
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
KR Report: 'Confused' Chertoff Delayed Federal Katrina Response
NEW YORK In a major scoop, three reporters with Knight Ridder's Washington
bureau report that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, not
ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown, was the federal official with the power
to mobilize a massive federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
In a damning allegation, they suggest that Chertoff may have been confused
about his lead role in disaster response and that of his department.
The reporters -- Jonathan S. Landay, Alison Young and Shannon McCaffrey
-- say this is based on federal documents they reviewed this week.
Even before the storm struck the Gulf Coast, they report, Chertoff could
have ordered federal agencies into action without any request from state
or local officials. Brown, they add, had only limited authority to do
so until about 36 hours after the storm hit, when Chertoff designated
him as the "principal federal official" in charge of the storm.
As thousands of hurricane victims went without food, water, and shelter
in the days after Katrina's early morning Aug. 29 landfall, critics
assailed Brown for being responsible for delays that might have cost
hundreds of lives, they write.
But Chertoff -- not Brown -- was in charge of managing the national
response to a catastrophic disaster, according to the National Response
Plan, the federal government's blueprint for how agencies will handle
major natural disasters or terrorist incidents. An order issued by President
Bush in 2003 also assigned that responsibility to the homeland security
director.
More: http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ep/20050914/en ...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-16-05 03:32 PM
Response to Reply #8
503. 9/16 FEMA Officials Were Shocked @ Failure of Brown &
Chertoff to Mobilize
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
NPR follow-up story-DC FEMA Official Says Chertoff& Brown Ignored
Warnings
Once again Chertoff/Brown are caught LYING!!
NPR doing a follow-up on previous story
FEMA Official Says Agency Heads Ignored Warnings
NPR - Morning Edition - 9/16/05
by Laura Sullivan
In the days before Hurricane Katrina hit land, Homeland Security Secretary
Michael Chertoff, FEMA Director Michael Brown and other top Homeland
Security officials received e-mails on their blackberries warning that
Katrina posed a dire threat to New Orleans and other areas. Yet one
FEMA official tells NPR little was done.
Leo Bosner, an emergency management specialist at FEMA headquarters
in Washington, D.C., is in charge of the unit that alerts officials
of impending crises and manages the response. As early as Friday, Aug.
26, Bosner knew that Katrina could turn into a major emergency.
In daily e-mails -- known as National Situation Updates -- sent to Chertoff,
Brown and others in the days before Katrina made landfall in the Gulf
Coast, Bosner warned of its growing strength -- and of the particular
danger the hurricane posed to New Orleans, much of which lies below
sea level.
But Bosner says FEMA failed to organize the massive mobilization of
National Guard troops and evacuation buses needed for a quick and effective
relief response when Katrina struck. He says he and his colleagues at
FEMA's D.C. headquarters were shocked by the lack of response.
"We could see all this going downhill," Bosner said, "but
there was nothing we could do."
Entire audio at:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=48...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 06:14 PM
Response to Reply #503
516. More pieces on similar subject
Edited on Sat Sep-17-05 06:16 PM by snot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
A disturbing view from inside FEMA(Brown and Chertoff were given warnings)
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/17/katrina.response /
A disturbing view from inside FEMA
Worker: Decision-makers lack disaster experience
As Hurricane Katrina bore down on the Gulf Coast three weeks ago, veteran
workers at the Federal Emergency Management Agency braced for an epic
disaster.
But their bosses, political appointees with almost no emergency management
experience, didn't seem to share the sense of urgency, a FEMA veteran
said.
"We told these fellows that there was a killer hurricane heading
right toward New Orleans," Leo Bosner, a 26-year FEMA employee
and union leader told CNN. "We had done our job, but they didn't
do theirs."( Watch video of the whistleblower)
Bosner's storm warning came early Saturday, three days before Hurricane
Katrina came ashore in eastern Louisiana.
"New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city
lies below sea level," he warned in his daily alert to Homeland
Security secretary Michael Chertoff, then-FEMA chief Michael Brown and
other Bush administration officials.
________
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Early warnings raised doubt on Bush disaster plans
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17208748.htm
17 Sep 2005 20:16:03 GMT
Source: Reuters
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON, Sept 17 (Reuters) - In the months before Hurricane
Katrina, President George W. Bush sought to cut a key program to help
local governments raise their preparedness, and state officials
warned of a "total lack of focus" on natural disasters by
his
homeland-security chief, documents show.
The disclosures add to questions over the administration's
emergency-response planning, Homeland Security Secretary Michael
Chertoff's priorities and the way the White House budgets for
disaster preparedness after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Organizations representing emergency-response and security officials
at state and local agencies had complained of funding shortages and
what they saw as an excessive shift by the Homeland Security
Department away from preparing for natural disasters, as it focused
increasingly on terrorism.
In July, the National Emergency Management Association wrote lawmakers
expressing "grave" concern that still-pending changes proposed
by
Chertoff would undercut the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA).
<snip>
more... http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N17208748.htm
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 01:08 AM
Response to Reply #8
507. 9/16 FEMA Ordered Dr. to STOP Treating Victims--Watched 2
Die
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Doctor says FEMA ordered him to stop treating hurricane victims
http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091605/new_doctoror...
In the midst of administering chest compressions to a dying woman several
days after Hurricane Katrina struck, Dr. Mark N. Perlmutter was ordered
to stop by a federal official because he wasn't registered with the
Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"I begged him to let me continue," said Perlmutter, who left
his home and practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Pennsylvania to come
to Louisiana and volunteer to care for hurricane victims. "People
were dying, and I was the only doctor on the tarmac (at the Louis Armstrong
New Orleans International Airport) where scores of nonresponsive patients
lay on stretchers. Two patients died in front of me.
<snip>
Lori Price
http://www.legitgov.org/index.html#breaking_news
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 01:20 AM
Response to Reply #8
508. 9/16 Oil Workers Get New Homes Fast
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
LA: Displaced oil workers get new homes
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/15/katrina.sugarville.reu...
Compared with many others forced from their homes by Hurricane Katrina,
residents of Sugarville have comfortable new houses, complete with amenities
like soft beds, DVD players and full refrigerators.
Of course, "Sugarville" is actually a huge dirt lot on the
grounds of the Royal Dutch Shell Sugarland Terminal in this southeastern
Louisiana town.
The "houses" are Fleetwood Enterprises trailers supplied by
the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house oil workers and their
families displaced by the storm that devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast.
For those in the storm's path, there are complaints far and wide that
disaster response officials are not moving fast enough to find housing
for storm evacuees. But when it comes to the oil industry, FEMA moved
quickly, scrambling to get trailers so refineries could come back online
and crude could begin flowing again.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 01:34 AM
Response to Reply #8
509. 9/16 Criteria for FEMA Aid Not to Be Divulged to Victims???
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
FEMA's response at our town hall meeting
We have had two town hall meetings (last night and the night before)
and invited evacuees from the New Orleans area that are staying in our
town to come and meet with our city's leaders to discuss how we can
help them more.
Last night the FEMA person for our area came to address some of the
evacuees concerns. Not a single evacuee here has received anything from
FEMA. They wanted to know why. The FEMA person said that after they
registered with FEMA, and if they qualified, it would be about 10 days
before they received a check. It has been close to two weeks since a
majority of our evacuees registered with FEMA. Everyone wanted to know
what the qualifications were to receive a check. She said that she couldn't
tell what the qualifications were. We asked her what did she mean that
she "couldn't tell us what the qualifications were"? She said
that there were certain qualifications that people applying for FEMA
benefits had to meet, but they were "secret", and could not
be divulged because FEMA was concerned that if the qualifications were
made public people who didn't qualify would apply for benefits using
fake qualifications that met the criteria.
It was a packed hall, and you could have heard a pin drop after she
said that. What kind of crap is that! I didn't know that FEMA had "secret"
qualifications to receive benefits.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 02:42 PM
Response to Reply #8
511. 9/17 NYT: FEMA, Slow to the Rescue, Now Stumbles in Aid Effort
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
NYT: FEMA, Slow to the Rescue, Now Stumbles in Aid Effort
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/17/national/nationalspec...
BATON ROUGE, La., Sept 16 - Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina
cut its devastating path, FEMA - the same federal agency that botched
the rescue mission - is faltering in its effort to aid hundreds of thousands
of storm victims, local officials, evacuees and top federal relief officials
say. The federal aid hot line mentioned by President Bush in his address
to the nation on Thursday cannot handle the flood of calls, leaving
thousands of people unable to get through for help, day after day.
Federal officials are often unable to give local governments permission
to proceed with fundamental tasks to get their towns running again.
Most areas in the region still lack federal help centers, the one-stop
shopping sites for residents in need of aid for their homes or families.
Officials say that they are uncertain whether they can meet the president's
goal of providing housing for 100,000 people who are now in shelters
by the middle of next month.
While the agency has redoubled its efforts to get food, money and temporary
shelter to the storm victims, serious problems remain throughout the
affected region. Visits to several towns in Louisiana and Mississippi,
as well as interviews with dozens of local and federal officials, provide
a portrait of a fragmented and dysfunctional system.
The top two federal relief officials in charge of the effort both acknowledged
in interviews late this week that they too have listened to the frustrated
voices of local officials and citizens alike, and find their complaints
valid.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-17-05 03:47 PM
Response to Reply #8
514. 9/17 Michael Moore Rpts His Own Relief Efforts, & FEMA's
Complete Absence
Michael Moore's updates from Covington
http://www.michaelmoore.com/mustread/covington.php?id=2...
Friends,
Last week I closed my New York production office and sent my staff down
to New Orleans to set up our own relief effort. I asked all of you to
help me by sending food, materials and cash to the emergency relief
center we helped set up on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain with the
Veterans for Peace. We did this when the government was doing nothing
and the Red Cross was still trying to get it together. Every day, every
minute was critical. People were dying, poor people, black people, left
like so much trash in the street. I wanted to find a way to get aid
in there immediately.
I hooked up with the Vietnam veterans and Iraqi war vets (Veterans for
Peace) who were organizing a guerilla, grass-roots relief effort. They
were the same group that had set up Cindy Sheehan's camp in Crawford
and now they had moved Camp Casey to Louisiana.
I have good news and horrible news to report. First, your response to
my appeal letter was overwhelming. Within a few days, a half-million
dollars was sent in through my website to fund our relief effort. This
money was immediately used to buy generators, food, water, a mobile
medical van, tents, satellite phones, etc.
Others of you began shipping supplies to our encampment. People in communities
all over the country started organizing truck caravans to us in Louisiana.
Twenty-two trucks from southern California alone have already arrived.
A semi-truck from Chicago delivered ten tons of food. A group of friends
in New Jersey got two 24 foot trucks, got their community to load them
up with goods, and arrived in Covington tonight. Fifteen iMacs are inbound
from California. One man gave us his pick-up truck and another donated
truck is en route from Houston.
Your response to my appeal has been nothing short of miraculous. And
it has saved many, many lives.
A number of you decided to just get in your cars and drive to our camp
to volunteer to help. We now have had 150 volunteers here doing the
work that needs to be done. Last night they unloaded twenty tons of
food from a tractor trailer in under two hours. Each day more volunteers
arrive. Everyone is sleeping on the ground or in tents. It is a remarkable
sight. Thank you, all of you, for responding. I will never forget this
outpouring of generosity to those forgotten by our own government.
My staff and the vets spend their 18-hour days delivering food and water
throughout the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. What they
have seen is appalling. I have asked them to post their daily diaries
on my website (www.michaelmoore.com ) along with accompanying photos
and video so you can learn what is really going on. What the media is
showing you is NOT the whole story. It is much, much worse and there
is still little being done to bring help to those who need it.
Our group has visited many outlying towns and villages in Mississippi
and Louisiana, places the Red Cross and FEMA haven't visited in over
a week. Often our volunteers are the first relief any of these people
have seen. They have no food, water or electricity. People die every
day. There are no TV cameras recording this. They have started to report
the spin and PR put out by the White House, the happy news that often
isn't true ("Everyone gets 2,000 dollars!").
The truth is that there are dead bodies everywhere and no one is picking
them up. My crew reports that in most areas there is no FEMA presence,
and very little Red Cross. It's been over two weeks since the hurricane
and there is simply not much being done. At this point, would you call
this situation incompetence or a purposeful refusal to get real help
down there?
That's why we decided not to wait. And we are so grateful to all of
you who have joined us. The Veterans for Peace and my staff aren't leaving
(and that's why we are hoping those of you who can't get to Covington
will make it to the Veterans for Peace co-sponsored anti-war demonstration
in DC on September 24: www.unitedforpeace.org .)
If you want to help, here's what we need in Covington right now:
Cleaning Supplies (glass cleaner, bleach, disinfectant, etc.)
Aspirin and other basic over the counter drugs.
Bottled Water
Canned Goods
Hygiene Supplies
Baby Supplies - Baby Food Formula, diapers #4, #5, Wipes, Pedialyte
Sterile Gloves
Batteries - All kinds, from AA to watch and hearing aid batteries.
Volunteers with trucks and cars
Self contained kitchens with generators, utensils, workers
Consider sending supplies in reusable containers. List the contents
on the outside of the package so the folks in the warehouse can easily
sort the items.
Clothes are not needed. If you go, keep in mind that you MUST be self-sufficient.
Bring a tent and a sleeping bag. People are driving to Covington from
across the country and often have extra room in their cars for you or
for an extra box of supplies. For more information, go to the Veterans
for Peace message board: www.vfproadtrips.org/katrina/.
Send supplies via UPS to:
Veterans for Peace
Omni Storage
74145 Hwy. 25
Covington LA
Thanks again for funding and supporting our relief efforts. It has been
a bright spot in this otherwise shameful month.
Yours,
Michael Moore
mike@michaelmoore.com
www.michaelmoore.com
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-18-05 04:47 PM
Response to Reply #8
520. 9/18 People Are Still Dying and FEMA's Still Ignoring Them
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/17/223753/006 :
URGENT FROM BOGALUSA...PEOPLE ARE F**KING DYING
by Barbara
(edited bec. of copyright concerns)
Sat Sep 17th, 2005 at 19:37:53 PDT
Barbara's diary :: ::
I talked to FEMA reps, RC reps, State Health reps and the hospital folks
and received the same "we don't need doctors or nurses to run clinics"
(I've been placing medical teams)
Today at the Red Cross shelter, the doctor I traveled with...Dr. Ken
Levine, was STILL seeing patients that 'didn't need him' when I left
at 7 p.m.
There is NO MEDIA HERE...PLEASE KOSSACKS, GET ME MEDIA...THE NATIONAL
KIND NOW.
I went to check on my little 80 year old ladies today and stopped at
another house with TWO TREES still through it and the couple living
there...14 days AFTER the hurricane hit, they put a sign out on their
lawn that said "this is how the government treats you"...FEMA
went there the next day, gave them a $2k check and wished them good
luck.
These people have NOT seen the RC and scavange for food/water. She drove
for an hour and waited in line for 9 hours to fill out the paperwork
for getting RED CROSS vouchers and then was given a NUMBER and told
to come back on MONDAY. Now you might think, well they must be in the
middle of no where...WRONG, these people are on the ROAD THAT ALL THE
GOVERNMENT agencies take to the main control center at least 10 times
daily. FEMA never even got people to remove the trees off their roof,
they had FRIENDS show up finally.
At my little 80 year old ladies home, I find out they haven't seen the
RED CROSS for 2 days and they were out of food and water and needed
medical attention and meds. I got them all of that.
While there, their young neighbor talked with the photo journalists
who requested I talk to him and I find out that the RED CROSS REFUSED
to talk to him, much less help him. This is a 36 year old man who has
a wife with POLIO and they are living in a church with NOTHING. FEMA
won't talk to them, they have no phone, etc.
So KOSSACKS, here is the low down from here and what I am praying you
will do.
Contact the press and get them to come here and use me as their 'point'
person so I can show them the 'real' shit.
Contact the RED CROSS and ask them where the fuck the $700 million is
going, cuz they sure aren't helping the folks much here. Sure, they
have shelters and soup kitchens, but that is that. The shelters may
or may not have food or sundry items. I actually took a load of things
to the one here today because they didn't have stuff.
CALL ME if you need to. The church where I am staying at night has good
cell coverage...during the day in Bogalusa, it's hit/miss.
619.213.2762
(More at link above)
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snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #8
529. 9/18 FEMA ordering ALL recovered bodies be prayed over
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
FEMA ordering ALL recovered bodies be prayed over !!!!
... An issue raised by the Feds that Kenyon (Kenyon Worldwide Disaster
Services )found distasteful: an instruction that chaplains bless recovered
bodies. A company source said the Feds are insisting on this, and the
first chaplains are supposed to go out this week. Asked if that was
mixing church and state, a FEMA spokeswoman responded: "A prayer
is not necessarily religious. Everybody prays."
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9379239/site/newsweek /
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snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 01:18 PM
Response to Reply #8
533. 9/18 Where Were the 500 FEMA Busses?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Gov. Blanco still wants 1question answered: Where were the 500 FEMA
buses?
Edited on Sun Sep-18-05 02:33 PM by Sapphire Blue
Blanco says feds pledged buses
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
mmillhollon@theadvocate.com
Capitol news bureau
Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina raged ashore, Gov. Kathleen
Blanco still wants one question answered.
Where were the buses?
Hours after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency announced a plan to send 500 commercial buses into New Orleans
to rescue thousands of people left stranded on highways, overpasses
and in shelters, hospitals and homes.
On the day of the storm, or perhaps the day after, FEMA turned down
the state's suggestion to use school buses because they are not air
conditioned, Blanco said Friday in an interview.
Even after levees broke and residents were crowding the Louisiana Superdome,
then-FEMA Director Mike Brown was bent on using his own buses to evacuate
New Orleans, Blanco said.
Continued : http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091805/new_blanco00...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-23-05 02:02 PM
Response to Reply #8
551. 8-29-FEMA and the busses
FEMA subcontracting and the buses of New Orleans
by dmsilev
Fri Sep 23rd, 2005 at 05:09:05 PDT
On the front page of this morning's Chicago Tribune, we learn some frightening
details about why it took FEMA so bloody long to get buses into New
Orleans to evacuate the Superdome and Convention Center. Surprising
precisely nobody, it's another example of public money being funneled
to companies whose chiefs supported the administration. Said company
sat on its ass for a couple of days, and then slowly got in gear, while
offers of buses from other sources were ignored.
Quotes below
dmsilev's diary :: ::
Two days after Hurricane Katrina made landfall, as images of devastation
along the Gulf Coast and despair in New Orleans flickered across television
screens, the head of one of the nation's largest bus associations repeatedly
called federal disaster officials to offer help.
Peter Pantuso of the American Bus Association said he spent much of
the day on Wednesday, Aug. 31, trying to find someone at the Federal
Emergency Management Agency who could tell him how many buses were needed
for an evacuation, where they should be sent and who was overseeing
the effort.
"We never talked directly to FEMA or got a call back from them,"
Pantuso said.They wanted to help. This is an association of bus lines
(including Greyhound), charter bus companies, and the like. In other
words, a group of companies that could, if asked, rapidly provide large
amounts of transportation. Furthermore, a professional association is
the logical clearinghouse to coordinate the efforts of the whole industry.
So what does FEMA do? Contract it out to one firm:
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/23/895/00538
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:55 PM
Response to Original message
16. Pre K: Scientific info on probable damage
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:17 AM
Response to Reply #16
96. Scientific American: Drowning New Orleans
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?chanID=sa006&articleID...
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:18 AM
Response to Reply #16
98. Popular Mechanics: New Orleans Is Sinking
http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/research/128215...
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:36 AM
Response to Reply #16
108. Natural Hazards Observer: What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed
NO?
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/o/nov04/nov04c.html
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:37 AM
Response to Reply #16
109. PBS NOW: New Orleans and the Delta
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/neworleans.html
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:38 AM
Response to Reply #16
110. LSU Study: Would New Orleans Really Flood in a Major Hurricane
http://www.publichealth.hurricane.lsu.edu/convert%20to%...
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:41 AM
Response to Reply #16
112. Nat'l Geographic: Gone with the Water
http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0410/feature5/
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:01 PM
Response to Reply #16
343. 9/10 (orig 9/2) Models predicted New Orleans disaster, experts
say
Models predicted New Orleans disaster, experts say
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02521178.htm
WASHINGTON, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Virtually everything that has happened
in
New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina struck was predicted by experts
and
in computer models, so emergency management specialists wonder why
authorities were so unprepared.
"The scenario of a major hurricane hitting New Orleans was well
anticipated, predicted and drilled around," said Clare Rubin, an
emergency management consultant who also teaches at the Institute for
Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management at George Washington University.
In light of that, said disaster expert Bill Waugh of Georgia State
University, "It's inexplicable how unprepared for the flooding
they
were." He said a slow decline over several years in funding for
emergency management was partly to blame.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:57 PM
Response to Original message
17. Pre K: Media articles on probable damage
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:46 AM
Response to Reply #17
116. DU thread with multiple links
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 08:58 PM
Response to Original message
18. Pre K: Fed Govt knowledge about probable damage
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #18
100. Disaster in the Making (RE FEMA)
http://www.sfbg.com/38/52/news_fema.html
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:21 AM
Response to Reply #18
129. 2001, FEMA warned a hurricane at N.O. was one of 3 most likely
disasters
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 01:27 AM by snot
In 2001, FEMA warned that a hurricane striking New Orleans was one of
the
three most likely disasters in the U.S. But the Bush administration
cut New
Orleans flood control funding by 44 percent to pay for the Iraq war.
http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,37...
Also, from a post I believe at DU but I don't have the link, I kept
the following:
FACTS: Bush was told about NO, he funded a study to confirm & then
CUT $$
#1 Bush was told in 2001 that New Orleans was a National Issue
#2 Bush funded a $500K study to confrim this in 2004
#3 Bush cut New Orleans hurricane funds by 80%
Point #1
----------
In 2001, FEMA ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as “among
the three likeliest, most castastrophic disasters facing this country.”
Bush slashed hurricane funding anyway. August 29, 2005 10:19
http://thinkprogress.org/2005/08/29/bush-knew
Point #2 - Study to confirm
----------------------------
IEM Team to Develop Catastrophic Hurricane Disaster Plan for New Orleans
& Southeast Louisiana
June 3, 2004
IEM, Inc., the Baton Rouge-based emergency management and homeland security
consultant, will lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster
plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans under a more
than half a million dollar contract with the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In making the announcement today on behalf of teaming partners Dewberry,
URS Corporation and James Lee Witt Associates, IEM Director of Homeland
Security Wayne Thomas explained that the development of a base catastrophic
hurricane disaster plan has urgency due to the recent start of the annual
hurricane season which runs through November. National weather experts
are predicting an above normal Atlantic hurricane season with six to
eight hurricanes, of which three could be categorized as major.
The IEM team will complete a functional exercise on a catastrophic hurricane
strike in Southeast Louisiana and use results to develop a response
and recovery plan. A catastrophic event is one that can overwhelm State,
local and private capabilities so quickly that communities could be
devastated without Federal assistance and multi-agency planning and
preparedness.
Thomas said that the greater New Orleans area is one of the nation’s
most vulnerable locations for hurricane landfall.
(snip)
http://www.ieminc.com/Whats_New/Press_Releases/pressrel
Point #3 - Bush cuts NO funding by 80%
--------------------------------------
In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President
Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was
needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article,
in New Orleans CityBusiness.
On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson
Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the
money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security
and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally
is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything
we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Also that June, with the 2004 hurricane season starting, the Corps'
project manager Al Naomi went before a local agency, the East Jefferson
Levee Authority, and essentially begged for $2 million for urgent work
that Washington was now unable to pay for. From the June 18, 2004 Times-Picayune:
"The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything
is sinking, and if we don't get the money fast enough to raise them,
then we can't stay ahead of the settlement," he said. "The
problem that we have isn't that the levee is low, but that the federal
funds have dried up so that we can't raise them."
snip
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di... Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 02:23 PM
Response to Reply #18
256. Sept 9: Hurricane Simulation Predicted 61,290 Dead (They KNEW!)
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050909/ap_on_re_us/katrina... ;_ylt=AotFRjeFf_Ee0quwpSe6Qums0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MjBwMWtkBHNlYwM3MTg
Hurricane Simulation Predicted 61,290 Dead
By RON FOURNIER and TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writers
10 minutes ago
WASHINGTON - As
Katrina roared into the Gulf of Mexico, emergency planners pored over
maps and charts of a hurricane simulation that projected 61,290 dead
and 384,257 injured or sick in a catastrophic flood that would leave
swaths of southeast Louisiana uninhabitable for more than a year.
These planners were not involved in the frantic preparations for Katrina.
By coincidence, they were working on a yearlong project to prepare federal
and state officials for a Category 3 hurricane striking New Orleans.
Their fictitious storm eerily foreshadowed the havoc wrought by Category
4 Katrina a few days later, raising questions about whether government
leaders did everything possible — as early as possible —
to protect New Orleans residents from a well-documented threat.
After watching many of their predictions prove grimly accurate, "Hurricane
Pam" planners now hope they were wrong about one detail —
the death toll. The 61,290 estimate is six times what New Orleans Mayor
C. Ray Nagin has warned people to expect
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:37 PM
Response to Reply #18
391. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) Prior Knowledge Laundry List
Katrina 'Prior Knowledge' Laundry List:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-18-05 01:46 AM
Response to Reply #18
517. 9/17 Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema Would
Fail Floods
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema Would Fail Floods
Verbatim repost:
BREAKING NEWS:
FLOOD EXPERTS WARNED SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE DENNIS HASTERT(R)THAT FEMA
WOULD FAIL IN FLOOD DISASTER WHILE UNDER DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
I just found a January 2005 smoking gun letter from flood experts known
as the Association of State Floodplain Managers written to Republican
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert warning that FEMA had been dangerously
weakened by being made part of the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.floods.org
>Dedicated to reducing flood losses in the nation.<
"The Association of State Floodplain Managers is an organization
of nearly 7,000
professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation,
the National
Flood Insurance Program, flood preparedness, warning and recovery and
the multi-objective
management of our nation's floodplains and waterways. ASFPM is a respected
voice in floodplain management practice and policy in the United States.
It represents the
flood hazard specialists of local, state and federal government, the
private sector, the
research community, the insurance industry, and the professional disciplines
of
engineering, planning, hydrologic forecasting, emergency response, water
resources, and
others."
http://www.floods.org/PDF/ASFPM_Letter_FEMAinDHS_House_...
The letter reminds Hastert(R) that the General Accounting Office had
warned that FEMA would be weakened under DHS back in September, 2003.
The letter also reminds Hastert that the House Judiciary Committee and
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees had agreed with the
importance of FEMA staying independent of DHS to remain effective and
recommended FEMA therefore be kept out of DHS.
The ASFPM letter describes exactly how FEMA was dismantled and buried
under DHS:
"Since FEMA has become part of the Department of Homeland Security,
it has been a
struggle. Funds have been raided, staff have been transferred into other
DHS functions
without being replaced, slowdowns because of added layers of bureaucracy
for nearly all
functions have dramatically increased, and there is the constant threat
of reprogramming
appropriated funds."
"If FEMA is pulled apart, doesn’t have a direct link
to the President, and cannot communicate effectively with Congress,
all of the progress
made over the last 15 years could be for naught."
THIS MEANS THAT THE GOP 'LEADERSHIP' IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE
LACK OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND LOSS OF LIFE DUE TO STORM KATRINA
BECAUSE THEY TOOK APART FEMA AND DIDN'T LISTEN TO WARNINGS OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
--------------------------
(full transcript of letter to Dennis Hastert from pdf)
ASSOCIATION OF STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS, INC.
2809 Fish Hatchery Road Madison, Wisconsin 53713
Ph: 608-274-0123
Fax: 608-274-0696
Website: www.floods.org
Email: asfpm@floods.org
Dedicated to reducing flood losses in the nation.
Chair
Chad Berginnis, CFM
Supervisor
Ohio DNR - Division Of Water
1939 Fountain Square, Bldg. E-3
Columbus, OH 43224
614-265-6715
Fax 614-447-9503
chad.berginnis@dnr.state.oh.us
Vice Chair
Pam Pogue, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
Rhode Isl. Emerg Mgmt Agency
645 New London Ave.
Cranston, RI 02920
401-946-9996
Fax 401-944-1891
pam.pogue@ri.ngb.army.mil
Secretary
Rhonda Montgomery, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
Kansas Dept. of Ag.- DWR
109 SW 9 th St., 2 nd Floor
Topeka, KS 66612
785-296-4622
Fax 785-296-4835
rmontgomery@kda.state.ks.us
Treasurer
William Nechamen, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
New York State DEC
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY 12233
518-402-8146
Fax 518-402-9029
wsnecham@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Executive Director
Larry A. Larson, P.E., CFM
Executive Director
2809 Fish Hatchery Road
Madison, WI 53713
608-274-0123
Fax 608-274-0696
larry@floods.org January 6, 2005
The Honorable Dennis Hastert, Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H 232 Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
RE: House Reorganization of Authorizing Committees involving FEMA programs
Dear Mr. Speaker:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the 22 departments
and
agencies that were combined to create the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS),
where the primary mission is to protect the nation against terrorism.
The effectiveness of
FEMA's all hazards programs is increasingly threatened with regard to
natural disasters.
As you are well aware, the Congress is in the process of reorganizing
itself to better
consider homeland security issues. The Department of Homeland Security
is now 2 years
old. As the organization of the DHS itself and Congressional reorganization
are
considered, the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) urges
you to make
sure that natural hazards programs retain their integrity and, therefore,
their effectiveness.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers is an organization of nearly
7,000
professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation,
the National
Flood Insurance Program, flood preparedness, warning and recovery and
the multi-objective
management of our nation's floodplains and waterways. ASFPM is a respected
voice in floodplain management practice and policy in the United States.
It represents the
flood hazard specialists of local, state and federal government, the
private sector, the
research community, the insurance industry, and the professional disciplines
of
engineering, planning, hydrologic forecasting, emergency response, water
resources, and
others.
FEMA, since its creation, had matured into an organization that became
recognized for
effectiveness in carrying out its mission – preparing for, responding
to, recovering from,
and mitigating against all hazards. Natural disasters are the most frequent
and,
cumulatively, most costly disasters, including terrorist events. FEMA
had established a
reputation for nimble responsiveness. This was closely related to the
agency's capacity for
flexibility and especially well coordinated, genuine give-and-take partnerships
with states
and localities. In addition to supporting responsiveness, these factors
also allowed FEMA
to develop well conceived programs promoting hazard mitigation. Such
programs sought
to permanently break the cycle, after a disaster event, of damage/rebuild/damage
since
much of the recovery and repair costs were borne by taxpayers. After
the terrorist attacks
on September 11 th and FEMA’s inclusion into the Department of
Homeland Security, this
began to change.
----------------------------------
Page Two
The ASFPM has been concerned from the beginning that inclusion of FEMA
in DHS
might not bode well for the progress the nation has made in reducing
the nation’s risk to
natural hazards. We fully recognize the need for our national emphasis
on terrorism;
however, the effectiveness of natural hazards programs and the all-hazards
concept must
not be sacrificed in the process. Due to the sheer number magnitude
of impact of natural
disasters, FEMA's work is more heavily focused on these events.
The ASFPM is not the only organization that has these concerns. The
General Accounting
Office, in its September 2003 report, said the following:
Moreover, the placement of FEMA within DHS represents a substantially
changed
environment in which FEMA will conduct its missions in the future, and
missions
that focus on reducing the impacts of natural hazards, such as hazard
mitigation
and flood insurance, may receive decreased emphasis. Sustained attention
to
these programs will be needed to ensure they maintain or improve their
effectiveness in protecting the nation against, and reducing federal
costs
associated with, natural disasters.
It should not be surprising that there is concern about FEMA’s
organizational structure or
its loss of focus on a multi-hazard mission – it is merely a continuation
of the debate that
began in Congress when DHS was created. The House Judiciary Committee
and the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees had misgivings about
the inclusion
of FEMA in DHS and both recommended that FEMA remain an independent
agency to
preserve the traditional mission of FEMA. Also, a Brookings Institution
analysis in 2002
raised concern that much of the progress FEMA has made over two decades
could be
reversed.
Since FEMA has become part of the Department of Homeland Security, it
has been a
struggle. Funds have been raided, staff have been transferred into other
DHS functions
without being replaced, slowdowns because of added layers of bureaucracy
for nearly all
functions have dramatically increased, and there is the constant threat
of reprogramming
appropriated funds. Strongly felt worries about such matters led the
ASFPM Board of
Directors, in August 2004, to pass a resolution recognizing FEMA’s
accomplishments and
its challenges. The resolution calls for FEMA to be removed from the
Department of
Homeland Security and for its ability to report directly to the President
to be restored.
The Board, made up of state and local officials, felt strongly that
FEMA doesn’t have to
be part of a larger agency to share its expertise and utilize its network
of state and local
officials for all hazards management. If FEMA is pulled apart, doesn’t
have a direct link
to the President, and cannot communicate effectively with Congress,
all of the progress
made over the last 15 years could be for naught.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers recommends that
1) Congressional
reorganization for homeland security reflect attention to the importance
of natural disaster
programs and policies and that
2) the Congress undertake an evaluation of the structure of
DHS and FEMA as it affects retention of an effective capacity for natural
hazards
response and mitigation programs.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Page Three
Natural disasters impact Americans every single day. In 2004, 35 states
had Presidentially
declared disasters – all as a result of natural hazards. Please
do not allow the agency that
is in the forefront of dealing with these hazards to be made less effective
or pulled apart
altogether. Please make certain that the Congressional structure reflects
appropriate
attention to the frequency and the magnitude of impact of natural disasters.
If you have
any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact Larry Larson,
ASFPM Executive
Director, or myself.
Respectfully,
Chad Berginnis, CFM
Chair
===
A friend, JohnOneillsMemory did this research and asks that we propagate
this far and wide!
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-18-05 11:06 PM
Response to Reply #18
523. 9-18-05-!! Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema
Would Fail Floo
Tinoire (1000+ posts) Sun Sep-18-05 05:42 AM
Original message
!! Flood Experts Warned Dennis Hastert(R)That Fema Would Fail Floods
Edited on Sun Sep-18-05 05:42 AM by Tinoire
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Verbatim repost:
BREAKING NEWS:
FLOOD EXPERTS WARNED SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE DENNIS HASTERT(R)THAT FEMA
WOULD FAIL IN FLOOD DISASTER WHILE UNDER DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
I just found a January 2005 smoking gun letter from flood experts known
as the Association of State Floodplain Managers written to Republican
Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert warning that FEMA had been dangerously
weakened by being made part of the Department of Homeland Security.
http://www.floods.org
>Dedicated to reducing flood losses in the nation.<
"The Association of State Floodplain Managers is an organization
of nearly 7,000
professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation,
the National
Flood Insurance Program, flood preparedness, warning and recovery and
the multi-objective
management of our nation's floodplains and waterways. ASFPM is a respected
voice in floodplain management practice and policy in the United States.
It represents the
flood hazard specialists of local, state and federal government, the
private sector, the
research community, the insurance industry, and the professional disciplines
of
engineering, planning, hydrologic forecasting, emergency response, water
resources, and
others."
http://www.floods.org/PDF/ASFPM_Letter_FEMAinDHS_House_ ...
The letter reminds Hastert(R) that the General Accounting Office had
warned that FEMA would be weakened under DHS back in September, 2003.
The letter also reminds Hastert that the House Judiciary Committee and
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees had agreed with the
importance of FEMA staying independent of DHS to remain effective and
recommended FEMA therefore be kept out of DHS.
The ASFPM letter describes exactly how FEMA was dismantled and buried
under DHS:
"Since FEMA has become part of the Department of Homeland Security,
it has been a
struggle. Funds have been raided, staff have been transferred into other
DHS functions
without being replaced, slowdowns because of added layers of bureaucracy
for nearly all
functions have dramatically increased, and there is the constant threat
of reprogramming
appropriated funds."
"If FEMA is pulled apart, doesn’t have a direct link
to the President, and cannot communicate effectively with Congress,
all of the progress
made over the last 15 years could be for naught."
THIS MEANS THAT THE GOP 'LEADERSHIP' IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MUCH OF THE
LACK OF DISASTER PREPAREDNESS AND LOSS OF LIFE DUE TO STORM KATRINA
BECAUSE THEY TOOK APART FEMA AND DIDN'T LISTEN TO WARNINGS OF THE CONSEQUENCES.
TELL EVERYONE YOU KNOW.
--------------------------
(full transcript of letter to Dennis Hastert from pdf)ASSOCIATION OF
STATE FLOODPLAIN MANAGERS, INC.
2809 Fish Hatchery Road Madison, Wisconsin 53713
Ph: 608-274-0123
Fax: 608-274-0696
Website: www.floods.org
Email: asfpm@floods.org
Dedicated to reducing flood losses in the nation.
Chair
Chad Berginnis, CFM
Supervisor
Ohio DNR - Division Of Water
1939 Fountain Square, Bldg. E-3
Columbus, OH 43224
614-265-6715
Fax 614-447-9503
chad.berginnis@dnr.state.oh.us
Vice Chair
Pam Pogue, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
Rhode Isl. Emerg Mgmt Agency
645 New London Ave.
Cranston, RI 02920
401-946-9996
Fax 401-944-1891
pam.pogue@ri.ngb.army.mil
Secretary
Rhonda Montgomery, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
Kansas Dept. of Ag.- DWR
109 SW 9 th St., 2 nd Floor
Topeka, KS 66612
785-296-4622
Fax 785-296-4835
rmontgomery@kda.state.ks.us
Treasurer
William Nechamen, CFM
NFIP State Coordinator
New York State DEC
625 Broadway, 4th Floor
Albany, NY 12233
518-402-8146
Fax 518-402-9029
wsnecham@gw.dec.state.ny.us
Executive Director
Larry A. Larson, P.E., CFM
Executive Director
2809 Fish Hatchery Road
Madison, WI 53713
608-274-0123
Fax 608-274-0696
larry@floods.org January 6, 2005
The Honorable Dennis Hastert, Speaker
United States House of Representatives
H 232 Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
RE: House Reorganization of Authorizing Committees involving FEMA programs
Dear Mr. Speaker:
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is one of the 22 departments
and
agencies that were combined to create the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS),
where the primary mission is to protect the nation against terrorism.
The effectiveness of
FEMA's all hazards programs is increasingly threatened with regard to
natural disasters.
As you are well aware, the Congress is in the process of reorganizing
itself to better
consider homeland security issues. The Department of Homeland Security
is now 2 years
old. As the organization of the DHS itself and Congressional reorganization
are
considered, the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) urges
you to make
sure that natural hazards programs retain their integrity and, therefore,
their effectiveness.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers is an organization of nearly
7,000
professionals involved in floodplain management, flood hazard mitigation,
the National
Flood Insurance Program, flood preparedness, warning and recovery and
the multi-objective
management of our nation's floodplains and waterways. ASFPM is a respected
voice in floodplain management practice and policy in the United States.
It represents the
flood hazard specialists of local, state and federal government, the
private sector, the
research community, the insurance industry, and the professional disciplines
of
engineering, planning, hydrologic forecasting, emergency response, water
resources, and
others.
FEMA, since its creation, had matured into an organization that became
recognized for
effectiveness in carrying out its mission – preparing for, responding
to, recovering from,
and mitigating against all hazards. Natural disasters are the most frequent
and,
cumulatively, most costly disasters, including terrorist events. FEMA
had established a
reputation for nimble responsiveness. This was closely related to the
agency's capacity for
flexibility and especially well coordinated, genuine give-and-take partnerships
with states
and localities. In addition to supporting responsiveness, these factors
also allowed FEMA
to develop well conceived programs promoting hazard mitigation. Such
programs sought
to permanently break the cycle, after a disaster event, of damage/rebuild/damage
since
much of the recovery and repair costs were borne by taxpayers. After
the terrorist attacks
on September 11 th and FEMA’s inclusion into the Department of
Homeland Security, this
began to change.
----------------------------------
Page Two
The ASFPM has been concerned from the beginning that inclusion of FEMA
in DHS
might not bode well for the progress the nation has made in reducing
the nation’s risk to
natural hazards. We fully recognize the need for our national emphasis
on terrorism;
however, the effectiveness of natural hazards programs and the all-hazards
concept must
not be sacrificed in the process. Due to the sheer number magnitude
of impact of natural
disasters, FEMA's work is more heavily focused on these events.
The ASFPM is not the only organization that has these concerns. The
General Accounting
Office, in its September 2003 report, said the following:
Moreover, the placement of FEMA within DHS represents a substantially
changed
environment in which FEMA will conduct its missions in the future, and
missions
that focus on reducing the impacts of natural hazards, such as hazard
mitigation
and flood insurance, may receive decreased emphasis. Sustained attention
to
these programs will be needed to ensure they maintain or improve their
effectiveness in protecting the nation against, and reducing federal
costs
associated with, natural disasters.
It should not be surprising that there is concern about FEMA’s
organizational structure or
its loss of focus on a multi-hazard mission – it is merely a continuation
of the debate that
began in Congress when DHS was created. The House Judiciary Committee
and the
House Transportation and Infrastructure Committees had misgivings about
the inclusion
of FEMA in DHS and both recommended that FEMA remain an independent
agency to
preserve the traditional mission of FEMA. Also, a Brookings Institution
analysis in 2002
raised concern that much of the progress FEMA has made over two decades
could be
reversed.
Since FEMA has become part of the Department of Homeland Security, it
has been a
struggle. Funds have been raided, staff have been transferred into other
DHS functions
without being replaced, slowdowns because of added layers of bureaucracy
for nearly all
functions have dramatically increased, and there is the constant threat
of reprogramming
appropriated funds. Strongly felt worries about such matters led the
ASFPM Board of
Directors, in August 2004, to pass a resolution recognizing FEMA’s
accomplishments and
its challenges. The resolution calls for FEMA to be removed from the
Department of
Homeland Security and for its ability to report directly to the President
to be restored.
The Board, made up of state and local officials, felt strongly that
FEMA doesn’t have to
be part of a larger agency to share its expertise and utilize its network
of state and local
officials for all hazards management. If FEMA is pulled apart, doesn’t
have a direct link
to the President, and cannot communicate effectively with Congress,
all of the progress
made over the last 15 years could be for naught.
The Association of State Floodplain Managers recommends that
1) Congressional
reorganization for homeland security reflect attention to the importance
of natural disaster
programs and policies and that
2) the Congress undertake an evaluation of the structure of
DHS and FEMA as it affects retention of an effective capacity for natural
hazards
response and mitigation programs.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Page Three
Natural disasters impact Americans every single day. In 2004, 35 states
had Presidentially
declared disasters – all as a result of natural hazards. Please
do not allow the agency that
is in the forefront of dealing with these hazards to be made less effective
or pulled apart
altogether. Please make certain that the Congressional structure reflects
appropriate
attention to the frequency and the magnitude of impact of natural disasters.
If you have
any questions or comments, do not hesitate to contact Larry Larson,
ASFPM Executive
Director, or myself.
Respectfully,
Chad Berginnis, CFM
Chair
===
A friend, JohnOneillsMemory did this research and asks that we propagate
this far and wide!
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:00 PM
Response to Original message
19. Pre K: State of LA knowledge about probable damage
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:21 AM
Response to Reply #19
99. PBS NOW transcript The City in a Bowl
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_neworleans...
I don't know all these folk. Maybe one or more are federal?
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:01 PM
Response to Original message
20. Pre K: Feds block action to prevent NOLA didaster
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 11:27 PM
Response to Reply #20
87. Corps of Engineers' Civilian Chief Ousted
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=artic... Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #20
120. Bush fired head of Corps of Engineers for slamming budget
cuts
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Bush fired head of Army Corps of Engineers in '02 for slamming budget
cuts
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=artic...
Corps of Engineers' Civilian Chief Ousted
Parker Resigns After Openly Questioning Bush's Proposed Spending Cuts
Thursday, March 7, 2002
Michael Parker, the recently appointed leader of the Army Corps of Engineers,
was abruptly forced to resign yesterday for failing to defend President
Bush's proposed budget cuts.
Parker, a former House member from Mississippi who was confirmed as
assistant Army secretary for civil works five months ago, was the first
major administration official ousted since Bush took office. He had
made no secret of his disdain for the Office of Management and Budget's
efforts to rein in the Corps, and recently told a sympathetic House
committee that he had requested $2 billion more than the OMB proposed
in the president's budget. At a Senate hearing, he questioned the administration's
decision to fund no new Corps projects, adding that he did not have
a "warm and fuzzy feeling" for OMB officials.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 12:14 PM
Response to Reply #20
310. Aug 31, 2005: Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen?
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di... Did New Orleans
Catastrophe Have to Happen? 'Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal
Spending Issues
By Will Bunch
Published: August 31, 2005 9:00 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA Even though Hurricane Katrina has moved well north of the
city, the waters may still keep rising in New Orleans. That's because
Lake Pontchartrain continues to pour through a two-block-long break
in the main levee, near the city's 17th Street Canal. With much of the
Crescent City some 10 feet below sea level, the rising tide may not
stop until it's level with the massive lake.
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and
a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been
working with state and local officials in the region since the late
1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from
a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized
the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying
out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping
stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in
crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic
Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans
continued to subside.HURRICANE COVERAGE
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a
trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures
of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same
time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least
nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically
cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control
dollars.
More...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:49 PM
Response to Reply #20
397. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA Action to REDUCE Volunteer Pool
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Mixed Misdirection from FEMA - again
From: councils@dhs.gov
Subject: Citizen Corps support for response to Hurricane Katrina
To: All State and Local Citizen Corps Councils
Citizen Corps Program Partners and Affiliates
Regional Citizen Corps Program Managers
Thank you all for your compassion and your interest in helping those
in need
following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. To those of you in the
affected area, we send our deepest concern.
At this time, the National Office of Citizen Corps IS NOT conducting
a
national call out as was done for the Florida hurricanes last year.
Current
activities and plans for next steps are as follows:
FEMA DEPLOYMENTS
* At present, FEMA is deploying ONLY THOSE WHO ALREADY RECEIVED FEMA
SECURITY CLEARANCES AND CREDIT CARDS from their 2004 employment. FEMA
has
determined that no recruits can travel or enter into employment without
a
satisfactory background investigation. This security check takes
approximately 3 weeks to complete. As such, only recruits hired last
year
may be called by FEMA at this time.
* In anticipation of Hurricane Dennis in July 2005, state Citizen
Corps points of contact reviewed and vetted the list of 2700 people
who
deployed for the Florida hurricanes in 2004. As a result, 1900 people
were
identified as potential recruits for future disasters.
* The FEMA Automated Disaster Deployment (ADD) staff are now calling
ONLY these 1900 pre-identified people to check on their availability
for
Hurricane Katrina. NOTE: This means that not everyone who participated
in
2004 will be called. If you have any questions about who may be on this
list, please contact your state Citizen Corps point of contact.
* If you receive questions from anyone who was deployed in 2004 or for
Hurricane Dennis, please tell them they SHOULD NOT call the FEMA ADD
phone
number or the FEMA Regional Offices. Calling the ADD phone number distracts
operators from the deployment process. Please tell them to simply wait
for
their official ADD deployment call and follow instructions. We know
this
may be frustrating and it may take awhile for everyone to be contacted,
but
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY FOR THEM TO BE DEPLOYED THROUGH FEMA.
THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR'S HURRICANE SEASON -- REDUCING
THE POOL OF VOLUNTEERS
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:03 PM
Response to Original message
21. Pre K: Bush guts disaster relief
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:24 AM
Response to Reply #21
102. NOLA U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Record Cuts
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4200/is_200...
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:25 AM
Response to Reply #21
103. Disaster in the Making (RE FEMA)
http://www.sfbg.com/38/52/news_fema.html
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:42 AM
Response to Reply #21
114. FEMA packed with W's pals
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
NY Daily News: FEMA packed with W's pals
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/story/344004p...
DAILY NEWS EXCLUSIVE
Campaign pros get top jobs
By KENNETH R. BAZINET
DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - The three top jobs at the Federal Emergency Management
Agency under President Bush went to political cronies with no apparent
experience coping with catastrophes, the Daily News has learned.
Even if Bush were to fire embattled and suddenly invisible FEMA Director
Michael Brown over his handling of Hurricane Katrina, the bureaucrat
immediately below him is no disaster professional, either.
While Brown ran horse shows in his last private-sector job, FEMA's No.
2 man, deputy director and chief of staff Patrick Rhode, was an advance
man for the Bush-Cheney campaign and White House. He also did short
stints at the Commerce Department and Small Business Administration.
Rhode's biography posted on FEMA's Web site doesn't indicate he has
any real experience in emergency response.
In addition, the agency's former third-ranking official, deputy chief
of staff Scott Morris, was a PR expert who worked for Maverick Media,
the Texas outfit that produced TV and radio spots for the Bush-Cheney
campaign. In June, Morris moved to Florida to become FEMA's long-term
recovery director.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:46 AM
Response to Reply #21
117. DU thread with multiple links re- Bush crippling FEMA
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 12:47 AM by snot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:24 AM
Response to Reply #21
131. Brown's earlier scandal
From http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... :
FEMA Director Michael D. Brown's earlier scandal
I just posted this on a thread about Brown from several hours ago --
but at the rate things are moving, I thought it had better have a thread
of its own. It seems that Michael D. Brown, the blitheringly incompetent
head of FEMA, was involved in some interesting goings-on back last winter;
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-fema24nov24,0,2387 ...
Florida lawmakers Tuesday called for state and federal investigations
into how the government approved about $28 million in Hurricane Frances
claims for new furniture, clothes and appliances for residents of Miami-Dade
County, which was barely touched by the storm.
<snip>
The actions follow a report in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Sunday
that hurricane relief in Miami-Dade bought thousands of new televisions,
microwaves, refrigerators and other appliances. FEMA paid for new cars,
dental bills and a funeral, even though the county Medical Examiner
recorded no deaths from Frances.
FEMA inspectors attributed damage to tornados -- there were none recorded
in the county -- and in six instances listed "ice/snow" as
the cause, the newspaper reported.
<snip>
Shaw wrote to FEMA Director Michael D. Brown six weeks ago, after the
newspaper first reported that thousands of Miami-Dade residents had
collected hurricane relief from the Labor Day storm that hit 100 miles
to the north. Brown announced that FEMA would investigate, but so far
has not provided any results or returned phone calls from the congressman's
staff, said Shaw, chairman of Florida's delegation.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/01/25/State/Suspect_in_kidn ...
FEMA Director Michael D. Brown has "stymied investigations"
and failed to accept responsibility for mistakes that led to more than
$30-million in Hurricane Frances payments to residents of Miami-Dade,
even though the county experienced "no more than a heavy rainstorm,"
Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., wrote to Bush.
"Such a gross waste of taxpayer monies cannot be taken lightly,"
Wexler wrote.
Bush had not seen Wexler's letter but stands by Brown, said Taylor Gross,
a White House spokesman. "The president has full faith in the outstanding
job that Under Secretary Mike Brown and FEMA are doing in providing
assistance to hurricane victims."
FEMA issued a statement saying the agency will cooperate with an ongoing
criminal investigation by the Department of Homeland Security's inspector
general into allegations of fraud in Miami-Dade.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:08 PM
Response to Reply #131
346. 9/10 (orig 9/2) Brown fired from previous job
FEMA Head Fired from Previous Job for Incompetence
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/9/2/34622/68348 :
And that previous job was "Judges and Stewards Commissioner"
for a show
horse association!
Who judged this imbecile to be qualified for this important postion?
And
who authorized a lie about his qualifications on the official press
release announcing his appointment?
"Yes, that's right... the man responsible for directing federal
relief
operations in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sharpened his
emergency management skills as the "Judges and Stewards Commissioner"
for the International Arabian Horses Association... a position from
which he was forced to resign in the face of mounting litigation and
financial disarray."
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:20 PM
Response to Reply #131
352. 9/10 (orig 9/2) More on Brown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Brown_%28FEMA%29ht...
Some disturbing information on FEMA and Mike Brown
(I went looking for information on Brown and on how FEMA operates in
order to try to determine the name of the authority to whom Brown ultimately
answers. My search was the result of a conversation with a Bush supporter
who was, for some odd reason, trying to defend Brown's incompetence
in the aftermath of Katrina. The Bush supporter claimed that Brown "has
to answer to someone lower down the chain of command than the President,"
implying, I guess, that this takes some of the pressure off Bush. Who
knows. I was under the impression that Brown answers directly to Bush,
and went to Google in search of the answer. Instead, I found the following.)
Michael D. Brown (b. 1954 in Guymon, Oklahoma) is the Under Secretary
of Emergency Preparedness and Response (a division of the Department
of Homeland Security), the cabinet-level position that replaced the
Federal Emergency Management Agency directorate, and generally referred
to as the "head" of FEMA. He was nominated by President George
W. Bush in January 2003.
-snip-
While attending law school Brown was appointed by the Chairman of the
Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance
Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His
background in state and local government also includes serving as an
assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city
councilman, although most of his career was spent in private practice.
Before joining DHS/FEMA, Brown was Judges and Stewards Commissioner
for the International Arabian Horse Association from 1999-2001, a position
from which he resigned under duress after an onslaught of lawsuits.
Brown started his own legal defense fund before resigning, a move he
said was necessary to protect his family's assets.
The above bold text was posted at DU yesterday. It's an important factor
in the whole FEMA-incompetence equation, but I wasn't surprised because
I had read it here yesterday.
This is the part that was news to me:
In January 2005, U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler publically urged President
Bush to fire Brown, citing reports that FEMA disbursed $30 million in
disaster relief funds for Hurricane Frances to residents of Miami, Florida,
a city which was not affected by the hurricane. Brown admitted to $12
million in overpayments, but denied any serious mistakes, blaming a
computer glitch. Wexler repeated his call in April to Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, citing new reports that FEMA sent inspectors
with criminal records of robbery and embezzlement to do damage assessments.
http://www.wexler.house.gov/news.php?ID=116 :
One year ago we had the opportunity to learn from the disasters in Florida.
Floridians experienced the consequences of FEMA’s failure to deliver
aid to communities who needed it the most. We saw the most vulnerable
in our society – the elderly and the poor – being left out
or overlooked. Last year we had the opportunity to prevent this from
happening again. At that time, I called for the resignation of FEMA
head, Michael Brown because of his grievous mismanagement. The President
did not heed that call, nor did he see fit to make any substantial changes
in FEMA.
Last year, when the President’s election was in question, his
response to the hurricanes in the swing state of Florida was tremendously
fast -- even passing out ice in the immediate aftermath. Where was he
in the immediate aftermath for Gulf coast? Where were the trucks of
food? Where were the water buffalo? Where were the tents of aid that
are just now being established? The President and Congress dropped everything
and flew back to Washington on Palm Sunday to intervene on behalf of
Terri Schiavo. Why did the President delay so long for an entire American
city in crisis? These are desperate people who need food, water, shelter
and safety, not a photo op – which even itself comes 5 days late.
Every asset of the American military in this hemisphere should have
been devoted to America’s humanitarian crisis starting on Monday
at 5 PM.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-12-05 01:55 AM
Response to Reply #131
421. 9/11 Just when you thought you heard it all about Brownie
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Just when you thought you heard it all about Brownie's
Edited on Sun Sep-11-05 05:37 PM by Prodemsouth
incompetence. Here comes more. Worked for Steve Jones Timothy McViegh's
lawyer, told FBI they had to be joking when they said Browne was going
to be at FEMA on national level. Jones and his partners split their
law firm- wanted keep as many as employees as possible, decided to keep
35 of 37. Brownie was not one of the 35. Wow!
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/10/Worldandnation/_Avera...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:33 AM
Response to Reply #21
134. Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly Raised Federal Spending Issues
From http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_di... :
Did New Orleans Catastrophe Have to Happen? 'Times-Picayune' Had Repeatedly
Raised Federal Spending Issues
By Will Bunch
Published: August 30, 2005 9:00 PM ET
PHILADELPHIA Even though Hurricane Katrina has moved well north of the
city, the waters may still keep rising in New Orleans late on Tuesday.
That's because Lake Pontchartrain continues to pour through a two-block-long
break in the main levee, near the city's 17th Street Canal. With much
of the Crescent City some 10 feet below sea level, the rising tide may
not stop until it's level with the massive lake.
New Orleans had long known it was highly vulnerable to flooding and
a direct hit from a hurricane. In fact, the federal government has been
working with state and local officials in the region since the late
1960s on major hurricane and flood relief efforts. When flooding from
a massive rainstorm in May 1995 killed six people, Congress authorized
the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, or SELA.
Over the next 10 years, the Army Corps of Engineers, tasked with carrying
out SELA, spent $430 million on shoring up levees and building pumping
stations, with $50 million in local aid. But at least $250 million in
crucial projects remained, even as hurricane activity in the Atlantic
Basin increased dramatically and the levees surrounding New Orleans
continued to subside.
Yet after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA dropped to a
trickle. The Corps never tried to hide the fact that the spending pressures
of the war in Iraq, as well as homeland security -- coming at the same
time as federal tax cuts -- was the reason for the strain. At least
nine articles in the Times-Picayune from 2004 and 2005 specifically
cite the cost of Iraq as a reason for the lack of hurricane- and flood-control
dollars.
Newhouse News Service, in an article posted late Tuesday night at The
Times-Picayune Web site, reported: "No one can say they didn't
see it coming. ... Now in the wake of one of the worst storms ever,
serious questions are being asked about the lack of preparation."
In early 2004, as the cost of the conflict in Iraq soared, President
Bush proposed spending less than 20 percent of what the Corps said was
needed for Lake Pontchartrain, according to a Feb. 16, 2004, article,
in New Orleans CityBusiness.
On June 8, 2004, Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson
Parish, Louisiana; told the Times-Picayune: "It appears that the
money has been moved in the president's budget to handle homeland security
and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that's the price we pay. Nobody locally
is happy that the levees can't be finished, and we are doing everything
we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
Also that June, with the 2004 hurricane season starting, the Corps'
project manager Al Naomi went before a local agency, the East Jefferson
Levee Authority, and essentially begged for $2 million for urgent work
that Washington was now unable to pay for. From the June 18, 2004 Times-Picayune:
"The system is in great shape, but the levees are sinking. Everything
is sinking, and if we don't get the money fast enough to raise them,
then we can't stay ahead of the settlement," he said. "The
problem that we have isn't that the levee is low, but that the federal
funds have dried up so that we can't raise them."
The panel authorized that money, and on July 1, 2004, it had to pony
up another $250,000 when it learned that stretches of the levee in Metairie
had sunk by four feet. The agency had to pay for the work with higher
property taxes. The levee board noted in October 2004 that the feds
were also now not paying for a hoped-for $15 million project to better
shore up the banks of Lake Pontchartrain.
The 2004 hurricane season was the worst in decades. In spite of that,
the federal government came back this spring with the steepest reduction
in hurricane and flood-control funding for New Orleans in history. Because
of the proposed cuts, the Corps office there imposed a hiring freeze.
Officials said that money targeted for the SELA project -- $10.4 million,
down from $36.5 million -- was not enough to start any new jobs.
There was, at the same time, a growing recognition that more research
was needed to see what New Orleans must do to protect itself from a
Category 4 or 5 hurricane. But once again, the money was not there.
As the Times-Picayune reported last Sept. 22:
"That second study would take about four years to complete and
would cost about $4 million, said Army Corps of Engineers project manager
Al Naomi. About $300,000 in federal money was proposed for the 2005
fiscal-year budget, and the state had agreed to match that amount. But
the cost of the Iraq war forced the Bush administration to order the
New Orleans district office not to begin any new studies, and the 2005
budget no longer includes the needed money, he said."
The Senate was seeking to restore some of the SELA funding cuts for
2006. But now it's too late.
One project that a contractor had been racing to finish this summer:
a bridge and levee job right at the 17th Street Canal, site of the main
breach on Monday.
The Newhouse News Service article published Tuesday night observed,
"The Louisiana congressional delegation urged Congress earlier
this year to dedicate a stream of federal money to Louisiana's coast,
only to be opposed by the White House. ... In its budget, the Bush administration
proposed a significant reduction in funding for southeast Louisiana's
chief hurricane protection project. Bush proposed $10.4 million, a sixth
of what local officials say they need."
Local officials are now saying, the article reported, that had Washington
heeded their warnings about the dire need for hurricane protection,
including building up levees and repairing barrier islands, "the
damage might not have been nearly as bad as it turned out to be."
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:41 AM
Response to Reply #21
136. Mitigation program eliminated, etc.
From http://www.sfbg.com/38/52/news_fema.html :
Long before this hurricane season, some emergency managers inside and
outside of government started sounding an alarm that still rings loudly.
Bush administration policy changes and budget cuts, they say, are sapping
FEMA's long-term ability to cushion the blow of hurricanes, earthquakes,
floods, tornadoes, wildfires, and other natural disasters.
Since 2001, key federal disaster mitigation programs, developed over
many years, have been slashed and tossed aside. FEMA's Project Impact,
a model mitigation program created by the Clinton administration, has
been canceled outright. Federal funding of post-disaster mitigation
efforts designed to protect people and property from the next disaster
has been cut in half, and now communities across the country must compete
for pre-disaster mitigation dollars.
In addition, the White House has pushed for privatization of essential
government services, including disaster management, and merged FEMA
into the Department of Homeland Security, where natural disaster programs
are often sidelined by counterterrorism programs. Along the way, morale
at FEMA has plummeted, and many of the agency's most experienced personnel
have left for work in other government agencies or private corporations.
In June, Pleasant Mann, a 16-year FEMA veteran who heads the agency's
government employee union, wrote members of Congress to warn of the
agency's decay. "Over the past three-and-one-half years, FEMA has
gone from being a model agency to being one where funds are being misspent,
employee morale has fallen, and our nation's emergency management capability
is being eroded," he wrote. "Our professional staff are being
systematically replaced by politically connected novices and contractors."
"Mitigation is the cornerstone of emergency management," a
FEMA Web site explains today. "It's the ongoing effort to lessen
the impact disasters have on people's lives and property." Under
mitigation plans, houses in floodplains are moved or raised above the
flood line, buildings are designed to withstand hurricane winds and
earthquakes, and communities are relocated away from likely wildfire
zones. According to FEMA estimates, every dollar spent on mitigation
saves roughly $2 in disaster recovery costs.
William Waugh, a disaster expert at Georgia State University who has
written training programs for FEMA, warns that the rise of a "consultant
culture" has not served emergency programs well. "It's part
of a widespread problem of government contracting out capabilities,"
he says. "Pretty soon governments can't do things because they've
given up those capabilities to the private sector. And private corporations
don't necessarily maintain those capabilities."
By ignoring the logic of fully funded mitigation and other preparedness
programs, Bush's first FEMA director earned some scorn among emergency
specialists. "Allbaugh? He was inept," says Claire Rubin,
a senior researcher at George Washington University's Institute for
Crisis, Disaster and Risk Management. "He was chief of staff for
Bush in Texas - that was his credential. He didn't have an emergency
management background, other than the disasters he ran into in Texas,
and he wasn't a very open guy. He didn't want to learn anything."
The merger into the DHS has compounded the agency's problems, says FEMA
employee and union president Mann. "Before, we reported straight
to the White House, and now we've got this elaborate bureaucracy on
top of us, and a lot of this bureaucracy doesn't think what we're doing
is that important, because terrorism isn't our number one," he
says. "The biggest frustration here is that we at FEMA have responded
to disasters like Oklahoma City and 9/11, and here are people who haven't
responded to a kitchen fire telling us how to deal with terrorism. You
know, there were a lot of people who fell down on the job on 9/11, but
it wasn't us."
Rubin, the George Washington University researcher, agrees with these
assessments. "DHS has done a number of things to FEMA that are
making it very, very hard for FEMA to function as it used to,"
she says. "A large number of people who are experienced with natural
hazards no longer are doing that primarily or at all."
In 2003, Congress approved a White House proposal to cut FEMA's Hazard
Mitigation Grant Program in half. Previously, the federal government
was committed to invest 15 percent of the recovery costs of a given
disaster in mitigating future problems. Under the Bush formula, the
feds now cough up only 7.5 percent.
Such post-disaster mitigation efforts, specialists say, are a crucial
way of minimizing future losses. It's after a disaster strikes, they
argue, that the government can best take the steps necessary to avoid
repeat problems, because that's when officials and storm victims are
most receptive to mitigation plans.
The administration also argues that its new pre-disaster mitigation
grants, which are awarded on a competitive basis, will help states pick
up the slack. But again, emergency managers say it's not enough. In
recent congressional testimony, a NEMA representative noted that "in
a purely competitive grant program, lower income communities, those
most often at risk to natural disaster, will not effectively compete
with more prosperous cities.... The prevention of repetitive damages
caused by disasters would go largely unprepared in less-affluent and
smaller communities."
And indeed, some in-need areas have been inexplicably left out of the
program. "In a sense, Louisiana is the floodplain of the nation,"
a 2002 FEMA report noted. "Louisiana waterways drain two thirds
of the continental United States. Precipitation in New York, the Dakotas,
even Idaho and the Province of Alberta, finds its way to Louisiana's
coastline." As a result, flooding is a constant threat, and the
state has an estimated 18,000 buildings that have repeatedly been damaged
by flood waters - the highest number of any state. And yet, this summer
FEMA denied Louisiana communities' pre-disaster mitigation funding requests.
In Jefferson Parish, part of the New Orleans metropolitan area, flood
zone manager Tom Rodrigue is baffled by the development. "You would
think we would get maximum consideration" for the funds, he says.
"This is what the grant program called for. We were more than qualified
for it."
Within FEMA, the shift away from mitigation programs is so pronounced
that many longtime specialists in the field have quit. "The priority
is no longer on prevention," says the FEMA administrator. "Mitigation,
honestly, is the orphaned step-child. People are leaving it in droves."
In fact, disaster professionals are leaving many parts of FEMA in droves,
compromising the agency's ability to do its job.
In case Congress hasn't gotten the message, former FEMA director Witt
recently restated it in strong terms. "I am extremely concerned
that the ability of our nation to prepare for and respond to disasters
has been sharply eroded," he testified at a March 24, 2004, hearing
on Capitol Hill. "I hear from emergency managers, local and state
leaders, and first responders nearly every day that the FEMA they knew
and worked well with has now disappeared. In fact one state emergency
manager told me, 'It is like a stake has been driven into the heart
of emergency management.'"
Waugh, the Georgia State University expert, says, "This is an exposed
nerve in the emergency management community, in the sense that resources
have been shifted away from hurricanes, tornadoes and other kinds of
disasters - the kind of disasters that are more likely to occur than
terrorism."
For more information, go here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:05 AM
Response to Reply #21
201. July 24, 2005 - Poor : You are on your own (for evaccuation)
July 2005 article reveals New Orleans told poor: 'You're on your own'
John Byrne
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/July_2005_article_reveals...
A July 24, 2005 article in the New Orleans Times Picayune (not available
online) reveals just how unprepared officials were for a hurricane,
especially as it affected the city's poor, RAW STORY has learned. The
first sentence alone reveals how little support the city expected to
have for the poor in the event of a disaster, saying, "City, state
and federal emergency officials are preparing to give the poorest of
New Orleans' poor a historically blunt message: In the event of a major
hurricane, you're on your own."
The article was first discovered in a detailed piece by the Philadelphia
Daily News' Will Bunch.
The local Red Cross executive director was quoted as saying, "You're
responsible for your safety, and you should be responsible for the person
next to you. If you have some room to get that person out of town, the
Red Cross will have a space for that person outside the area. We can
help you. But we don't have the transportation."Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:31 PM
Response to Reply #21
209. Sept 1 *** Important timeline on FEMA and the cuts****
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/20...
Washington Monthly
Kevin Drum
September 1, 2005
CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA
and flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration.
Read it and weep:January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from
Texas, as head of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster
management.April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush
administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh
confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that
federal disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized
entitlement program...." he said. "Expectations of when the
federal government should be involved and the degree of involvement
may have ballooned beyond what is an appropriate level."2001: FEMA
designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of the three
"likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."December
2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces he is leaving
to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking to do business
in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy and former college roommate,
Michael Brown, who has no previous experience in disaster management
and was fired from his previous job for mismanagement.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 12:06 AM
Response to Reply #21
244. FEMA Union Prez says Bush weakened FEMA & that FEMA was
unprepared
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
President of FEMA Headquarters Employees Union speaks out
FEMA Was Unprepared for Katrina Relief Effort, Insiders Say
"All of us were just shaking our heads and saying, 'This isn't
going to be enough, and the director has to know this isn't going to
be enough.' But nothing more seemed to be happening," said Leo
Bosner, president of the FEMA Headquarters Employees Union.
Bosner has been with FEMA since it began 26 years ago. He says the agency
has been systematically dismantled since it became part of the massive
Department of Homeland Security.
"One of the big differences I see," said Bosner, "besides
taking away our staff and our budget and our training, is that Homeland
Security now, in my view, slows down the process."
The union warned Congress in a detailed letter about FEMA's decline
a year ago. State emergency managers also warned Capitol Hill and Homeland
Security just weeks ago that DHS was too focused on one thing —
terrorism.
more@link
'Catapulting' Katrina
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 01:29 PM
Response to Reply #21
252. 9/9 E-mail fr friend re- Article on Brown & Bush Cronyism/Corruption
Katrina: Time article to hash Brownie over resume discrepancies
As Ned Sublette said a couple of days ago, some call it "cronyism,"
but there's a more accurate word -- corruption. Snip from Time article
about "discrepancies" in FEMA head Michael Brown's resume:
Before joining FEMA, his only previous stint in emergency management,
according to his bio posted on FEMA's website <http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/brown.shtm
> , was "serving as an assistant city manager with emergency
services oversight." The White House press release from 2001 <http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/12/2001120...
> stated that Brown worked for the city of Edmond, Okla., from 1975
to 1978 "overseeing the emergency services division." In fact,
according to Claudia Deakins, head of public relations for the city
of Edmond, Brown was an "assistant to the city manager" from
1977 to 1980, not a manager himself, and had no authority over other
employees. "The assistant is more like an intern," she told
TIME. "Department heads did not report to him." Brown did
do a good job at his humble position, however, according to his boss.
"Yes. Mike Brown worked for me. He was my administrative assistant.
He was a student at Central State University," recalls former city
manager Bill Dashner. "Mike used to handle a lot of details. Every
now and again I'd ask him to write me a speech. He was very loyal. He
was always on time. He always had on a suit and a starched white shirt."
Link <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1103003,...
> to Time story, and see also this New Republic article by Paul Campos:
Link <http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050919&s=campos091905
> . (Thanks, Connor)
posted by Xeni Jardin at 07:32:43 AM permalink <http://www.boingboing.net/2005/09/09/katrina_time_artic...
> | blogs' comments <http://www.technorati.com/cosmos/search.html?rank=?=...
>
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #21
262. Aug 29: Disaster experts: Federal government wasn't ready
for Katrina
http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/news/nation/12...
Posted on Wed, Aug. 31, 2005
Disaster experts: Federal government wasn't ready for Katrina
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Knight Ridder NewspapersWASHINGTON - The federal government so far has
bungled the job of quickly helping the multitudes of hungry, thirsty
and desperate victims of Hurricane Katrina, former top federal, state
and local disaster chiefs said Wednesday.
The experts, including a former Bush administration disaster response
manager, told Knight Ridder that the government wasn't prepared, scrimped
on storm spending and shifted its attention from dealing with natural
disasters to fighting the global war on terrorism.
The disaster preparedness agency at the center of the relief effort
is the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which was enveloped
by the new Department of Homeland Security with a new mission aimed
at responding to the attacks of al-Qaida.
"What you're seeing is revealing weaknesses in the state, local
and federal levels," said Eric Tolbert, who until February was
FEMA's disaster response chief. "All three levels have been weakened.
They've been weakened by diversion into terrorism."
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 08:22 PM
Response to Reply #21
332. 9/10 E-mail fr friend w/ analysis of Brown's resume
FEMA's Brown padded resume: hardly a lawyer, either
by Goldy at HorsesAss
Thu Sep 8th, 2005 at 15:11:48 PDT
FEMA director Mike Brown was originally brought into the agency as its
general counsel, under the auspices of his old college roommate (and
Bush fixer) Joe Allbaugh. By now we all know that Brown is an
emergency manager who knows nothing about managing emergencies, and
a former horse association commissioner who knew nothing about horses...
but apparently, he was also a general counsel who was hardly even a
real lawyer.
In a devastating expose published today in The New Republic, University
of Colorodo-Boulder law professor Paul Campos determines to answer the
question "of exactly what, given Brown's real biography, he is
qualified to do." The answer, not surprisingly, is very little.
Goldy at HorsesAss's diary :: :: To understand the Mike Brown saga,
one has to know something about the intricacies of the legal profession,
beginning with the status of the law school he attended. Brown's biography
on FEMA's website reports that he's a graduate of the Oklahoma City
University School of Law. This is not, to put it charitably, a well-known
institution. For example, I've been a law professor for the past 15
years and have never heard of it. Of more relevance is the fact that,
until 2003, the school was not even a member of the Association of American
Law Schools (AALS)--the organization that, along with the American Bar
Association, accredits the nation's law schools. Most prospective law
students won't even consider applying to a non-AALS law school unless
they have no other option, because many employers have a policy of not
considering graduates of non-AALS institutions. So it's fair to say
that Brown embarked on his prospective legal career from the bottom
of the profession's hierarchy.
According to Campos, Brown received his J.D. in 1981, and spent the
next couple years representing the interests of a "prominent local
family" in Enid, Oklahoma, followed by an 18-month stint at a local
law firm (that no longer exists.) But it appears that by 1987
he had already more or less abandoned his legal career. From 1991
to 2001 he served as commissioner of judges and stewards for the International
Arabian Horse Association, a full-time position from which he resigned
under pressure.
What, then, are we to make of the claim in Brown's FEMA biography that,
prior to joining the Agency, he had spent most of his professional career
practicing law in Colorado? Normally, an attorney practicing law in
a state for ten years would have left a record of his experience in
public documents. But just about the only evidence of Brown's Colorado
legal career is the Web page he submitted to Findlaw.com, an Internet
site for people seeking legal representation. There, he lists himself
as a member of the "International Arabian Horse Association Legal
Dept." and claims to be competent to practice law across a dizzying
spectrum of specialties--estate planning, family law, employment law
for both plaintiffs and defendants, real-estate law, sports law, labor
law, and legislative practice. With all this expertise, it's all the
more striking that one can't find any other evidence of Brown's legal
career in Colorado.
Campos further deconstructs Brown's FEMA bio, which he impressively
claims to have served as "a bar examiner on ethics and professional
responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner
for the Colorado Supreme Court." Campos' translation?
In Oklahoma, he graded answers to bar exam questions, and, in Colorado,
he volunteered to serve on the local attorney disciplinary board.
Ouch.
Campos' summation is equally devastating, and a pointed critique of
the Bush administration.
When Brown left the iaha four years ago, he was, among other things,
a failed former lawyer--a man with a 20-year-old degree from a semi-accredited
law school who hadn't attempted to practice law in a serious way in
nearly 15 years and who had just been forced out of his job in the wake
of charges of impropriety. At this point in his life, returning to his
long-abandoned legal career would have been very difficult in the competitive
Colorado legal market. Yet, within months of leaving the IAHA , he was
handed one of the top legal positions in the entire federal government:
general counsel for a major federal agency. A year later, he was made
its number-two official, and, a year after that, Bush appointed him
director of FEMA.
It's bad enough when attorneys are named to government jobs for which
their careers, no matter how distinguished, don't qualify them. But
Brown wasn't a distinguished lawyer: He was hardly a lawyer at all.
When he left the IAHA , he was a 47-year-old with a very thin resumé
and no job. Yet he was also what's known in the Mafia as a "connected
guy." That such a person could end up in one of the federal government's
most important positions tells you all you need to know about how the
Bush administration works--or, rather, doesn't.
Once again, this has always been a story about cronyism, and the human
lives it may have cost. And now we know that not only did Brown
lack the qualifications to lead FEMA, he also lacked the legal qualifications
to serve as its general counsel, his first position at the agency. It's
not just Brown who should be fired... it's the incompetent president
who appointed him.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 08:52 PM
Response to Reply #21
339. Sept10: Texas Republicans on FEMA
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/10/14423/9876
Texas Republicans on FEMA
By Anne-Marie Slaughter | bio
From: America Abroad
In response to Juliette's post on FEMA, check out Dan K's comment to
my post a while ago "Just Like Haiti." He dug out the following
gem from the 2000 Texas Republican Party Platform:
Civil Defense - America had a strong, grassroots-based civilian defense
system with county level volunteers and local leadership from the World
War I era until the establishment of the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA). Now local civil defense coordinators have been replaced
with federally-controlled emergency management coordinators. The priority
has changed from "defending" the citizens in an emergency
to "managing" the citizens. The Party supports the restoration
of our civil defense system. A non-partisan effort should be made to
organize communication and emergency response training for citizens
to assist in times of emergency, and the local county government should
appoint a civilian defense coordinator. Elected county officials should
be in charge of decisions affecting the local community.
As Dan K points out, what happened to FEMA was not accidental. It was
ideology.
Sep 10, 2005 --
02:04:23 PM ESTPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:22 PM
Response to Reply #21
387. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) From Hurricane Guru Jeff Masters; Evacuation
of Poor
Edited on Sun Sep-11-05 12:23 PM by snot
(Note: I'm putting this here 'cause it relates to some of the other
replies to #21)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
MUST READ from Hurricane Guru Jeff Masters
http://www.weatherunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comm...
Being in Baton Rouge, I followed this guy's blog constantly from three
days before Katrina hit. Believe me, they did know this would happen.
Numerous bloggers were screaming bloody murder days before the event.
"In comments on Thursday, Sep. 1, in an interview with Diane Sawyer
of ABC News, President George W. Bush said, "I don't think anybody
anticipated the breach of the levees. They did anticipate a serious
storm. But these levees got breached."
In comments to the press on Sep. 3, Homeland Security chief Michael
Chertoff remarked, "That 'perfect storm' of a combination of catastrophes
exceeded the foresight of the planners, and maybe anybody's foresight",
and called the disaster "breathtaking in its surprise."
It's not our fault," said Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, in charge
of the deployment of National Guard troops in New Orleans. "The
storm came and flooded the city."
In other words, Katrina was an Act of God no one could have foreseen,
and the politicians we elected to protect us from disaster are not responsible
for the unimaginable horror we have witnessed this week.
A horror unimagined by anyone, except by every hurricane scientist and
government emergency management official for the past forty years and
more. It was a certainty that New Orleans would suffer a catastrophe
like this. Every 70 years, on average, the central Gulf Coast has a
Category 4 or 5 hurricane pass within 80 miles of a given point. Sometimes
you get lucky--for a while. New Orleans had gone over 150 years without
a strike by a hurricane capable of overwhelming the levees. Sometimes
you get unlucky. There's no guarantee that New Orleans won't get hit
by another major hurricane this year. We are in the midst of an extraordinary
period of hurricane activity, the likes of which has not been seen in
recorded history. Hurricanes Ivan and Dennis, which both had storm surges
capable of breaching the levees in New Orleans, smashed into Pensacola
in the past year. Either of these storms could have destroyed New Orleans,
had they taken a slight wobble westward earlier in their track.
Hurricanes are an inescapable part of nature's way on the Gulf Coast.
Nature doesn't care about tax cuts and fiscal years and budget crunches.
Nature doesn't care that a city of 500,000 people situated below sea
level lies in its path. It was certain that New Orleans would sooner
or later get hit by a hurricane that would breach the levees. How could
the director of Homeland Security not be familiar with this huge threat
to the security of this nation? How could the President not know? How
could all the presidents and politicians we elected, from Eisenhower
to Clinton, not know?
The answer is that they all knew. But the politicians we elect don't
care about the poor people in New Orleans, because poor people don't
have a lobbyist in Washington. The poor people don't make big campaign
contributions, and those big campaign contributions are vital to getting
elected. In all of the Congressional and Presidential races held over
the past ten years, over 90% were won by the candidate that raised the
most money.
So there was little effort given to formulate a plan to evacuate the
100,000 poor residents of New Orleans with no transportation of their
own for a Category 4 or 5 hurricane. To do so would have cost tens of
millions of dollars, money that neither the city, nor the state, nor
the federal government was willing to spend. Why spend money that would
be wasted on a bunch of poor people? The money was better spent on projects
to please the politicians' wealthy campaign contributors. So the plan
was to let them die. And they died, as we experts all knew they would.
Huge numbers of them. And they keep dying, still. We don't know how
many. Since the plan was to let them die, the city of New Orleans made
sure they had a good supply of body bags on hand. Only 10,000 body bags,
but since Katrina didn't hit New Orleans head-on, 10,000 will probably
be enough.
Admittedly, it is very difficult to safely evacuate 100,000 people with
a Category 4 or 5 hurricane bearing down on you. There are only a few
routes out of the city, and a full 72 hours of warning are needed to
get everyone out. That's asking a lot, as hurricanes are very difficult
to predict that far in advance. The National Hurricane Center did pretty
well, giving New Orleans a full 60 hours to evacuate. The Hurricane
Center forecasted on Friday afternoon that Katrina would hit New Orleans
as a major hurricane on Monday, which is what happened. New Orleans
had time to implement its plan to bus the city's poor out. However,
this plan had two very serious problems--it wasn't enacted in time,
and it could only get out 20% of the people in a best case scenario.
The mandatory evacuation order was not given until Sunday, just 20 hours
before the hurricane. I have not been able to ascertain from press accounts
when the busses actually started picking up people. The mayor says 50,000
made it to the Superdome and other "shelters of last resort",
leaving another 50,000 to face the flood waters in their homes. Although
80% of the city was evacuated, it is unclear whether any of the city's
poor made it out by bus. And it is very fortunate that Katrina did not
hit the city head-on, or else most of those in the Superdome and other
"shelters of last resort" would have perished. The death toll
from Katrina would have easily surpassed 50,000.
Even if the evacuation plan had been launched 72 hours in advance, it
almost certainly would have failed. A local New Orleans news station,
nola.com, reported in 2002 on the evacuation plan thusly:
In an evacuation, buses would be dispatched along their regular routes
throughout the city to pick up people and go to the Superdome, which
would be used as a staging area. From there, people would be taken out
of the city to shelters to the north.
Some experts familiar with the plans say they won't work.
"That's never going to happen because there's not enough buses
in the city," said Charley Ireland, who retired as deputy director
of the New Orleans Office of Emergency Preparedness in 2000. "Between
the RTA and the school buses, you've got maybe 500 buses, and they hold
maybe 40 people
each. It ain't going to happen."
The plan has other potential pitfalls.
No signs are in place to notify the public that the regular bus stops
are also the stops for emergency evacuation. In Miami Beach, Fla., every
other bus stop sports a huge sign identifying it as a hurricane evacuation
stop.
It's also unclear whether the city's entire staff of bus drivers will
remain. A union spokesman said that while drivers are aware of the plan,
the union contract lacks a provision requiring them to stay.
So, if one does the math, 500 busses times 40 people per bus yields
20,000 people that could have been evacuated in a best-case scenario.
Only 20,000 out of 100,000. That isn't a half-hearted effort, it's a
one-fifth hearted, criminal effort. We're talking about the lives of
80,000 people or more sacrificed, from a disaster that was certain to
happen. By not having a plan to get New Orleans' poor out, our government
caused the unbelievable suffering and the needless deaths of thousands
of Americans. This was not a natural disaster caused by an act of God,
it was an unnatural disaster. In his excellent 2001 book, Acts of God:
The Unnatural History of Natural Disaster in America, Ted Steinberg
writes: "Calling such events acts of God has long been a way to
evade moral responsibility for death and destruction." He shows
in the book how countless politicians over the past one hundred years
have done their best to evade this moral responsibility when preventable
disasters struck. Our current leaders are no different.
The most prosperous and technologically advanced nation in history surely
could have done better. Was it really too expensive to have the vehicles,
people, and workable plan in place needed to evacuate New Orleans? "A
society is measured by how it treats the weak and vulnerable",
said George W. Bush in his State of the Union of Feb 2, 2005. By that
measure, the people of this country have responded magnificently. The
outpouring of aid, sympathy and prayers for those affected has been
tremendous. But by that same standard, our government has failed. Its
not just the current administration--every elected government since
the days of Eisenhower has failed us. As I've outlined above, the problem
is not likely to go away until the amount of money a candidate raises
is no longer the primary factor determining who gets elected. Our elected
officials won't care for the poor, as long as it is the rich who determine
who get elected.
What can we do to help prevent such a disaster from recurring? Well,
I encourage all of you to support election reform initiatives such as
public campaign financing and Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) over the coming
years. Maybe then I can check a box to vote for a candidate who will
actually care for the needs of the poor in New Orleans and elsewhere
in this county, instead of the usual "lesser of two evils"
from the miserable two-party system that let thousands die and tens
of thousands more suffer so unbearably.
Dr. Jeff Masters"
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:27 PM
Response to Reply #21
388. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched
response
Edited on Sun Sep-11-05 12:33 PM by snot
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Bush's FEMA Failed Us All.
Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response
By Frank James and Andrew Martin
Washington Bureau
Published September 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a
major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when
Hurricane Katrina struck.
Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal
officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then
the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called
"a very good exercise."
More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top
scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread
flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.
"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican
appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private
sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal
with, not all of them were solved."
FEMA contracted Innovative Emergency Management to 'lead the development
of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and
the City of New Orleans'.
In July, 2004, they heldthe 'Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning
Workshop' it went like this;
Driven by a predetermined scenario, entitled Hurricane Pam, the participants
developed 15 functional plans over the course of the week, including:
pre-landfall activities; unwatering of leveeenclosed areas; hazardous
materials; billeting of response personnel; distribution of power, water,
and ice; transport from water to shelter; volunteer and donations management;
external
affairs; access control and re-entry; debris; schools; search and rescue;
sheltering; temporary housing; and temporary medical care.
The scenario involved a slow-moving Category 3 storm making landfall
near Grand Isle in the early morning. In the scenario, the storm, sustaining
winds of 120 mph at landfall, spawned tornados, destroyed over 75% of
the structures in its path, and left the majority of New Orleans under
15–20 feet of water. The workshop was sponsored by FEMA and LOHSEP,
with a weather scenario designed by the National Weather Service and
damage and consequences developed by IEM, Inc. of Baton Rouge. IEM,
Inc. also facilitated the workshop sessions.
From November 29–December 3, over 90 participants met in New Orleans
to continue planning for three topics: sheltering, temporary housing,
and temporary medical care. These three topics were chosen by the workshop’s
Unified Command as areas that needed continued group planning.
The outcome of these workshops is a series of functional plans that
may be implemented immediately. Along with these plans, resource shortfalls
were identified early, saving valuable time in the event an actual response
is warranted. It is because of the dedication of every workshop participant
that Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.
More here.
A clear case of 'privatization' as failure has rarely been seen.
Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top
By Susan B. Glasser and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01
...Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing
for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at
daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current
and former senior officials and outside experts.
Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before
it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed
offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new
plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited
until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national
significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest
possible relief effort.
Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive
new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the
next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists.
The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios
from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to
a chlorine-tank explosion.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that
his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the
"ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's
floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as
if an atomic bomb had been dropped."
Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security has no access to the
'internets'.
Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top
By Susan B. Glasser and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01
...Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing
for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at
daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current
and former senior officials and outside experts.
Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before
it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed
offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new
plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited
until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national
significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest
possible relief effort.
Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive
new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the
next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists.
The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios
from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to
a chlorine-tank explosion.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that
his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the
"ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's
floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as
if an atomic bomb had been dropped."
Apparently, the Department of Homeland Security has no access to the
'internets'.
FEMA takes brunt of hurricane relief criticism
BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
The Dallas Morning News
Though disaster planners have long ranked a direct hurricane strike
on New Orleans as one of the top three catastrophic scenarios facing
the United States, authorities have lagged badly in evacuating the sick
and vulnerable, passing out food and water, deploying military assets
and quelling rampant lawlessness. And while the Superdome has long factored
in disaster preparedness plans as the city's main hurricane refuge,
no supplies were stocked there before the storm hit Monday.
Dr. Michael Lindell, a senior scholar at Texas A&M's Hazard Reduction
and Recovery Center, said he cannot comprehend why federal officials
had not deployed equipment and relief supplies before Katrina struck
- or mobilized to relieve clearly outflanked state and local resources.
"If it's a Category 5 hurricane, then frankly it doesn't take an
Einstein to figure out that it's going to overwhelm local capacity and
that they are going to be in a world of hurt," he said, referring
to the storm that fell to Category 4 by the time it hit shore. "You
don't have to wait until there are bodies floating around in the water
to start activating the National Guard."
Many disaster relief specialists blame FEMA's stumble on its diminished
standing within the government and a relentless focus on terrorism prevention
by the agency's new overseers.
In a post-Sept. 11 reorganization, FEMA joined 21 other agencies in
a new Homeland Security Department, stripped of the Cabinet rank that
had allowed it to report directly to the president. And, in a further
department shuffle in July, FEMA lost its historic mission of working
with state and local governments on preparedness plans before disaster
strikes.
The administration has been trotting out representatives from the Army
Corps of Engineers to say that they didn't see the 'break' in the levee
coming. But nearly in the same sentence they admit that the flooding
was foreseen.
But there was a change in leadership at the Corps in 2002.
Ex-Army Corps officials say budget cuts imperiled flood mitigation efforts
As levees burst and floods continued to spread across areas hit by Hurricane
Katrina yesterday, a former chief of the Army Corps of Engineers disparaged
senior White House officials for "not understanding" that
key elements of the region's infrastructure needed repair and rebuilding.
Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced
to resign in 2002 over budget disagreements with the White House. He
clashed with Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management
and Budget, which sets the administration's annual budget goals.
"One time I took two pieces of steel into Mitch Daniels' office,"
Parker recalled. "They were exactly the same pieces of steel, except
one had been under water in a Mississippi lock for 30 years, and the
other was new. The first piece was completely corroded and falling apart
because of a lack of funding. I said, 'Mitch, it doesn't matter if a
terrorist blows the lock up or if it falls down because it disintegrates
-- either way it's the same effect, and if we let it fall down, we have
only ourselves to blame.' It made no impact on him whatsoever."
Daniels, now governor of Indiana, did not respond to a request for comment.
Fire the employees that counter your agenda. Just another day in Bushworld.
Damn the consequences.
On the front cover of the Mississippi Press, the boldest headline is
'Where's FEMA?' They are still waiting.
Where's FEMA?
by Natalie Chambers
THE MISSISSIPPI PRESS
September 4, 2005
PASCAGOULA — County and municipal officials are asking aloud ‘Where’s
FEMA?’
As word spread of temporary housing needs beginning to be met in neighboring
Harrison County, more questions are being asked in Jackson County.
Leaders here can only hope that they are next on the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s list.
An estimated 100,000 of 135,000 Jackson County residents are in need
of housing assistance following Monday’s landfall of devastating
Hurricane Katrina, county officials were told by a Red Cross’
national representative. They also need a dependable supply of water,
ice, food and other necessities.
To summarize; there was ample warning, plenty of studies to predict
the flooding, but budget slashing, downsizing and privatization were
employed that crippled FEMA's disaster relief abilities.
To top it off, cronyism.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 09:47 PM
Response to Reply #21
543. 9/19 FEMA Employee Opinions worst I have ever seen, period
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
NPR Commentary: "FEMA Employee Opinions worst I have ever seen,
period."
From this morning's 'Morning Edition' commentary:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=48...
Commentary: An argument for fixes at FEMA
September 19, 2005 from Morning Edition
STEVE INSKEEP, host: So there's a plan for rebuilding New Orleans. Now
here's a plan for rebuilding the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Commentator Paul Light is author of "The Four Pillars of High Performance,"
which outlines his strategy for strengthening organizations like FEMA.
PAUL LIGHT:
Contrary to the now conventional wisdom, FEMA was not the victim of
the Homeland Security merger. Flooded by inexperienced political appointees
at the top, the agency already ranked dead last on the list of best
places to work in government well before Katrina hit. According to the
federal government's own surveys, employees reported sharp declines
in morale and resources in early 2002. Less than a third said they held
their new leaders in high regard. The concerns are familiar across government
where employees complain about the lack of resources and the politicalization
of even trivial decisions, but the FEMA opinions are the worst I have
ever seen, period.
FEMA had only recently rebounded from years as a political dumping ground
for campaign aides with no place else to go. It failed miserably after
Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. Eight years of hard work brought
the agency up to peak performance. Then inexperienced appointees brought
the agency back down. Katrina shows yet again how important effective
leadership is to government performance. On the day Katrina hit, half
of FEMA's top political jobs were occupied by executives without any
meaningful disaster experience. Seven of the top civil service jobs
were filled by acting appointees. It's no wonder FEMA hesitated as the
catastrophe took hold.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:04 PM
Response to Original message
22. Pre K: Clinton builds emergency preparedness
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 03:08 PM
Response to Reply #22
316. 9/10 E-mail fr friend Comparing Pres'l Actions Re- Hurricanes
Past
In August of 1969 when Cat-5 Hurricane Camille hit roughly the same
area as Katrina, President Nixon had already readied the National Guard
and ordered all Gulf rescue vessels and equipment from Tampa and Houston
to follow the Hurricane in. There were over 1,000 regular military with
two dozen helicopters to assist the Coast Guard and National Guard within
hours after the skies cleared.
August, 1992 -- Hurricane Andrew -- President H.W. Bush (#41) was in
the midst of a brutal campaign for re-election. Yet, he cut off his
campaigning the day before and went to Washington where he marshaled
the largest military operation on US soil in history. He sent in 7,000
National Guard and 22,000 regular military personnel, and all the gear
to begin the clean up within hours after Andrew passed through Florida.
In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd -- a category 3 -- was bearing down
the Carolinas and Virginia. President Clinton (#42) was in Christchurch,
New Zealand, meeting with President Jiang of China. He made the Presidential
proclamation declaring the areas affected by Floyd "Federal Disaster
Areas" so the National Guard and Military can begin to mobilize.
Then he cut short his meetings overseas and flew home to coordinate
the rescue efforts. This all one day BEFORE a Cat-3 hit the coast.
George W. Bush (#43) - August 2005 - Cat-5 Hurricane Katrina bears down
on New Orleans and the Mississippi gulf. Both states are down
nearly 8,000 National Guard troops because they are in Iraq -- with
most of the rescue gear needed. Bush is on vacation. The
day before Katrina makes landfall, Bush rides his bike for two hours.
The day she hits, he goes to Johnnie McCain's birthday party and
lies to old people about the multi-billion-dollar pharmaceutical company
welfare boondoggle. People are dying, the largest port of entry
in the United States (and fifth largest in the World) is under attack.
Troops and supplies are desperately needed. The levees are
cracking and the emergency 1-1/2 ton sandbags are ready, but there aren't
enough helicopters or pilots to set them before the levees fail. The
mayor of New Orleans begs for Federal coordination, but there is none,
and the sandbagging never gets done. So Bush -- naturally -- goes
to San Diego to play guitar with the country singer and give another
tired speech trying to justify the Iraq oil war. The levees give
way, filling New Orleans with water, sewage, oil and chemicals. The
city is totally destroyed. Thousands are dead or dying. Bush
decides he'll end his vacation a couple of days early -- TOMORROW --
because Rumsfeld has skybox tickets to a Padres game! He goes
back to the Farm in Crawford, with every intention of doing something
on WEDNESDAY about this disaster that starting happening last Sunday
night.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:19 PM
Response to Original message
23. Just prior to K: Official Fed announcements and declarations
Edited on Wed Sep-07-05 09:22 PM by mom catPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:31 PM
Response to Reply #23
215. Dated Aug 27(?):official: White House declaration
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 02:10 PM by mom cat
From the White House
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/2005082...
The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana
and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts
in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on
August 26, 2005, and continuing.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security,
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster
relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and
suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide
appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized 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 Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier,
Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton
Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn.
Specifically, 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.
Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness
and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as
the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in
the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:36 PM
Response to Reply #215
216. Sept 8: From the WH press release: BUSH DIDN'T MOVE TO PROTECT
NO AT ALL!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
BloodyWilliam (428 posts) Thu Sep-08-05 02:30 PM
Original message
From the WH press release: BUSH DIDN'T MOVE TO PROTECT NO AT ALL!
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/2005082 ...
Read the list of parishes covered. Orleans? Missing. Jefferson? Missing.
Tarribone? Missing. Any of the parishes that were going to recieve the
worst part of the hurricane? MISSING. According to the press release,
the only parishes actually protected by Bush's actions are the northern,
inland ones.
I'm enraged. I'm actually shocked. We have to put this out there, we
have to spread this everywhere we can. Bush didn't lift one finger to
help the parishes that needed the most help, even after the governor
explicitly requested it.
We NEED to show this to everyone. The truth has to be heard. This is
hard, this is real, and this is pretty obvious in the Bush administration's
criminal negligence. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:44 PM
Response to Reply #215
220. Katrinatimeline
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 02:48 PM by mom cat
edit for link to Katrina timeline: http://www.katrinatimeline.org/aug27.html
8:30 AM ET / 7:30 AM CT
Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco participates in the Southeastern
Louisiana parishes Conference Call at the Louisiana Office of Homeland
Security and Emergency Preparedness (LHLS & EP). The Governor joins
federal, state, and parish officials as they receive the latest information
on Hurricane Katrina and discuss emergency preparations in the southeastern
Louisiana parishes. At the conclusion of the conference call, Governor
Blanco conducted a briefing for the news media at the LHLS & EP.
http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=...
10:00 AM CT
NHC-HURRICANE KATRINA FORECAST/ADVISORY NUMBER 17 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/mar/al122005.fstad...
?
NHC-HURRICANE KATRINA ADVISORY NUMBER 17 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/pub/al122005.publi...
?
NHC-HURRICANE KATRINA DISCUSSION NUMBER 17 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/dis/al122005.discu...
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NHC-HURRICANE KATRINA PROBABILITIES NUMBER 17 http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2005/prb/al122005.prblt...
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FEMA:Emergency Aid Authorized For Hurricane Katrina Emergency Response
In Louisiana
Release Date: August 27, 2005 Release Number: HQ-05-169
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security
for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced that Federal
resources are being allocated to support emergency protective response
efforts response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane
Katrina.
Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster
declaration issued following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's
request for federal assistance. FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources
necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement
with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical
needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs
and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures.
The parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo,
Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge,
East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle?, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn were designated eligible for assistance. In addition, federal
funds will be available for public safety debris removal and emergency
protective measures at 75 percent of approved costs.
Brown named William Lokey of FEMA to coordinate the federal relief effort.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response
and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates
mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and
local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program
and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:20 PM
Response to Reply #23
218. These "missing counties" are included in the 8/29
posting ..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
halobeam (1000+ posts) Thu Sep-08-05 03:24 PM
Response to Original message
22. These "missing counties" are included in the 8/29 posting
..
on whitehouse.gov
snip....
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
August 29, 2005
Statement on Federal Disaster Assistance for Louisiana
The President today declared a major disaster exists in the State of
Louisiana and ordered Federal aid to supplement State and local recovery
efforts in the area struck by Hurricane Katrina beginning on August
29, 2005, and continuing.
The President's action makes Federal funding available to affected individuals
in the parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron,
East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson
Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe
Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St.
Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington,
West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana. Assistance can include grants
for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured
property losses, and other programs to help individuals and business
owners recover from the effects of the disaster.
Federal funding is available to State and eligible local government
in the parishes of Acadia, Ascension, Assumption, Calcasieu, Cameron,
East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberia, Iberville, Jefferson, Jefferson
Davis, Lafayette, Lafourche, Livingston, Orleans, Plaquemines, Pointe
Coupee, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. Helena, St. James, St. John, St.
Mary, St. Martin, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Terrebonne, Vermilion, Washington,
West Baton Rouge, and West Feliciana for debris removal and emergency
protective measures, including direct Federal assistance.
Federal funding also is available to State and eligible local governments
in the parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier,
Caddo, Caldwell, Catahoula, Claiborne, Concordia, Desoto, East Carroll,
Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse,
Natchitoches, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Landry,
Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, and Winn for emergency
protective measures, including direct Federal assistance. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:27 PM
Response to Reply #218
219. Sept 8, 2005...copy of Aug 29 from whitehouse .gov.
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 02:30 PM by mom cat
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/2005082...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:49 PM
Response to Reply #23
242. Disaster declarations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
(Statute Re- Pres. appointing a Fed. officer to coord with a State officer)
Undeniable proof of who was supposed to be in charge
There is no doubt this was federal responsibility.
http://www.ohioema.org/robertt.htm
Sec. 302. (a) Immediately upon his declaration of a major disaster or
emergency, the President shall appoint a Federal coordinating officer
to operate in the affected area.He declared this a disaster area on
the 27th.The ball was in the fed's court.
(b) In order to effectuate the purposes of this Act, the Federal coordinating
officer, within the affected area, shall
(1) make an initial appraisal of the types of relief most urgently needed;
(2) establish such field offices as he deems necessary and as are authorized
by the President;
(3) coordinate the administration of relief, including activities of
the State and local government, the American National Red Cross, the
Salvation Army, the Mennonite Disaster Service, and other relief or
disaster assistance organizations, which agree to operate under his
advice or direction, except that nothing contained in this Act shall
limit or in any way affect the responsibilities of the American National
Red Cross under the Act of January 5, 1905, as amended (33 Stat. 599);
and
(4) take such other action, consistent with authority delegated to him
by the President, and consistent with the provisions of this Act, as
he may deem necessary to assist local citizens and public officials
in promptly obtaining assistance to which they are entitled.
(c) When the President determines assistance under this Act is necessary,
he shall request that the Governor of the affected State designate a
State coordinating officer for the purposes of coordinating State and
local disaster assistance efforts with those of the Federal Government.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Horse with no Name (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 10:56 AM
Original message
There is NO conspiracy regarding the disaster declarations
Please can we put this to rest. The disaster declarations were done
CORRECTLY and there weren’t ANY parishes left out of the loop.
To keep this in perspective, you must first look at the initial letter
provided by Gov. Blanco
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pd...
It is a PDF file so I cannot cut and paste it. If someone can do that
I would be grateful.
Then the Presidents response:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/2005082...
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana
The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana
and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts
in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on
August 26, 2005, and continuing. These are the primary counties that
Gov. Blanco named as parishes to receive major damage and significant
damage.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security,
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster
relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and
suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide
appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized 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 Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier,
Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton
Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn. these are the counties that are listed to be secondarily affected.
Specifically, 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.
Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness
and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as
the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in
the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
Then FEMA’s response: http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=4786
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security
for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced that Federal
resources are being allocated to support emergency protective response
efforts response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane
Katrina.These are the parishes in the path of the hurricane.
Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster
declaration issued following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's
request for federal assistance. FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources
necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement
with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical
needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs
and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures.
The parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo,
Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge,
East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn were designated eligible for assistance. In addition, federal
funds will be available for public safety debris removal and emergency
protective measures at 75 percent of approved costs.These are the secondarily
affected parishes.
Brown named William Lokey of FEMA to coordinate the federal relief effort.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response
and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates
mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and
local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program
and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
It is clearly indicated that the FIRST set (She actually names the parishes
that will be directly affected, but the FEMA and Bush’s response
refer to these as parishes in the path of the hurricane). In all three
documents however, the secondary counties are listed specifically. All
three documents follow the same format.
This isn’t a conspiracy. There weren’t any parishes left
out—they were just referred to differently. The Stafford Act demands
that these parishes be listed to be eligible for aid, even though they
may or may not be damaged.
http://www.ohioema.org/robertt.htm
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 11:36 PM
Response to Reply #23
382. 9/10 (orig 9/4) Bush Suspended Posse Comatatus???
Edited on Sat Sep-10-05 11:43 PM by snot
(I think this is actually AFTER k, but I wasn't sure where else to put
it. However, I think the subject of the applicable law re- state vs.
fed authority, Bush's attempt to get Blanco agree to "Federalize",
concerns about using the army here while sending Nat'l Guard abroad
and the whole subject of posse comatatus may need its own subheading.)
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
Anyone Hear About A 6 AM Appearance By Bush? Suspended Some Laws?
My sister just called and said Bush came on TV at 6AM and announced
that he was suspending the laws that prevented the military from engaging
in police activities here in the states!
From some other posts in same thread:
23. MACDIS would probably suffice in this case
http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/html2/d302512 ...
One of the first things that Bush(Cheney) did in 2001 was redirect money
in the DoD to review (I think they used a differnt verb) posse comitatus.
I used to have a .gov link for this request but I can't find it right
now. Then in 2002, the WH publicly stated it wanted to reexamine the
posse comitatus but Congress didn't play along. They brought it up again
last month
Here's part of an editorial from the Plain Dealer, 8/15/2005. I got
it out of LexisNexis so no link.. sorry.
The U.S. military is said to have plans for some very unlikely scenarios
— among them, for instance, the invasion of London. So there should
be little surprise when the Washington Post reports that the Northern
Command headquarters, responsible for the continental United States,
has drawn up plans for the armed forces to take charge in case of a
catastrophic terrorist attack.
Little surprise, but some proper concern, nonetheless. Although the
words “martial law” were not used in the account, that’s
almost certainly what would result. Should a president assert his or
her commander-in-chief authority under Article 2 of the Constitution
to set aside the post-Civil War Posse Comitatus Act and bring in troops
to preserve the order, Americans would live, in whatever numbers and
for whatever time frame, under rules foreign to their unregimented ways.
Among those rules would be restrictions on travel and the distribution
of food, water and fuel, and — depending on the extent of the
attack — quite possibly some attempts to control communications:
television, radio, newspapers and even the Internet.
Karmakaze (221 posts)
Sun Sep-04-05 10:16 AM
Response to Original message
25. Posse Comitatus Act:
Here are some links that can provide some more information on the Act:
http://law.wustl.edu/WULQ/75-2/752-10.html
http://www.homelandsecurity.org/journal/articles/Trebil ...
The interesting point is made in the second link:
Federal military personnel may also be used pursuant to the Stafford
Act, 42 U.S.C., section 5121, in times of natural disaster upon request
from a state governor. In such an instance, the Stafford Act permits
the president to declare a major disaster and send in military forces
on an emergency basis for up to ten days to preserve life and property.
While the Stafford Act authority is still subject to the criteria of
active versus passive, it represents a significant exception to the
Posse Comitatus Act’s underlying principle that the military is
not a domestic police force auxiliary.
The only reason I can see for Bush to "suspend" Posse Comitatus
is the duration that military forces are allowed to be employed - 10
days.
30. What's wrong with this picture?
We have the National Guard in Iraq and Northcom in an american city.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...
The Busheviks are going to get away with it.
I had hope. I no longer do. They have succeeded beyond their wildest
dreams. Stay with me here...
General Honore comes in and is touted as a hero restoring order to New
Orleans. He is now spinning madly to protect the Busheviks. The coup
is complete. We are now a dictatorship.
What has gone unnoticed is, since early this morning Posse Comatatus
has been suspended. Had Clinton dared such a thing, it would have been
an open Civil War, but those who would have decried such an act under
Clinton now support it wholeheartedly under Bush.
This is a significant event. These bastards know survival psychology,
and failing to respond was a cold, calculated maneuver to have the nation
BEG for a military presence to restore order. Now, this will be utilized
as justification for them to move in with the military any place at
any time. Killing of Americans by American military forces is now an
acceptable option.
In our humanity, we have called down the retribution of a military dictatorship.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 01:20 AM
Response to Reply #382
471. 9-13: Sen. Warner & Snow: "revise" Posse Comitatus
& Insurrection
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Sen. Warner & Snow: "revise" Posse Comitatus & Insurrection
Acts
Edited on Tue Sep-13-05 02:52 PM by paineinthearse
Senator Warner (R-Va) fires first shot to revise/repeal the posse comitatus
act & the insurrection act.
Live from floor speech...developing. Warner asked unanimous consent
his "thoughts" be entered into the record (may be available
in Thomas tomorrow, but any DU members from Virginia, please call his
office and get/post a copy of his "thoughts" here ASAP).
His direction was immediately seconded by Senator Snow (R-Maine).
http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-cp/comrel/factfile/Factcards/P
...
"POSSE COMITATUS ACT" (18 USC 1385): A Reconstruction Era
criminal law proscribing use of Army (later, Air Force) to "execute
the laws" except where expressly authorized by Constitution or
Congress. Limit on use of military for civilian law enforcement also
applies to Navy by regulation. Dec '81 additional laws were enacted
(codified 10 USC 371-78) clarifying permissible military assistance
to civilian law enforcement agencies--including the Coast Guard--especially
in combating drug smuggling into the United States. Posse Comitatus
clarifications emphasize supportive and technical assistance (e.g.,
use of facilities, vessels, aircraft, intelligence, tech aid, surveillance,
etc.) while generally prohibiting direct participation of DoD personnel
in law enforcement (e.g., search, seizure, and arrests). For example,
Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachments (LEDETS) serve aboard Navy vessels
and perform the actual boardings of interdicted suspect drug smuggling
vessels and, if needed, arrest their crews). Positive results have been
realized especially from Navy ship/aircraft involvement.
http://matewan.squarespace.com/journal/2005/9/7/the-ins
...
The Insurrection Act
§ 332. Use of militia and armed forces to enforce Federal authority
Whenever the President considers that unlawful obstructions, combinations,
or assemblages, or rebellion against the authority of the United States,
make it impracticable to enforce the laws of the United States in any
State or Territory by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, he
may call into Federal service such of the militia of any State, and
use such of the armed forces, as he considers necessary to enforce those
laws or to suppress the rebellion.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:24 PM
Response to Original message
24. Just prior to K: Announcements and declarations of various
states
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 10:02 PM
Response to Reply #24
44. DU thread w/ info re- Blanco's announcments August 26 - 28
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Some replies in the thread contain useful info, e.g., # 10.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:45 AM
Response to Reply #44
143. August 28...Blanco's letter to Bush (trhough the FEMA regional
director)
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pd...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 08:08 AM
Response to Reply #44
184. Are people seriously buying that "Bush told Blanco first"
emergency crap?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
gatorboy (1000+ posts) Thu Sep-08-05 08:24 AM
Original message
Are people seriously buying that "Bush told Blanco first"
emergency crap?
I mean, c'mon. I hear these people trying to use these talking points
when all they have to do is check the timeline through news articles
between the 26th and 28th. Are they seriously that lazy?
In case they need more proof....Here you go:
Blanco declared a state of emergency on Friday:
http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2 ... Bush declared
a state of emergency on Saturday:
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/1-08272005-53337 ...
See, Friday comes before Saturday....Wasn't that easy? You having fun?
Cool! Let's do one more...And this time we'll have FEMA help us out!
Weeeeee!
Friday=Blanco
http://www.fema.gov/emanagers/2005/nat082705.shtm
(Pssst! They even made it bold so you could see it easier!)
State of Emergency Declared in Mississippi, Louisiana DueIn anticipation
of a possible landfall, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and Louisiana
Governor Kathleen Blanco declared States of Emergency Friday. In Louisiana,
New Orleans is of particular concern because much of that city lies
below sea level.
Bush=Saturday
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18447
Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster
declaration issued following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's
request for federal assistance.
I sure had fun and I hope you did to! Next week, Michael Brown is going
to show us how tomilk a horse. See you then!
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 01:42 PM
Response to Reply #184
217. Yes, they're buying it! Rove/GOP also told WP and Newsweek
As I state over at Angry Girl
http://www.nightweed.com/angrygirl.html
If you control the information, that is to say, the media, then nobody
will ever become the wiser. With today's technology and mass media,
you CAN fool MOST the people MOST the time. (If you know of any naive,
ignorant folk who trust everything they see on TV, send them to MediaMatters.org
at http://mediamatters.org .
Talking Points (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com /) has pointed out
a classic example of the White House smear and cover-up tactics that
are the trademark of Bush handler Karl Rove, in charge of easing Katrina's
political damage at the White House (http://nytimes.com/2005/09/05/national/nationalspecial/...
):
August 27 Governor Blanco requests that Bush declare a State of Emergency.
The next day she declare a Stte of Ermegency herself, posted on the
State of Louisiana website on August 28.
PDF file here
http://gov.louisiana.gov/2005%20%20proclamations/48pro2...
Sept 4 Washington Post reported Sept. 4: "As of Saturday, Blanco
still had not declared a state of emergency, the senior Bush official
said." A correction was printed later that day but the damage was
done.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...
Sept 6 Newsweek repeats the statement: "Louisiana Gov. Kathleen
Babineaux Blanco seemed uncertain and sluggish, hesitant to declare
martial law or a state of emergency, which would have opened the door
to more Pentagon help." No correction or retraction has been made
yet.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9179587/page/5 /
Sept 7 Larry Johnson reports he called MSNBC's show Connected, Coast
to Coast with Ron Reagan while a man from the Evergreen Foundation was
on the air spinning the myth that Bush had to "beg" the Governor
of Louisiana to take action. Scarily, when Johnson called to correct
the misinformation, the booker Susan Durrwatcher thanked me for my "opinion"
and said "we just have a different perspective"!
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2005/9/7/142737/2117
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 03:08 PM
Response to Reply #44
222. Aug Aug 26...Gov Blanco declares state of emergency
http://www.katrinatimeline.org/aug26.html
4:00 PM CT
GOVERNOR BLANCO DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY
BATON ROUGE, LA--Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco today issued Proclamation
No. 48 KBB 2005, declaring a state of emergency for the state Louisiana
as Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat, carrying severe storms,
high winds, and torrential rain that may cause flooding and damage to
private property and public facilities, and threaten the safety and
security of the citizens of the state of Louisiana The state of emergency
extends from Friday, August 26, 2005, through Sunday, September 25,
2005, unless terminated sooner.
The full text of Proclamation No. 48 KBB 2005 is as follows:
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency Assistance and
Disaster Act, R.S. 29 21, et seq., confers upon the governor of the
state of Louisiana emergency powers to deal with emergencies and disasters,
including those caused by fire, flood, earthquake or other natural or
man-made causes, in order to ensure that preparations of this state
will be adequate to deal with such emergencies or disasters and to preserve
the lives and property of the citizens of the state of Louisiana;
WHEREAS, when the governor finds a disaster or emergency has occurred,
or the threat thereof is imminent, R.S. 29 24(B)(1) empowers her to
declare the state of disaster or emergency by executive order or proclamation,
or both; and
WHEREAS, On August 26, 2005, Hurricane Katrina poses an imminent threat
to the state of Louisiana, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential
rain that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public
facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of
Louisiana;
NOW THEREFORE I, KATHLEEN BABINEAUX BLANCO,
Governor of the state of Louisiana, by virtue of the authority vested
by the Constitution and laws of the state of Louisiana, do hereby order
and direct as follows:
SECTION 1: Pursuant to the Louisiana Homeland Security and Emergency
Assistance and Disaster Act, R.S. 29 21, et seq., a state of emergency
is declared to exist in the state of Louisiana as Hurricane Katrina
poses an imminent threat, carrying severe storms, high winds, and torrential
rain that may cause flooding and damage to private property and public
facilities, and threaten the safety and security of the citizens of
the state of Louisiana;
SECTION 2: The state of Louisiana's emergency response and recovery
program is activated under the command of the director of the state
office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to prepare for
and provide emergency support services and/or to minimize the effects
of the storm's damage.
SECTION 3: The state of emergency extends from Friday, August 26, 2005,
through Sunday, September 25, 2005, unless terminated sooner.
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=97...
Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina,
acknowledges in Special Defense Department Briefing held on Sept. 1
that a request from the state governors in Louisiana, Mississippi was
requested a week earlier Friday Aug. 26.
Q: General, Jamie McIntyre from CNN. To what extent is this additional
assistance you've outlined today a response to a request from the state
governors in Louisiana, Mississippi? And if so, can you tell us when
specifically you got that request?
GEN. HONORÉ: Yes, sir. The process starts, sir, in this particular
event, with a request Friday of last week, as the approximate date for
defense coordinating offices to be established in Florida, Alabama,
Mississippi and Louisiana. Those were established in those states over
FridayPrinter Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 10:30 PM
Response to Reply #44
371. 9/10 (orig 9/3) Debunking the WaPo: Blanco Requested Fed Aid
on 8/28!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Debunking the WaPo: Blanco Requested Fed Aid on 8/28!
(Sorry if this duplicates)
Debunking the WaPo: Gov. Blanco Requested Federal Aid from Bush on Sunday,
August 28th - 2 Days Before Katrina Struck
In a well detailed letter to President Bush, Governor Kathleen Blanco
requested that Bush declare an “expedited state of disaster for
the State of Louisiana… beginning on August 28, 2005 and continuing.”
It appears there is some confusion over at the White House about when
Governor Blanco requested aid and for that matter when she declared
a State of Emergency for the State of Louisiana.
According to the WaPo, “As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared
a state of emergency, the senior Bush official said.” That’s
rather curious because the letter from Governor Blanco to President
Bush clearly states that she declared a State of Emergency on August
26, 2005.
Perhaps the two journalists for the WaPo don’t frequent DU, but
they should, if they did they might have seen the link to the letter.
And a quick visit to Gov.Louisiana.gov would have turned up the link
to this: STATE OF EMERGENCY - HURRICANE KATRINA - August 26, 2005. The
State of Emergeny Order clearly states that “The state of emergency
extends from Friday, August 26, 2005, through Sunday, September 25,
2005, unless terminated sooner.”
It seems that these two documents do create a bit of sticky situation
for the lies of the Bush administration, perpetuated by the WaPo in
this story — Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting, White
House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials.
Behind the scenes, a power struggle emerged, as federal officials tried
to wrest authority from Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco (D).
Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed
legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation
of New Orleans, a source within the state’s emergency operations
center said Saturday.
The administration sought unified control over all local police and
state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials
rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that
such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial
law. Some officials in the state suspected a political motive behind
the request. “Quite frankly, if they’d been able to pull
off taking it away from the locals, they then could have blamed everything
on the locals,” said the source, who does not have the authority
to speak publicly.
A senior administration official said that Bush has clear legal authority
to federalize National Guard units to quell civil disturbances under
the Insurrection Act and will continue to try to unify the chains of
command that are split among the president, the Louisiana governor and
the New Orleans mayor.
Louisiana did not reach out to a multi-state mutual aid compact for
assistance until Wednesday, three state and federal officials said.
As of Saturday, Blanco still had not declared a state of emergency,
the senior Bush official said.
“The federal government stands ready to work with state and local
officials to secure New Orleans and the state of Louisiana,” White
House spokesman Dan Bartlett said. “The president will not let
any form of bureaucracy get in the way of protecting the citizens of
Louisiana.”
Blanco made two moves Saturday that protected her independence from
the federal government: She created a philanthropic fund for the state’s
victims and hired James Lee Witt, Federal Emergency Management Agency
director in the Clinton administration, to advise her on the relief
effort.
Clearly the WaPo could have done a better job with a bit of investigative
journalism. They chose the easy way out and let the claims of the Bush
administration stand as a statement of their headline, rather than refute
the Bush administration’s claims, as I have above.
MORE & LINKS - http://blog.thedemocraticdaily.com/?p=431
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Angry Girl (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:57 PM
Response to Reply #24
212. Natl Hurricane Center's Mayfield held video conf. w/ Bush
8/28
On Saturday night, Mayfield was so worried about Hurricane Katrina that
he called the governors of Louisiana and Mississippi and the mayor of
New Orleans. On Sunday, he even talked about the force of Katrina during
a video conference call to President Bush at his ranch in Crawford,
Texas.
"I just wanted to be able to go to sleep that night knowing that
I did all I could do," Mayfield said.
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/08/30/State/For_forecasting...
(Thank you, Talking Points Memo)
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2005_09_...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 02:55 PM
Response to Reply #24
221. August 26: Gov, Blanco's press releace: Conference call for
aug27
Press Release
Date: 8/26/2005Contact enise Bottcher or Roderick Hawkins at 225-342-9037GOVERNOR
BLANCO TO HOLD PRESS BRIEFING
http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=...
BATON ROUGE—On Saturday, August 27, 2005 at 7:30 a.m., Governor
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco will participate in the Southeastern Louisiana
parishes Conference Call at the Louisiana Office of Homeland Security
and Emergency Preparedness (LHLS & EP). The Governor will join federal,
state, and parish officials as they receive the latest information on
Hurricane Katrina and discuss emergency preparations in the southeastern
Louisiana parishes.
At the conclusion of the conference call, Governor Blanco will conduct
a briefing for the news media at the LHLS & EP.
• Governor’s press briefing re Hurricane Katrina
• Following 7:30 a.m. conference call with Southeast Parishes
• Louisiana Office of Homeland Security & Emergency Preparedness
7667 Independence Blvd
Baton Rouge, LA
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:50 PM
Response to Reply #24
243. Disaster declarations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Horse with no Name (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 10:56 AM
Original message
There is NO conspiracy regarding the disaster declarations
Please can we put this to rest. The disaster declarations were done
CORRECTLY and there weren’t ANY parishes left out of the loop.
To keep this in perspective, you must first look at the initial letter
provided by Gov. Blanco
http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pd...
It is a PDF file so I cannot cut and paste it. If someone can do that
I would be grateful.
Then the Presidents response:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/2005082...
Statement on Federal Emergency Assistance for Louisiana
The President today declared an emergency exists in the State of Louisiana
and ordered Federal aid to supplement state and local response efforts
in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane Katrina beginning on
August 26, 2005, and continuing. These are the primary counties that
Gov. Blanco named as parishes to receive major damage and significant
damage.
The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security,
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster
relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and
suffering caused by the emergency on the local population, and to provide
appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized 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 Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier,
Caddo, Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton
Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn. these are the counties that are listed to be secondarily affected.
Specifically, 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.
Representing FEMA, Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary for Emergency Preparedness
and Response, Department of Homeland Security, named William Lokey as
the Federal Coordinating Officer for Federal recovery operations in
the affected area.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: FEMA (202) 646-4600.
Then FEMA’s response: http://www.fema.gov/news/event.fema?id=4786
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Michael D. Brown, Under Secretary of Homeland Security
for Emergency Preparedness and Response, today announced that Federal
resources are being allocated to support emergency protective response
efforts response efforts in the parishes located in the path of Hurricane
Katrina.These are the parishes in the path of the hurricane.
Brown said President Bush authorized the aid under an emergency disaster
declaration issued following a review of FEMA's analysis of the state's
request for federal assistance. FEMA will mobilize equipment and resources
necessary to protect public health and safety by assisting law enforcement
with evacuations, establishing shelters, supporting emergency medical
needs, meeting immediate lifesaving and life-sustaining human needs
and protecting property, in addition to other emergency protective measures.
The parishes of Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo,
Caldwell, Claiborne, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto, East Baton Rouge,
East Carroll, East Feliciana, Evangeline, Franklin, Grant, Jackson,
LaSalle, Lincoln, Livingston, Madison, Morehouse, Natchitoches, Pointe
Coupee, Ouachita, Rapides, Red River, Richland, Sabine, St. Helena,
St. Landry, Tensas, Union, Vernon, Webster, West Carroll, West Feliciana,
and Winn were designated eligible for assistance. In addition, federal
funds will be available for public safety debris removal and emergency
protective measures at 75 percent of approved costs.These are the secondarily
affected parishes.
Brown named William Lokey of FEMA to coordinate the federal relief effort.
FEMA prepares the nation for all hazards and manages federal response
and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates
mitigation activities, trains first responders, works with state and
local emergency managers, and manages the National Flood Insurance Program
and the U.S. Fire Administration. FEMA became part of the U.S. Department
of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.
It is clearly indicated that the FIRST set (She actually names the parishes
that will be directly affected, but the FEMA and Bush’s response
refer to these as parishes in the path of the hurricane). In all three
documents however, the secondary counties are listed specifically. All
three documents follow the same format.
This isn’t a conspiracy. There weren’t any parishes left
out—they were just referred to differently. The Stafford Act demands
that these parishes be listed to be eligible for aid, even though they
may or may not be damaged.
http://www.ohioema.org/robertt.htm
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #24
458. 9/13 Report Confirms Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely Steps
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Report Confirms that Louisiana Took Necessary and Timely Steps
Pursuant to a September 7 request by Representative John Conyers to
review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action in
response to Hurricane Katrina, the Congressional Research Service (CRS)
issued a report today about whether the Governor of Louisiana took the
necessary and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the
federal government. The report unequivocally concludes that she did.
Congressman Conyers issued the following statement:
"This report closes the book on the Bush Administration's attempts
to evade accountability by shifting the blame to the Governor of Louisiana
for the Administration's tragically sluggish response to Katrina. It
confirms that the Governor did everything she could to secure relief
for the people of Louisiana and the Bush Administration was caught napping
at a critical time."
In addition to finding that "...it would appear that the Governor
did take the steps necessary to request emergency and major disaster
declarations for the State of Louisiana in anticipation of Hurricane
Katrina. (p.11)" The report found that:
* All necessary conditions for federal relief were met on August 28.
Pursuant to Section 502 of the Stafford Act, "he declaration of
an emergency by the President makes Federal emergency assistance available,"
and the President made such a declaration on August 28. The public record
indicates that severa additional days passed before such assistance
was actually made available to the State;
* The Governor must make a timely request for such assistance, which
meets the requirements of federal law. The report states that "xcept
to the extent that an emergency involves primarily Federal interests,
both declarations of major disaster and declarations of emergency must
be triggered by a request to the President from the Governor of the
affected state";
* The Governor did indeed make such a request, which was both timely
and in compliance with federal law. The report finds that "Governor
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested by letter dated August 27, 2005...that
the President declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to
Hurricane Katrina for the time period from August 26, 2005 and continuing
pursuant to " and "Governor Blanco's August 27, 2005 request
for an emergency declaration also included her determination...that
'the incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response
is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments
and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives,
protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the
threat of disaster."
http://blog.dccc.org/mt/archives/003513.html
PDF: http://www2.dccc.org/docs/conyersgaokatrina.pdf
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snot (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-14-05 12:51 AM
Response to Reply #24
466. 9/13 Nonpartisan Congressiona Rpt finds LA governor took necessary
steps
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Nonpartisan congressional research report finds LA governor took necessary
http://rawstory.com/news/2005/Nonpartisan_congressional...
Nonpartisan congressional research report finds Louisiana governor took
necessary steps
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) issued a report Tuesday afternoon
asserting that Louisiana governor Katherine Blanco took the necessary
and timely steps needed to secure disaster relief from the federal government,
RAW STORY has learned.
The report, which comes after a request by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI)
to review the law and legal accountability relating to Federal action
in response to Hurricane Katrina, unequivocally concludes that she did.
"This report closes the book on the Bush Administration's attempts
to evade accountability," Conyers said in a statement. "The
Bush Administration was caught napping at a critical time."
The report found that:
...
The Governor did indeed make such a request, which was both timely and
in compliance with federal law. The report finds that "Governor
Kathleen Babineaux Blanco requested by letter dated August 27, 2005...that
the President declare an emergency for the State of Louisiana due to
Hurricane Katrina for the time period from August 26, 2005 and continuing
pursuant to " and "Governor Blanco's August 27,2005 request
for an emergency declaration also included her determination...that
'the incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response
is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments
and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives,
protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the
threat of disaster."
The full report will be available soon on the House Democrats' Judiciary
website.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:27 PM
Response to Original message
25. Just prior to and durikg K; What the Bush doing and not doing
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 07:08 PM
Response to Reply #25
225. Bush refuses call from Nagin
http://ariannaonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28989&...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-23-05 07:35 PM
Response to Reply #225
553. no link found on that site.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 01:51 PM
Response to Reply #25
314. Great summary of the Bush disregard of the danger: He kept
playing!
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Aftre listing the competent responces, the writer of this e-mail summarises
Bush's incompetence as follows:
President: Bush the Lesser
Danger: Category-5 Hurricane Katrina (August 2005)
Area: Gulf CoastResponse: National Guard troops are down about 8,000
members because
they are in Iraq with much of the necessary rescue equipment needed.
Bush was on vacation, riding his bike for two hours the day before the
hurricane lands. On the day Katrina landed, Bush attended a birthday
party for John McCain. The levees began to crack. While emergency
1.5-ton sandbags were ready to be placed to steady the levee and absorb
water, there were insufficient numbers of helicopters and pilots to
set
them before the levees break. Nagin, the mayor of NO, pleaded for
federal-level assistance and got none. Bush went to San Diego to play
guitar with a country singer and end his vacation early -- but not
until the next day, because he had tickets to a San Diego Padres game.Printer
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 03:15 PM
Response to Reply #25
442. Sept 13, what Bush was doing
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Stephanie (1000+ posts) Mon Sep-12-05 06:58 PM
Original message
ONE MORE TIME: Bush's Activities Two Weeks Ago While Katrina Ravaged
NOLA>
He can't spin this away. Re-posting this in reference to Bush' PC today,
posted in another thread, in which he claims he was aware of the gravity
of the situation on Monday.
photos and text
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:29 PM
Response to Original message
26. Just prior to and during K: What top level Bush admins were
doing and not
doing..
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-16-05 12:04 AM
Response to Reply #26
496. 9-16- Conflicting accounts from top on Katrina responseConflicting
accounts from top on Katrina response
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N14505805.htm
Conflicting accounts
from top on Katrina responseWASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Under fire
over the federal response to Hurricane Katrina, the White House and
Homeland Security Department have offered conflicting accounts of who
was in charge and when the administration first triggered what it promised
would be a massive, organized federal response.
U.S. Senate investigators are looking closely at these inconsistencies
and what some critics say was general confusion within the administration
about what a newly created National Response Plan entailed.
....
In the same memo, Chertoff declared Katrina the first-ever "incident
of national significance" -- an announcement touted the next day
by the White House as key to setting in motion a carefully choreographed
response and recovery effort.
But according to government documents, congressional aides and Homeland
Security officials, what first triggered the "incident of national
significance" was not Chertoff's memo, but a little-noticed statement
issued by the White House on the night of Aug. 27 while President George
W. Bush was still vacationing at his Crawford, Texas ranch.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 01:17 PM
Response to Reply #26
532. 9/18 Where Were the 500 FEMA Busses?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Gov. Blanco still wants 1question answered: Where were the 500 FEMA
buses?
Edited on Sun Sep-18-05 02:33 PM by Sapphire Blue
Blanco says feds pledged buses
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
mmillhollon@theadvocate.com
Capitol news bureau
Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Katrina raged ashore, Gov. Kathleen
Blanco still wants one question answered.
Where were the buses?
Hours after the hurricane hit Aug. 29, the Federal Emergency Management
Agency announced a plan to send 500 commercial buses into New Orleans
to rescue thousands of people left stranded on highways, overpasses
and in shelters, hospitals and homes.
On the day of the storm, or perhaps the day after, FEMA turned down
the state's suggestion to use school buses because they are not air
conditioned, Blanco said Friday in an interview.
Even after levees broke and residents were crowding the Louisiana Superdome,
then-FEMA Director Mike Brown was bent on using his own buses to evacuate
New Orleans, Blanco said.
Continued : http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/091805/new_blanco00...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Mon Sep-19-05 01:22 PM
Response to Reply #26
534. 9/18 Rove was in hospital for 24-36 hours; Gov't paralysed
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Sunday Times: Bush’s key aide ‘missed’ Katrina (Rove)
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-1785729,00...
Bush’s key aide ‘missed’ Katrina
“BUSH’S brain” was missing when flood waters swamped
New Orleans. Karl Rove, the White House aide who goes by that unofficial
title, was suffering from painful kidney stones and was briefly hospitalised
in the middle of the biggest crisis so far of President George W Bush’s
second term.
Once his condition improved it was Rove who urged the president to open
his chequebook for the stricken city, against the advice of White House
economists, and spend $200 billion (£111 billion) to rebuild it
“higher and better”, as Bush went on to promise.
Although many Republicans are horrified by the cost, Rove is determined
to revive Bush’s dormant image as a compassionate conservative,
the theme of his first presidential campaign in 2000, and will be overseeing
the reconstruction effort.
Bill Kristol, editor of the neo-conservative Weekly Standard, said Rove’s
absence had made a significant difference after the hurricane hit. “He
was out of commission for 24-36 hours and he’s indispensable.
It’s a thin White House and it’s not a good thing that the
government could become paralysed for a day,” Kristol said.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-22-05 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #26
550. 9/22 Chertoff Relied on Commercial Weather Instead of Nat'l
Hurricane Ctr
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
HUGE NEWS... DHS did not use NHC during Katrina!
The Senate Commerce Committee held hearings this afternoon on
Katrina. The House Science Committee will be holding hearing
Wednesday morning (9/21). Sen. Ben Nelson (Florida) asked Max
Mayfield whether it was true that Secretary Chertoff (the head of
homeland security) & Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used
Accuweather for hurricane forecasts of Katrina and he confirmed it.
The National Infrastructure Command Center in DHS prepared
an "overnight summary" for Secretary Chertoff on Katrina that
was
based on Accuweather hurricane predictions rather than hurricane
forecast information from the National Hurricane Center. This dates
from when former PA. Governor Ridge was Secretary of homeland
security.
What's even most shocking is that the "NOAA Desk" in the DHS
Ops
Center, staffed by a primary & two backup NWS meteorologists, prepared
forecasts for Secretary Chertoff based on the National Hurricane
Center; however, it is unsure that this ever made it to the
Secretary. To make matters worse & even more confusing, FEMA relies
solely on NWS products, which includes those issued by the National
Hurricane Center. So FEMA (which only uses NWS) and the DHS (which
uses Accuweather) are not even looking at the same forecasts! The NWS
NHC's track for Katrina was significantly different & more accurate
than Accuweather's. Just recently, Accuweather's track for Ophelia
brought it across Florida & into the Gulf. In both cases,
Accuweather's forecast was dead wrong. The end result is that the
head of homeland security & DHS & FEMA received conflicting
forecasts.
Sen. Bill Nelson also asked Max Mayfield about consolidation and
downsizing of WFOs and Max Mayfield unequivocally said it was a very
bad idea, and that he hopes that it doesn't happen and that the local
WFOs are an essential part of NWS. Senator Nelson also trashed
Accuweather and, without naming Santorum, blasted those who would try
to take NWS off the air and off the internet to help commercial
interests.
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:31 PM
Response to Original message
27. Just prior to and durikg K: What FEMA and Homeland Security
were
doing and not doing.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:56 AM
Response to Reply #27
122. MSM last night,-Locals say explosives opened ninth ward levee
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Anyone? MSM last night,-Locals say explosives opened ninth ward levee
authorities admit they had to breach levees, canal walls in spot to
alleviate 'areas' , see below
anyone have the program or source? I do not have cable, so it was network
news Labor Day night, but the computer is upstairs and was discombobulated
from up/ down and all the varying searches on technorati for details
on this unnatural disaster. What show was this observation shared? ,
who was the host?
Here is the work on this aspect, regarding..it wasn't the hurricane,
IT Was The Flood. Please take the time to digest, review this it did
grow as associative connections and necessary background, perspective
developed from the culling of dynamic, interesting and credible input
...flowed & blossomed.
They told network reporter that too much dynamite was used to open the
canal floodwall, actually not a true levee, to sluice water from high-rent
uptown district.
here is the documentation:
*****
Also heard that part of the reason our house flooded is they dynamited
part of the levee after the first section broke - they did this to prevent
Uptown (the rich part of town) from being flooded. Apparently they used
too much dynamite, thus flooding part of the Bywater.
www.getyouracton.com letter to family and friends @ http://getyouracton.com/blog/?p=63
It is being reported that homes in the Bywater section of New Orleans,
the 9th Ward,flooded because they (some government entity) used too
much explosive to dynamite part of the levee after the first section
broke - they did this to prevent Uptown (the rich part of town) from
being inundated with water from the Lake. Who is responsible for flooding
so many homes-Katrina, or our government?
http://www.youthinkwhat.com/2005/09/food-for-thought.ht ...
Here is my message:
I am a resident of the Bywater in New Orleans (9th Ward). I am one of
the lucky ones that was able to evacuate before the storm.
I have recently managed to speak to some friends stranded in New Orleans.
They are starving and dehydrating and there is no news of when they
will be receiving food and water. I have spoken to relief efforts and
understand that there are plenty of supplies waiting for these people,
BUT THEY ARE NOT BEING ALLOWED INTO THE CITY.
http://neworleans.indymedia.org/news/2005/09/3941.php
and as reported by the Guardian Unlimited UK even considering it was
not the main focus of the article:
But it is clear from talking to survivors that what happened in New
Orleans last week was far more extensive, bloody and terrifying than
the authorities have admitted so far.
'We had to wrap dead people in white sheets and throw them outside while
the police stood by and did nothing,' said Correll Williams, a 19-year-old
meat cutter from the Crowder Road district in the east of the city,
who waded two miles through waist-high water to make it to the Convention
Centre after hearing on the radio it was being turned into a refuge.
'The police were in boats watching us. They were just laughing at us.
Five of them to a boat, not trying to help nobody. Helicopters were
riding by just looking at us. They weren't helping. We were pulling
people on bits of wood, and the National Guard would come driving by
in their empty military trucks.'
Williams only left his apartment after the authorities took the decision
to flood his district in an apparent attempt to sluice out some of the
water that had submerged a neighbouring district. Like hundreds of others
he had heard the news of the decision to flood his district on the radio.
The authorities had given people in the district until 5pm on Tuesday
to get out - after that they would open the floodgates.
'We thought we could live without electricity for a few weeks because
we had food. But then they told us they were opening the floodgates,'
said Arineatta Walker, who fled the area with her daughter and two grandchildren.
'So about two o'clock we went on to the streets and we asked the army,
"Where can we go?". And they said, "Just take off because
there's no one going to come back for you." They kicked my family
out of there. If I knew how to hotwire a car I would have,' Walker said.
Once inside the Convention Centre, Walker confronted a new hell. 'People
were being raped, there were cries and screams, there were gunshots,
but the police did nothing,' Walker said.
from:
'They're not giving us what we need to survive'
Jamie Doward reports on the fury of New Orleans residents who say they
were ignored and mistreated by the authorities
Sunday September 4, 2005
The Observer
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,69 ...
levee break in neighborhood 98% black
If New Orleans is rebuilt, it is absolutely certain that the ghettos,
housing projects and notorious all-black neighborhoods such as the Lower
Ninth Ward (98.3% black) will be wiped clean. Instead, New Orleans will
build (with federal money) its usual boondoggle of high-end retail,
casinos, luxury condos and maybe one of those new ballparks so beloved
by blight-fighting redevelopment councils.
The problem New Orleans city leaders have faced for decades is what
to do with the poor blacks. That problem is solved, thanks to the miraculous
break of a new “hurricane proof” levee and the even more
miraculous decision by the Army Corps of Engineers to not bother trying
to plug the breech, despite public assurances that they would.
Those who didn’t drown or die in the aftermath are at this moment
being uprooted, sent to uncertain exile in cities up north and neighboring
states, where they will most likely resume hard lives with dead-end
jobs, terrible schools and (at best) a roof over their head that belongs
to a landlord or the government.
The poor black survivors of Katrina are being bussed away with the wet
stinking clothes on their backs … unless they’re at the
Convention Center, where it appears they are being intentionally left
to die in full view of the news cameras. They don’t own homes,
so they have no insurance to rebuild their property. If they had jobs,
those jobs are gone — the rebuilding jobs will go to out-of-state
contractors who own the federal government.
http://franklinavenue.blogspot.com/2005/09/national-tra ...
"Mullen has a schoolteacher's kindly demeanor, so it was jarring
to hear him say he suspected that the levee breaks had somehow been
engineered to keep the wealthy French Quarter and Garden District dry
at the expense of poor black neighborhoods like the Lower Ninth Ward
-- a suspicion I heard from many other black survivors. And it was surprising
to hear Mullen's gentle voice turn bitter as he described the scene
at the convention center, when helicopters bringing food didn't even
land and the soldiers 'just pushed the food out like we were in the
Third World. That's what made people go off. They just pushed it at
us.'"
Monday, September 05, 2005
Third World Scenes @ http://blackgold347.blogspot.com/2005/09/third-world-sc
...
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John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:02 AM
Response to Reply #27
160. 8/29 interview with Mike Brown (FEMA)
Edited on Thu Sep-08-05 04:03 AM by John Doe II
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/0...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sun Sep-11-05 12:50 PM
Response to Reply #27
398. 9/11 (orig post 9/5) FEMA Action to REDUCE Volunteer Pool
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Mixed Misdirection from FEMA - again
From: councils@dhs.gov
Subject: Citizen Corps support for response to Hurricane Katrina
To: All State and Local Citizen Corps Councils
Citizen Corps Program Partners and Affiliates
Regional Citizen Corps Program Managers
Thank you all for your compassion and your interest in helping those
in need
following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. To those of you in the
affected area, we send our deepest concern.
At this time, the National Office of Citizen Corps IS NOT conducting
a
national call out as was done for the Florida hurricanes last year.
Current
activities and plans for next steps are as follows:
FEMA DEPLOYMENTS
* At present, FEMA is deploying ONLY THOSE WHO ALREADY RECEIVED FEMA
SECURITY CLEARANCES AND CREDIT CARDS from their 2004 employment. FEMA
has
determined that no recruits can travel or enter into employment without
a
satisfactory background investigation. This security check takes
approximately 3 weeks to complete. As such, only recruits hired last
year
may be called by FEMA at this time.
* In anticipation of Hurricane Dennis in July 2005, state Citizen
Corps points of contact reviewed and vetted the list of 2700 people
who
deployed for the Florida hurricanes in 2004. As a result, 1900 people
were
identified as potential recruits for future disasters.
* The FEMA Automated Disaster Deployment (ADD) staff are now calling
ONLY these 1900 pre-identified people to check on their availability
for
Hurricane Katrina. NOTE: This means that not everyone who participated
in
2004 will be called. If you have any questions about who may be on this
list, please contact your state Citizen Corps point of contact.
* If you receive questions from anyone who was deployed in 2004 or for
Hurricane Dennis, please tell them they SHOULD NOT call the FEMA ADD
phone
number or the FEMA Regional Offices. Calling the ADD phone number distracts
operators from the deployment process. Please tell them to simply wait
for
their official ADD deployment call and follow instructions. We know
this
may be frustrating and it may take awhile for everyone to be contacted,
but
THIS IS THE ONLY WAY FOR THEM TO BE DEPLOYED THROUGH FEMA.
THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR'S HURRICANE SEASON -- REDUCING
THE POOL OF VOLUNTEERS
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snot (1000+ posts)
Tue Sep-13-05 02:20 PM
Response to Reply #27
435. 9/13 FEMA operation manual for disaster workers
FEMA USAR Field Operations Guide (FOG), an operation manual for disaster
and recovery workers employed by the US government. Link <http://www.fema.gov/pdf/usr/usr_fog_sept_25_2003_color_...
> (PDF)
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:32 PM
Response to Original message
28. After K: Bush photo op stories
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 11:23 PM
Response to Reply #28
85. Sept 4: Bush tour a 'photo op': Louisiana senator
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/bush-tour-a-photo-op-s...
Bush tour a 'photo op': Louisiana senator
September 4, 2005 - 11:35AM
Louisiana senator Mary Landrieu has branded US President George Bush's
visit to New Orleans a mere photo opportunity, and slammed his Government's
response to the hurricane tragedy.
Landrieu rebuked Bush for failing to heed her call to name a cabinet-level
official to lead the Federal Government response to the one of the worst
natural disasters in American history.
"Perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th
Street Levee," said Landrieu, a Democrat.
"Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw
what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle
on a major cause of this catastrophe.
"Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24
hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily
prepared stage set for a presidential photo opportunity.
"The desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced
to a single, lonely piece of equipment.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
skids (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 12:22 AM
Response to Reply #28
101. The firefighters' FEMA story -- last paragraph.Just for posterity.
Also to note that Keith Olberman mentioned this story on today's broadcast,
if video footage of a newscaster saying it is desired.
Front page DU article:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph... Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
John Doe II (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 04:52 AM
Response to Reply #101
182. Also discussed in this thread
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #28
204. Sept2: Bush visit halted 3 tons of food being delivered..(Raw
Story)
Times-Picayune
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Bush visit halts food delivery
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard
Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge
Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s
visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville,
and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon
sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after
Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief
of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks,
and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters
fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the
president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.
DU thread on this:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 11:57 AM
Response to Reply #28
205. Sept2: Bush visit halted 3 tons of food being delivered..(Raw
Story)Times-Picayune
http://www.nola.com/weblogs/print.ssf?/mtlogs/nola_Time...
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Bush visit halts food delivery
By Michelle Krupa
Staff writer
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard
Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge
Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s
visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville,
and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon
sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after
Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief
of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks,
and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters
fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
The food was expected to be in the hands of storm survivors after the
president left the devastated region Friday night, he said.Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
mom cat (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-09-05 07:03 PM
Response to Reply #28
278. Sept 4: A Bhush with (laura) Bush in NO (feeding stopped)http://hal-law.dailykos.com/story/2005/9/4/124532/7736
A Brush with Bush in NO
by Hal Law
Sun Sep 4th, 2005 at 09:45:32 PDT
As you know from the news, it looks like it's worse than anybody could
have thought, and so I figured it was time for another update. Lafayette
got our first refugees on Wednesday night, even as I was writing my
last e-mail, and I spent a good chunk of the night manning a door at
the Cajundome as they wheeled stretchers (sometimes occupied) and medical
supplies in and out.
The big irony is that I moved to Lafayette in part to get away from
refugee work, but with something like this on our doorstep, it's obviously
been time to get back in practice, as it has been for nearly everyone
else in my town.
I've always been frustrated by America's ability to ignore crises from
abroad (such as the ongoing, largely-ignored genocide in Sudan). At
the same time, I've always cherished the belief that Americans are fundamentally
good people who may be good at shielding themselves from news of other
people's problems, but that if they came face-to-face with those problems,
they couldn't help but respond. Printer Friendly | Permalink | Reply | Top
DrDebug (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 07:34 AM
Response to Reply #28
308. Sept 3: Bush faked levee repair for photo op yesterday
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th
Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President,
I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle
on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot
again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that
yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential
photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were
this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment.
http://www.fromtheroots.org/story/2005/9/3/19542/97952
http://americablog.blogspot.com/2005/09/bush-faked-leve...
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:24 PM
Response to Reply #28
355. 9/10 (orig 9/2) The 2 Black Girls were just visiting Biloxi
to shop
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Aaron Brown (CNN) interviewed the two black women hugged...
by the Coward. Based on their accents, I think they were from somewhere
in the Caribbean or something. They seemed a little clueless and thought
everything was just peachy keen. Turns out they were just visiting Biloxi
to do some shopping.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 09:34 PM
Response to Reply #28
358. 9/10 (orig 9/2) How CNN Rptd Biloxi Photo Op vs. German TV
http://www.warandpiece.com/blogdirs/002485.html
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Dutch viewer Frank Tiggelaar writes:
There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report
on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports
of the same event by German TV.
ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged
event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point
Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after
the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others
which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.
The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves,
said ZDF.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 11:24 PM
Response to Reply #28
380. 9/10 (orig 9/4) Photo Ops Blocking Relief
(These stories may be of the same events in momcat's posts, but for
good measure
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Photo-Op Fakery
President's visit was a completely staged event
September 03, 2005
If he could go to Baghdad, why didn't Bush go to the New Orleans Superdome
or the Convention Center? It was bizarre for all of the country and
much of the world to be watching those scenes for days on our TVs and
news reports, and for Bush's photo ops to be in areas that were far
less critical. I know there are security considerations but his visit
seemed extraordinarily hollow even by this administration's standard
of ultra-stage managed events.
Dutch viewer Frank Tiggelaar writes:
There was a striking dicrepancy between the CNN International report
on the Bush visit to the New Orleans disaster zone, yesterday, and reports
of the same event by German TV.
ZDF News reported that the president's visit was a completely staged
event. Their crew witnessed how the open air food distribution point
Bush visited in front of the cameras was torn down immediately after
the president and the herd of 'news people' had left and that others
which were allegedly being set up were abandoned at the same time.
The people in the area were once again left to fend for themselves,
said ZDF.
-----------------------
Bush faked levee repair for photo op yesterday
by John in DC - 9/03/2005 06:29:00 PM
From a press release LA Senator Mary Landrieu sent out today:
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th
Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President,
I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle
on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot
again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that
yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential
photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were
this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good
and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast - black
and white, rich and poor, young annd old - deserve far better from their
national government.
--------------
Bush visit halts food delivery
By Michelle Krupa -- Staff writer
Saturday, September 03, 2005
Three tons of food ready for delivery by air to refugees in St. Bernard
Parish and on Algiers Point sat on the Crescent City Connection bridge
Friday afternoon as air traffic was halted because of President Bush’s
visit to New Orleans, officials said.
The provisions, secured by U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-Napoleonville,
and state Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, baked in the afternoon
sun as Bush surveyed damage across southeast Louisiana five days after
Katrina made landfall as a Category 4 storm, said Melancon’s chief
of staff, Casey O’Shea.
“We had arrangements to airlift food by helicopter to these folks,
and now the food is sitting in trucks because they won’t let helicopters
fly,” O’Shea said Friday afternoon.
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snot (1000+ posts)
Fri Sep-16-05 11:01 AM
Response to Reply #28
498. 9/16 Power ON for Bush's speach, DARKNESS 1 hour later
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Brian Williams reports: Power ON for Bush's speach, DARKNESS 1 hour
later
Friday morning (power) line
From Brian Williams, NBC News
I am duty-bound to report the talk of the New Orleans warehouse district
last night: there was rejoicing (well, there would have been without
the curfew, but the few people I saw on the streets were excited) when
the power came back on for blocks on end. Kevin Tibbles was positively
jubilant on the live update edition of Nightly News that we fed to the
West Coast. The mini-mart, long ago cleaned out by looters, was nonetheless
bathed in light, including the empty, roped-off gas pumps. The motorcade
route through the district was partially lit no more than 30 minutes
before POTUS drove through. And yet last night, no more than an hour
after the President departed, the lights went out. The entire area was
plunged into total darkness again, to audible groans. It's enough to
make some of the folks here who witnessed it... jump to certain conclusions.
It is impossible to over-emphasize the extent to which this area is
under government occupation, and portions of it under government-enforced
lockdown. Police cars rule the streets. They (along with Humvees, ambulances,
fire apparatus, FEMA trucks and all official-looking SUVs) are generally
not stopped at checkpoints and roadblocks. All other vehicles are subject
to long lines and snap judgments and must PROVE they have vital business
inside the vast roped-off regions here. If we did not have the services
of an off-duty law enforcement officer, we could not do our jobs in
the course of a work day and get back in time to put together the broadcast
and get on the air. As we are about to do.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/8045532 /
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Wed Sep-07-05 09:34 PM
Response to Original message
29. After K: The collapse if the 17th Street Canaland subsequent
flooding
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mom cat (1000+ posts)
Thu Sep-08-05 09:00 AM
Response to Reply #29
187. Sept 4: Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breaches
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/08/31/katrina.levees /
Mayor blasts failure to patch levee breaches
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Posted: 10:21 a.m. EDT (14:21 GMT)
NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- A day after Hurricane Katrina dealt
a devastating blow to the Big Easy, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Tuesday
night blasted what he called a lack of coordination in relief efforts
for setting behind the city's recovery.
"There is way too many fricking ... cooks in the kitchen,"
Nagin said in a phone interview with WAPT-TV in Jackson, Mississippi,
fuming over what he said were scuttled plans to plug a 200-yard breach
near the 17th Street Canal, allowing Lake Pontchartrain to spill into
the central business district.
An earlier breach occurred along the Industrial Canal in the city's
Lower 9th Ward. ( Watch the video featuring Nagin's complaints about
delayed sandbagging -- 0:56 )
The rising flood waters overwhelmed pumping stations that would normally
keep the city dry. About 80 percent of the city was flooded with water
up to 20 feet deep after the two levees collapsed.
The Army Corps of Engineers is working to repair the levee breaches,
the agency said Tuesday, but it gave no timetable for repairs. (See
the video of water surging into the saturated city -- 1:53 )
The Corps has workers assessing damage at the two locations. The National
Guard, Coast Guard and state and federal agencies are working with the
agency to speed the process, it reported.
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DrDebug (1000+ posts)
Sat Sep-10-05 06:52 AM
Response to Reply #29
302. Aug 30: Water rising at 17th St. canal
Tuesday, 6:30 p.m.
Mayor Ray Nagin has announced that the attempt to plug a breach in the
17th Street canal at the Hammond Highway bridge has failed and the
rising water is about to overwhelm the pumps on that canal.
The result is that water will begin rising rapidly again, and could
reach as high as 3 feet above sea level. In New Orleans and Jefferson
Parish, that means floodwaters could rise as high as 15 feet in the
next few hours.
Nagin urged residents to try to find higher ground as soon as possible.
http://www.nola.com/newslogs/breaki |