Top federal officials left out of loop (Well wha-da-ya know)

The Washington Times ^ | 09-05-05 | Audrey Hudson

[smoothsailing]

State and local officials did not inform top federal officials early on of the deaths and lack of food among hurricane victims in the Superdome or convention center, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday.

Mr. Chertoff said neither he nor Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was told of the deteriorating situation in New Orleans until Thursday night.

[Not A Snowbird]

Actually, I consider myself pretty clued in to news, and I didn't know they were there either.

Me either. I was glued to this all week, even had a live feed streaming in my office, and I didn't know they were there.

[alicewonders]

It sickens me that Democrats are playing the blame game so early - they are still searching for survivors!

What it is making me think about, is my own situation locally. I don't know anything about any disaster preparedness plans in my community - & I live in a place with a lot of chemical plants & refineries close by.

We need to learn from this, and become better prepared in our communities. We need to ask our mayors & sheriffs what plans are in place (shelters, pets, etc.). We should know who in our neighborhoods will need help getting out in an emergency & make sure they get that help. There's so much we can all learn - instead of trying to make political hay out of it.

Undoubtably, there will be investigations & lots of questions asked. Then will be the time to place blame. We do need to be documenting the events chronilogically so the MSM can't erase it to their advantage.

[WHBates]

"The phone lines that were cut were those for the parish forces who were repairing the biggest levee break in NOLA. They spent over two days fixing it."

If the parish forces were actually trying to fix the levee break instead of responding to the emergency there lines should have been cut.

Whoever did it, was probably thinking "what are these bozo's doing".

[Jim Verdolini]

Sorry, but anyone with a TV knew something was really wrong with Louisiana's response by tuesday.

[jackbill]

Has any media outlet, print or TV, shown that picture yet?

The silence is deafening.

[Salvation]

So everyone can look for someone else to fire!! LOL!

My list: (and mispellings because I think they fit)
Blanko
Naggin

[lonestar]

Like they were sitting around watching TV????

[devane617]

Hmmm...I knew it sitting in my LivingRoom watching TV and eating Popcorn. BullShit post and article...

[Frank_Discussion]

I was watching the tube and posting on FR since before Katrina's strike, and I had heard plenty about the SD, but it wasn't until late into the week that the Convention Center hit my awareness.

I'm not reall surprised at FEMA's gaps in knowledge. Not happy, but not surprised.

[pointsal]

Good point...go to the Dome!

Then, you are on your own, sucker.

[George W. Bush]

Parish forces should have been doing what they were suppose to do and that wasn't one of them.

Actually, this is exactly what they were supposed to do. One of the problems in NOLA's levees is that they are built and maintained and repaired by so many different local agencies. The parish workers were the party to do the repair. It's their job. And they finished it after the LA NG finally got in there.

There are a number of accounts on this matter of local responsibility.

[maryz]

The Super Dome was a designated "Shelter of Last Resort" in the State and City emergency plan

I meant I don't think it was designed and built to function that way. Obviously, you're right about the rest.

[maryz]

The time of evacuation is irrelevant (I'm not talking about relocation).

I added that as an addendum, not as correcting anything you said. Just that it might be something to think about in the future.

[thepizzalady]

"...If FEMA and DHS had paid attention to the news reports it would have been clear that there was a disaster brewing -- especially when compared with what they were getting from the local officials...."

OK! I know I'm obsessive about these things, BUT words mean something and when you string words together to make sentences those sentences mean something. It's like saying "Why isn't the President paying attention to the NEWS to find out what's going on in the world?"
The answer is that the President IS the news and the regurgitation of that information is often WRONG and distorted and twisted depending on who's doing the regurgitating.

That's why the media follow the President for news because he has the information before the media not the other way around. Can you imagine Officials waiting for the Sunday paper to find out what's going on in the world? Or flipping through channels trying to find the most factual actual reportage of daily events? YEEESSS, RIGHTTT.(eyes rolling)

FEMA and DHS were told by those who SHOULD have been in charge and SHOULD have known, and DID KNOW, that "The SUperdome was the place of LAST RESORT." LAST means just that! It doesn't mean next to LAST, before LAST or AFTER LAST. There is no LAST,LAST. Last is IT. Final, THE END.

It was not the President or FEMA or DHS who dropped the ball. The President declared a State of Emergency before the hurricane hit. The mayors and governors were informed my FEMA that the states needed to put their own emergency plans into effect because relief could take up to 72 hours to arrive with massive amounts of food, water and medical supplies. Two other governors did just that. Only in Louisiana did the governor refuse Federalizing that state's National Guard saying she didn't want martial law in the streets. AND SHE NEVER PUT HER OWN STATE'S EMERGENCY PLAN INTO EFFECT!!! She did not make a decision for days until it was too late. All those people would have been evacuated on all those buses which were available for that purpose before the levee was breached.

So please, place the blame where it belongs. Don't just Blame Bush. Sift through the reports. Check the facts. Review the time lines. Discern the truth from the hype. Then you will begin to see a more accurate picture emerge.

Even with eye witness reports, different eyes see different things. Prove it to yourself in a group of people. An old game is to have 4 or 5 people in a room to witness a staged event. Then ask each person to describe the event on paper. You will truly be amazed at the different observations. Most of the time the recounting of the event will be so diverse it will be hard to believe they were all in the same room at the same time. It must be that people don't do these things anymore to teach how not to depend on only one point of view.

[DoughtyOne]

Nagan should commit himself to a mental health facility, and plead the insanity defense. That is fast becoming his only hope of escaping the inevitable.

[Afronaut]

"Mr. Chertoff said neither he nor Federal Emergency Management Agency chief Michael Brown was told of the deteriorating situation in New Orleans until Thursday night. "

True of Not, this is pathetic. I have no faith in either side of the aisle.

[doug from upland]

Chertoff was very unconvincing in his appearance on TV. No, I don't expect him to watch TV. My point was that, in this age of communication, for him to appear to no know what is going on is unacceptable.

[68 grunt]

All I remember is the long line in front of the Superdome and the slowness of people entering it. I remember nothing of the convention center.

Which Fox reporter was it covering the line at the Superdome, and went in with the evacuated folks? The last time I remember hearing from him was when the 6' strips were ripped in the SD roof during the storm. Who was he and where is he and where is his footage?

[Ostlandr]

Here in NY we have walls of TVs in the command centers- and not to watch "Survivor." Chertoff and Brown have a lot to answer for.

[RetiredArmy]

Join the crowd. I have been that way for several years now. I don't trust much of anyone any more. I have seen, heard, and had too many lies told to me by my government, my so-called leaders, even friends. You trust in God. That is the only person I believe in any more. The rest, well, they just do to meet their own personal agenda. That is why I trust few, if any, to carry through. Sad, I know. But, way too much crap has happened.