Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting

The Washington Post ^ | Sunday September 4,2005 | By Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu

[MNJohnnie]

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."

[stylin_geek]

Other federal and state officials pointed to Louisiana’s failure to measure up to national disaster response standards, noting that the federal plan advises state and local emergency managers not to expect federal aid for 72 to 96 hours, and base their own preparedness efforts on the need to be self-sufficient for at least that period. “Fundamentally the first breakdown occurred at the local level,” said one state official who works with FEMA. ‘Did the city have the situational awareness of what was going on within its borders? The answer was no.”

This is in an article I found, via Instapundit, by way of Polipundit. This article appears in the Washington Post.

[singfreedom]

This argument makes no sense to me either. I also thought the reasoning was backwards.

[stylin_geek]

See my post #21. The Washington Post manages to contradict itself in another article.

[MNJohnnie]

This whole business is disgusting

Amen it is a fight I would been more then willing to put off until afflicted are comforted and the dead are buried and mourned. We were not give that opportunity by a ban of truly evil people thus this fight now is on the nonsensical instead of what is really important, the recovery

[cardinal4]

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.

Uh, most of the blame DOES lie with the locals..

[Starve The Beast]

Yeah, but notice how the headline is written. The headline is constructed to make the administration look bad.

Good observation, and this kind of contradiction permeates the whole article.

The Left has its work cut out for it. They're insistent that Bush be blamed (for a hurricane, of all things), but the logical contortions that requires are really starting to make them look stupid. Er, more stupid.

[ClaireSolt]

When asked by a demanding black communist, "What has the Bush administration done?" I replied, they have changed the electoral map using busses and helicopters. I am getting the strong impression that most of LA will be pleased to have NO cleaned out and gone.

[stylin_geek]

What's even worse is we're having to fight a political battle in the midst of a horrendous human tragedy. Michael Savage is correct, liberalism is a mental disorder.

There is absolutely no working with these people, and I have to agree, we are at war with these idiots.

[MNJohnnie]

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. Uh, most of the blame DOES lie with the locals..

Exactly. Just why are the Feds having to ask to TAKE OVER on THIS Friday Night if last week is ALL the Feds fault as we are being told? If there is BLAME to assign, how can it be affixed to the people asking to TAKE OVER?

[John Jorsett]

Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting

From what I've been seeing on Fox, a lot of the people are refusing to go, and the rescuers are having to talk them into it. The residents have no radios or televisions, so many are thinking the water will recede soon. The rescuers have to tell them that it'll be weeks if not months before that happens. I'd change the headline to read, Many Evacuated, but Thousands Unwilling.

[MNJohnnie]

change the headline to read, Many Evacuated, but Thousands Unwilling.

I would but the Forum moderators get pissed so I have to leave it as it is published. Yours would be a more accurate headline

[TheGeezer]

To freak at the Feds while ignoring who is REALLY in charge this week is intellectually dishonest.

They can be intellectual?

[cardinal4]

If there is BLAME to assign, how can it be affixed to the people asking to TAKE OVER?

If there is blame to assigned, lets wait until we have cleaned up and saved the remaining people. Stupid MSM, I hate them for making this political..

[singfreedom]

It sounds to me as if the "Gov" wants to take credit for all that is good while someone else does all the work.

"Rummy" just told reporters the feds are NOT there to enforce the law! News to them I'm sure. Mr. Brown, , with FEMA, needs to STOP accepting blame for lack of evacuation! He is NOT responsible for evacuating cities, state officials are.

[John Jorsett]

I didn't mean actually change it on FR. I was suggesting that the newspaper ought to change it in the cause of accuracy.

[BARLF]

But they need levees, no money for levees?

[Vigilanteman]

If the locals didn't control it, they couldn't be blamed.

It is a clear case of CYA. Virtually all of the mismanagement and bungling is behind us now that the adults are here to take charge. Blanco and the NO Mayor know it. They want the resources without giving up the control so they can continue their Monday morning quaterbacking routine of claiming there is plenty of blame to go around.

The President's only mistake in this whole sordid affair was being such a gentleman and trying to follow proper channels in working with the local and state authorities. In 20-20 hindsight, it would have been better to bitch-slap Blanco, declared martial law and sent in federal troops as Eisenhower did in Little Rock. However, who would've believed until now that even a political hack could be so astoundingly stupid?

[Travis McGee]

I hope that sooner or later the MSM discovers that New Orleans did have a written emergency plan to cover the evacuation of the poor, but that the idiot mayor of New Orleans ignored it, and allowed the evacuation buses to be ruined by the flood, forgotten.

The city leaders had at least two full days to use these hundreds of buses to evac the poor, exactly as their own emergency management plan called for.

Here's the southeast Louisiana evac plan supplement, most recently revised in 2000. Go to page 13, read paragraph 5. It states:

5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating.

[singfreedom]

I'm worried about MS and AL because they seem to be getting very short shrift as far as any assistance is concerned. NO, and their "bad actors", seems to be getting all the attention!

[Chi-townChief]

bttt