The FEMA declaration is dated August 27, and references a Louisiana dispatch (see second paragraph). The Louisiana letter is dated August 28.
Hmmm...
There are two links in the post that you made this reply in reference to. One of them is to the governor's letter of Aug 27, the other is to the governor's letter of Aug 28.
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.Now, I see a fairly specific Louisiana state request for federal assistance dated August 27. That letter requests 9 million in aid, and even uses the phrase "request for federal assistance."
Pursuant to 44 CFR § 206.35, I have determined that this 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 a disaster. I am specifically requesting emergency protective measures, direct Federal Assistance, Individual and Household Program (IHP) assistance, Special Needs Program assistance, and debris removal.Is it your contention that Blanco's letter of August 27 is not the same thing described by FEMA as "the state's request for federal assistance."?Preliminary estimates of the types and amount of emergency assistance needed under the Stafford Act, and emergency assistance from certain Federal agencies under other statutory authorities are tabulated in Enclosure A.
Even if that's true, so what? On the 27th she asked for relief commensurate with a near hit, and on the 28th she upgraded her request to 130 million dollars to reflect costs associated with landfall in LA.