Great response. Maybe you should go to the hearing instead of Mr. Brown :)
Posted on 09/27/2005 5:27:56 AM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy
WASHINGTON - Embattled former FEMA director Michael Brown says he was initially unaware of desperate conditions at the New Orleans Convention Center because it was not a planned Hurricane Katrina evacuation site, according to a congressional memo.
After learning from television about the thousands of evacuees who gathered at the center, Brown ordered food and water be delivered there. But Brown, who on Tuesday faces a House inquiry into the government's slow response to the Aug. 29 disaster, told congressional aides that "there is no reason FEMA would have known about it beforehand."
In Katrina's aftermath, thousands of people gathered at the convention center, where adequate food, water and other supplies were lacking and where violence was common.
The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, was written by a Republican congressional aide who attended a 90-minute briefing Monday with Brown, who resigned as director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Sept. 12.
Brown announced his resignation three days after Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff removed him from overseeing the onsite disaster response, and was highly criticized for being a Bush administration political appointee without deep emergency management experience. He denied accusations that he padded his resume.
Brown, who ran FEMA for more than two years, has a two-week "transition" remaining at the agency, during which he will advise the department on "some of his views on his experience with Katrina," Homeland security spokesman Russ Knocke said. He is receiving full pay.
The congressional memo details Brown's self-defense — and attacks on other officials — in managing the response to the catastrophic storm and flooding that killed more than 1,000 people in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
Brown "acknowledged that he made mistakes," said a second Republican staff member who attended the briefing.
The memo describes Brown's views on missteps at every level of government in Katrina's aftermath. Among the revelations:
_Brown said he should have sought help more quickly from the Pentagon after Katrina hit, and expressed regret "that he did not start screaming" for the military's involvement sooner. The first substantial numbers of active-duty troops responding to the Gulf Coast were sent on Sept. 3, five days after the storm hit.
_Brown said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin "sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively." He also described Blanco as "indecisive" and refusing to cede control of the Louisiana National Guard to federal authorities because "it would have undercut her image politically."
Aides to Blanco and Nagin could not be immediately reached Monday night.
_Brown did not take any official notes during conference calls he ran with state and federal authorities and "just assumed that agencies would follow up on taskings resulting from the calls."
_Brown said a federal takeover of emergency management responsibilities would be a "crutch" for local and state governments and could lead to future lapses in preparedness.
He did not respond to several telephone calls Monday.
Democrats have largely boycotted the congressional investigation. Though the inquiry chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., was meant to be bipartisan, Democrats say Republican lawmakers cannot fairly investigate the GOP White House, and are calling for an independent commission.
Brown "acknowledged that he made mistakes," - Yes he did
Brown said Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin "sparred during the crisis and could not work together cooperatively.
He also described Blanco as "indecisive" - as anyone could tell
Brown did not take any official notes during conference calls he ran with state and federal authorities - Well, isn't that why you have employees?, though he should have taken some...
Brown said a federal takeover of emergency management responsibilities would be a "crutch" for local and state governments and could lead to future lapses in preparedness - HA BANG - he is right on this one -
Emergency management preparedness and planning are local functions. Unless corruption and incompetence get in the way...
The real problem is that our government bureaucracy has grown so vast that it is unmanageable. To single out one bureaucrat for being to "blame" for not controlling the monsterous tangle that makes up local, state and federal bureaucracy is absurd.
I have to agree with him. I am also amused by the prospect of federal emergency responders. The feds can't do anything in a prompt manner and I have problems with their wanting to take more authority from the states.
I agree.
Isn't there something a little unsettling in seeing the President of these United States being virtually a first responder?
I do not expect to see the President on the ground clearing debris which he might as well be doing....to show the msm how much he cayyyeeerrrssss. To me its embarrassing.
What have you learned from this hurricane season?
I've learned that even when we're in the thick of the rescue/recovery parts of disasters like Katrina and Rita, the democrats will waste time pushing their politics instead of pulling together to help......
I've also learned that the press and media assume that in a disaster, their response and focus should be on any and everything that doesn't work. They feel no responsibility to alert officials to problems....like the NO convention Center...instead, they add to the confusion & panic so they can be seen as "impartial" reporters.
I hope that millions of people have learned that they need to be able to take care of themselves and their families for a few days during a disaster - and don't expect immediate assistance from the government.
Have emergency supplies and a plan for how you will get in touch with family members in case seomthing big happens. Have a plan for what to do if you lose power for a week.
Disasters are tragic - that is why they are disasters. But with a little planning beforehand, you and your family can cope with a disaster much better than those who are sitting around waiting for Bush to rescue them.
The big media myth of the incompetent Feds is just that, a damn myth!!
Well Said!!! Citizen is a biblical word and so often these days not taken seriously. Democracy and representative republic are just considered political jargon rather than taught principles.
To consider the feds a first responder smacks of martial law.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with him on the situation at the convention center. Given that it was not an original evacuation site, and given that the conditions have been blown out of proportion..., FEMA should have had reps in that facility sooner and reported the conditions back to him.
Just about everything else he says I agree with.
Some Democrats.. ( maybe even most democrats..)
In the case of NOLA, incompetence and corruption played as much a part as politics..
I think your statement would have been more accurate if instead, you had said "Liberals" or "Socialist sabateurs"..
I've also learned that the press and media assume that in a disaster, their response and focus should be on any and everything that doesn't work. They feel no responsibility to alert officials to problems...
I have to disagree on this one, at least partially..
The media is, of course, the media.. a bunch of primping sycophants prancing in front of the cameras...
But "authorities" should have people monitoring EVERY available television and radio reporter broadcasting from an emergency / disaster scene..
Those on-the-scene broadcasts, (often Live) are actual "alerts" of the conditions occurring real time.. in the case of television broadcasts, with video, something satellite phones, cell phones, land lines, cannot provide..
That the media is self-serving doesn't really have relevance..
In the case of disaster coverage, their disregard for thier own safety in order to feed their vanity becomes a useful tool.. if those in charge of recovery have the sense to utilize it..
In the case of NOLA, the authorities payed no attention to what was being shown to the entire country, and even the world..
They failed to react to what everyone was seeing.. regardless of the motivations of those doing the broadcasting..
The opportunity was there to utilize that information for the benefit of all...
It was not..
And as we all know, the media is never wrong.
Of course you are right regarding one's personal response and responsibility.....guess I should have qualified the question to what I've learned about the elected officials and the media.
Regarding personal responsibility.....someone posted my favorite comment on that:
"dialing 911 does not connect you to GWB in the White House"
Great response. Maybe you should go to the hearing instead of Mr. Brown :)
Hey, from your mouth to God's ear..
But seriously, who cares about the prima donnas flapping their gums?
The information is over their shoulder, and when the cameraman swings around for a "pan" shot..
When you see several hundred people sitting on an overpass with no food, water, shelter, transportation, common sense should suggest that's a good place to send some trucks and soldiers..
Dontcha Think?
You wrote it much better than I could ever hope to! It bothers me so much that the media appeared to have the only....or the best communication system going at the convention center and their "alert" didn't acknowledge that all official communication systems had broken down!
Your suggestion of media monitors is good....I just heard Congressman Chris Shays on c-spann suggest we could drop paratroopers on site-for reports of future disasters....I don't think it's as crazy as it sounds...loss of communications takes the "worst case scenario" to infinity....
I'll bet Brown has a lot to say about the Governor and Mayor's actions in all this
IMO .. yes there were mistakes made ... but the media owes Brown an apology for the way they attacked him
"Maybe you should go to the hearing instead of Mr. Brown" :)
No thanks, but Drammach should go!
There are more LEO, firemen, and EMT personnel on the payroll in NO, than there is in all of FEMA. And, we know many of those, if not most, got the hell out of Dodge before the first rain drop fell or a breeze was felt.
"Dontcha Think?"
So, all these Monday morning quarterbacks should have went down there and done it. Oh, I forgot, it is not their job, their's is to bitch and blame others after the fact.
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