Stones Cry Out

The federal government failed to pre-position assets as it became clear (as early as Thursday) that a Cat 5 storm would hit the Gulf Coast. The federal government failed to respond quickly to the MS and AL devastation (stll has) and failed completely in responding to the levee break.

The state and local governments in NOLA obviously failed as well, but, living in CA, I have no voice there. The federal government failed its own citizens, despite years of supposed planning for a disaster (terrorism) that could strike without any warning at all.

As the head of the Federal Government, President Bush bears the responsibility as well as the authority to fix the current situation and to put systems in place to ensure that it never happens again. That being said, it is my firm opinion that it is beyond his competence and the competence of his administration to accomplish either task. I would be delighted to be shown wrong. But given the example of the occupation and rebuilding of Iraq, I dejectedly write my check to the Red Cross and pray.

Jon, I think you missed it greatly. The governor needs to make the call to President Bush as to what is needed before and after a storm. President Bush is the one who called the Governor and Mayor to URGE mandatory evacuations. The President can't activate National Guard troops. The President can't preposition supplies. That's the Governor's responsibility in a federal government system with a Constitution that establishes federal spheres of responsibility. Did you not take US History in high school? As a former Governor of Texas, Bush knows this well. Unfortunately, Americans do not quite understand these things.

Oh, BTW - it was because of 9/11 and President Bush that FEMA prepared disaster response plans and simulated a Cat V strike on New Orleans. He authorized this in 2002. The plans are being implemented. Imagine how badly this would be had these plans and the simulated disaster not taken place last year. I'm afraid your arm-chair quarterbacking is not based in reality. Mobilizing a response takes time. Had the Governors of affected states taken earlier and more foreceful action (how many Guardsmen were called up prior to the hurricane strike?), things may be better now.

BTW - thanks for your contribution to the Red Cross.

Chris,

Here is the initial request to Bush from Blanco, dated 8/28 (sorry it's a pdf):

http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf

The governor of NM has stated that he offered his guard troops before the hurricane hit, but the paperwork didn't clear until Wed. of this week. (see http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5253757,00.html)

I did take American History in high school. I learned about the federalizing of the National Guard that allows integration of NG units with the RA. One of the reasons for the delay in paperwork was the fact that many units are federalized. That federalization also explains why many LA NG resources, both men and materiel, are considerably drier than they should be. BTW, questioning my education doesn't make you look very confident in you own arguments. I am aware that most Americans do not understand a lot of things, evolution, quantum mechanics, and higher math being among them. They do understand that in these United States, the bodies of fellow citizens are floating in streets, slumped in wheelchairs and stacked in makeshift morgues. They do not like this, and they will find ways to keep it from happening in the future.

I am fully aware that mobilization takes time. I've had to do a lot of it, mostly civilian side, and the inability to court-martial people just added to the herding cat aspect of it. This is why you pre-position resources that fall under your direct control, such as FEMA, and begin the mobilization process for your citizen soldiers, who are allowed a 72 hour window to respond. 1st rule of mobilization: Sooner works better than later, mostly because it gives you time to cirrect your mistakes.

I can't imagine how the situation could be worse than we already have. If you are satisfied with the performance of our federal government in this catastrophe then I pray that you do not live in an area that faces any threat of national disaster or terrorist attack.

"They do understand that in these United States, the bodies of fellow citizens are floating in streets, slumped in wheelchairs and stacked in makeshift morgues. They do not like this, and they will find ways to keep it from happening in the future."

True - like change the rules. Under the current rules, it was up to the Governor's of the affected states to mobilize. Bush declared disaster areas in advance of the storm. He urged local officials to order mandatory evacuation. He could have ordered FEMA to start moving, but that would be stupid, because they already were (of course, naysayers will always say they weren't moving enough, which may or may not be true - but - they WERE moving and "prepositioning." Where do you preposition things? It wasn't until Friday that people were talking about New Orleans being under serious threat. There will be time for second guessing. But I'm not sure that the time is now.

Examples of FEMA Prepositioning

FEMA: Press release on advance preparations for Hurricane Frances September 4, 2004

• FEMA's [national and regional operations centers] are operating around the clock, coordinating the pre-positioning of assets and responding to state requests for assistance.
• FEMA has deployed an advanced emergency response team to the Florida State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee to facilitate state requests for assistance. In addition, three rapid needs assessment teams have been pre-deployed to Florida.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at FEMA's request, is coordinating the staging of 100 truckloads of water and 100 truckloads of ice at operational centers in Florida.

...

FEMA: Hurricane Ivan Preparations Underway September 14, 2004

Hurricane Charley Relief

Ah 2004. Good times.

Hmm - do you think any of these actions had anything to do with the Governor of Florida making advance requests for assistance?

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18447
August 27 - 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.

Remember also, this storm's models showed it going all over the place up until Friday and it cranked up to a Cat V very quickly from the Cat I that hit Florida. As it became clear that New Orleans was in the path, FEMA started to mobilize for New Orleans.

Also, for all you know, they might have been better writing press releases in 2004...

Because I work for a FEMA Technical Assistance Consultant (TAC), I can tell you that the stuff in the press release above is pretty routine. It's an absolute drop in the bucket of what was needed. You can't even begin to compare any of the storms that hit last year to this one.

Because I worked for the TAC that wrote the catastrophic housing plan that was war-gamed LAST FALL with a CAT V on New Orleans, I know that FEMA wasn't looking the other way. There were and have been WELL aware of the potential for disaster in New Orleans. A CAT V was the WORST CASE scenario that FEMA could dream up to test our plans. But even the modeling didn't anticipate this type of widespread destruction. The folks that designed this test have NOTHING to do with the Bush Administration. The FEMA people at the contingency planning level are professionals and have worked on these issues for decades (many of them). This isn't a leadership problem - it's a mother nature and human arrogance problem.

Just because there weren't as many detailed press releases as in 2004, doesn't mean they didn't do equivalent "prepositioning" or preparation for what they would usually do in advance of an approaching hurricane. Was it enough? Certainly not. But it's real real easy to say that now. I didn't see you, or anyone else for that matter, screaming that FEMA wasn't doing enough to prepare for Katrina. If you did, please show me and I'll say that the government should have listened to you.

Routine...

On August 27, FEMA was warning of possible hit on the Gulf Coast, but emphasized a 2nd hit on the Florida panhandle. That's to show that the storm was so unpredictable. Also, the storm was still pretty moderate on 8/27. See: http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18463

Now see this press release from Saturday August 28:
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=18461

"On Saturday, President Bush has declared an emergency for the states of Louisiana and Mississippi opening up FEMA’s ability to move into the state and assist the state and local governments with mobilizing resources and preparations to save lives and property from the impact of Hurricane Katrina. FEMA is moving supplies of generators, water, ice and food into the region for immediate deployment once the storm passes. FEMA’s Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) and Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) are also staged for immediate response anywhere in the region. The funding and direct federal assistance will assist law enforcement with evacuations, establishing shelters and other emergency protective measures."

***REMEMBER - this was Saturday. The storm didn't hit until late Sunday night and early Monday Morning.

"FEMA has deployed USAR teams from Tennessee, Missouri and Texas to stage in Shreveport, LA.. USAR teams from Indiana and Ohio are staged in Meridian, MS. Two teams each from Florida and Virginia and one team from Maryland are on alert at their home stations."

***Wide pre-positioning Texas to Florida!

"A total of 18 DMATs have been deployed to staging areas in Houston, Anniston and Memphis. There are 9 full DMATs (35 members per team) and 9 strike teams (5 members per team) in these staging areas."

***I'm almost certain this is a larger pre-strike mobilization than the pre-response to any hurricane in 2004. I haven't checked, but please show me wrong.

Ah, 2005. Good times.

Hmmm So the Governor of Louisiana declares an emergency on 8/26 and it's really good news that FEMA catches up on 8/27? C'mon Rick 24 hours is a lot of time, time enough to save lives. This was a disaster with warning, and, given the results of that disaster, you expect me to accept that this administration is competent to handle a crisis that springs up without warning.

You can believe whatever it takes to make you sleep well at night. Like I said, I see bodies floating and I *know* that the United States, hell *I* could do better. (And I actually have a degree suited to City Planning. Ironically, at one time I was on the same career path as you) At the very least getting supplies to the Superdome and Convention center would have reduced the death toll. If those FEMA supplies truly had been in place, then neither location would have spiraled into Hell. But, then again, you know better than I. Maybe it's somehow a success for the Bush administration.

Jon, I just saw a CNN segment that is highly disturbing. They included a collection of quotes from Brown and Chertoff. I am now inclined to agree with you, in principle, on many of your points. I can't write more about this because, well, FEMA is my client, but you (and others) can...

I apologize.

Rick, you and your fellow "Stoners" (heh, funny, huh?) are a daily read for me becuase you are good honest people who are serious about exploring what it means to live your beliefs in today's society. I wouldn't have had this conversation with you if I did not respect your opinion enough to want to influence it. I also apologize if at any time I did not convey the respect I have for you and the other folks here.

And, as I too have a consulting practice, I deeply empathisize with hving a client who could benefit from a hard shaking from time to time.

Instapundit has a post on the subject:
http://instapundit.com/archives/025328.php

The debate between what should have been done and what was actually done is different than the one regarding what is being told us now by FEMA and Homeland Security officials and what is the truth...

This article from the front page of the Washington Post may be of interest to you: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/03/AR2005090301680.html .

Here is an excerpt:

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.

For anyone who has any doubt about who failed to help the poor people in Louisiana, please view the video from September 4 at:
http://www.overspun.com/?cat=1

Since the Bush administration is pointing fingers at Democrats, I feel it is now fair to examine the roll of the Bush administration in this unmitigated disaster. The citizens of NO were failed at 3 levels. First, the city was not properly protected from flooding. Second, people were not properly taken to safety. Third, relief was not provided to refugees. Let’s examine the breakdown of responsibility at all 3 levels.

1) The federal government ignored flood warnings.
From the following sites it is clear that LA’s congressional delegation has urged Congress for years to “return to the state a fair share of the revenue from the production of offshore oil and gas [from LA]” to use to fight coastal erosion. Why? “With the National Hurricane Center predicting another active hurricane season, [Parishes Against Coastal Erosion] President Aaron Broussard said he fears that it is going to take a major storm and significant loss of life before the nation acts responsibly.”
http://www.americaswetland.com/article.cfm?id=241&cateid=2&pageid=3&cid=16
In addition, although some money has been spent on flood prevention, “after 2003, the flow of federal dollars toward SELA [Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project] dropped to a trickle. The [Army Corps of Engineers] 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.”
http://www.pnionline.com/dnblog/attytood/archives/002331.html
In summary, a combination of environmental degradation and requests for funding for federal flood prevention were ignored by the federal government. Collectively this negligence and ineptitude left NO a disaster waiting to happen.

2) Residents of NO were evacuated with local but not federal help.
First, let’s dispense with claims that the federal government was not in charge or that it was Governor Blanco’s or Mayor Nagin’s irresponsibility that led to to the disaster in NO. It was federal oversight, very clearly, that failed. First, Bush called Gov Blanco to “insure” him that people were being evacuated from NO, which they already were by that time, NOT after the call at the behest of the president as you suggest:
http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=574&topicId=100017533&docId=l:305998627&start=18
Second, Gov Blanco requested Bush declare a state of emergency for LA on Aug 26, demonstrating that she acted responsibly. Her letter was posted on Aug 27:
http://www.gov.state.la.us/Press_Release_detail.asp?id=976
It is clear that responsibility for disaster relief falls on the federal government:
“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”.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html
This notion of federal reponsibility superceding local authority in the event of any large-scale emergency is echoed at the DHS web site. I won’t quote it, but you can read it for yourself here:
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/theme_home2.jsp
In a NO newspaper locals empathize with victims, endorse their mayor’s actions and blame the federal government for gross negligence:
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054586
So Blanco and Nagin did the right thing, the feds assumed control, and did… nothing. In fact, what we see is a systematic attempt to blame the poor people of NO who either didn’t have the money or transportation to leave, who had nowhere to go if they left, or who had to stay to care for the elderly and infirm. Homeland Security Chief Chertoff and FEMA director Brown have repeatedly blamed the victims for their own demise, saying with utter insensitivity, “These people chose to stay…” and “These people ignored the warnings."

3) The federal government failed to provide victims with food, water and safety.
It took 4 days for any assistance to be provided by FEMA to victims in NO and other areas hit by the storm, despite assurances to the contrary by the president, DHS Chief Chertoff, and FEMA director Brown. Here is a link to the cognitive dissonance between the misinformation they were giving and what was being reported on the ground.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/02/katrina.response/index.html
Even more egregiously, the feds discouraged other sources of relief from assisting. This included the Red Cross, law enforcement, and National Guard. Here are several links:
http://www.indybay.org/news/2005/09/1764551.php
http://www.timescommunity.com/site/tab1.cfm?newsid=15144436&BRD=2553&PAG=461&dept_id=506035&rfi=6
If you read the first link, you’ll see that this had little to do with safety or ability to reach refugees. That should be clear to everyone, though, since reporters reached disaster areas without much trouble, as did private individuals bringing aid.
Lastly, some have charged that Gov Blanco waited too long before agreeing to outside help, but in fact the help she requested was delayed for four days by FEMA:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050903/ap_on_re_us/katrina_national_guard

As someone at dailykos said:
“We have two competing world views in American politics. The first says that government cannot help people. That government must be as small as possible, and exists only to provide security from external enemies. The other says that government can be a force for good and can help make people's lives better.

This week, we are seeing the effects of the lack of government. We've talked about the two disasters -- the hurricane itself, which was unavoidable, and the response to the hurricane and lack of leadership, which was. When government programs are slashed in the name of Gover Norquist's drownable government, an entire major city is wiped off the face of the map as a result.

Sen. Bill Frist plans to move forward with a vote to permanently repeal the estate tax this week. Permanently repealing the estate tax would be a major blow to the nation's charities. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has ‘found that the estate tax encourages wealthy individuals to donate considerably more to charity.’
http://www.independentsector.org/programs/gr/estatetax.html

With thousands presumed dead after Hurricane Katrina and families uprooted all along the Gulf Coast, giving tax breaks to millionaires should be the last thing on the Senate's agenda. Gulf Coast families are counting on us. They are suffering, and they have nowhere else to turn. We owe it to them to make their safety and survival our top priority, and we should give them nothing less. Regardless of how one feels about the estate tax, we should all be able to agree that the Senate's attention should be on the victims of this crisis.”

But this is the libertarian mindset of the GOP leadership, which takes its cues from Grover Norquist, whose main concern in the last week is that relief efforts would derail attempts to eliminate the Estate Tax. And it is echoed by many others on blogs and in magazines such as National Review, where people like Jonah Goldberg say:
“Lots of readers ask why national taxpayers should be asked to foot the bill for the reconstruction of New Orleans. I think that is a perfectly legitimate question.”
http://corner.nationalreview.com/05_08_28_corner-archive.asp#075092
This is the same mindset that got us the recently enacted banrkruptcy law which will now punish the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have just lost their homes and their livelihoods. This is the mindset that led House leader, Dennis Hastert, recently to suggest that NO be bulldozed. He also skipped the Congressional vote on the aid package for the Gulf coast because he wanted to attend a fundraiser:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/02/AR2005090202156.html
The same week, other members of the Bush administration were vacationing (VP Cheney), shopping for thousand-dollar shoes (Secretary of State Rice), laughing in front of the camera while presenting a birthday cake to John McCain (Bush) or strumming a guitar (Bush again). Contrast the expression on Bush’s face over the last week with that of refugees that went unassisted by his government:
http://www.iraqtimeline.com/
Then of course there are the hundreds of posts on blogs such as Free Republic and others that are linkable from SCO which assert that all looters should be shot, regardless of whether they are stealing food. Here is Peggy Noonan in the WSJ, whose ignorance of people’s desperation is exceeded only by her zeal to kill, despite the fact that stealing isn’t a capital crime. Her view of looting is common:
“…it is unforgivable, and I hope the looters are shot.”
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/

You have a choice in the future. Embrace the party that cares about the weakest members of society or continue to support a corrupt party that eploits you for the values you cherish while it lines the pockets of its richest supporters. By the way, did I mention that as in Iraq, Halliburton, Cheney’s former company, has been chosen in a no-bid contract to provide relief to coastal areas the government couldn’t be bothered to assist? It probably helped that it employed Bush’s previous FEMA director to lobby for it:
http://www.halliburtonwatch.org/news/hurricane_katrina.html

The values of the Bush administration failed the country. Bush was warned of the possibility of an attack like 9/11 and he was caught flat-footed. He was warned of the possibility of a disaster in New Orleans and he ignored it.

In the event of another disaster, do you trust your physical safety, much less your Social Security, to someone who can’t - or won’t - deliver food and water to people who are dying in the streets?

On the issues of federal funding after the fact:

Jonah Goldberg say:
“Lots of readers ask why national taxpayers should be asked to foot the bill for the reconstruction of New Orleans. I think that is a perfectly legitimate question.”

Paying to reconstruct New Orleans is different than paying to help those in need who need long term housing, possibly permanant housing in other cities. It is not a problem to be against the former but not the latter. Have we considered that there may be a lot of people - exactly the ones you talk about - who were too poor to get out of a city with one of the highest crime rates in the nation and get a fresh start in a new home with the government's help? I don't know how much the nationwide taxpayers should pay to reconstruct New Orleans (which is not to say they shouldn't be willing to pay anything), but I don't think that's a lack of compassion, I think it's practicality. However, I think that tax payes should be willing to pay as much as necessary to help those that need relocation and start-up monetary help.

Also, the above sited Instapundit post

http://instapundit.com/archives/025328.php

has a lost of good updates.