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."
Do they yet? Senator Vitter calls Friday the turning point...the national response was up to standards.
I was involved in Emergency Management in just a small way. It was my responsibility to attend the Governor's Hurricane COnference in Tampa each year and collect the latest information on FEMA standards for applying for aid.
It was also my responsibility to be aware of any new regulations concerning disaster response and to inform my higher ups of them. If our City realized the importance of this, why the heck was N.O. so out of the loop. During the conference you get to meet a lot of Disaster response planners and you learn things from them that no text can teach you. That in itself made it a very valuable conference to attend.
All states must have capability for the first 72 hours and LA first response completely collapsed. FEMA can watch TV just like us and knew there was no first response. They had a duty to act and did not. This is a national tragedy and disgrace.
Thank you so much for posting that quote.
Hope that is picked up and spread far and wide.
The citizens of America need to know.