Posted on 09/04/2005 11:39:17 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...
"Sure, and if all the screaming idiots who are wanting Bush's head on a silver platter had got what they wanted and Bush took over the operation from these incompetant children for evacuation and relief from day 1, then they would now be screaming that he was a tyrant, ignoring chain of command and protocol...he can't win for losing...but he can't lose because he has God's hand on him...they know it, we know it, s'aint happening, Bush will come out smelling like a rose as he always does, driving MSM into further insanity..."
It's a lose-lose for evereone on this one.
---I mean, honestly, if they had the hurricane (cat. 4-5) coming near them, and the levees could only sustain a cat. 4, couldn't they have inspected the levees, and tried to find out what they could do to prevent the break before it happened, and to see if there was enough time to emergency evac the people at the shelters? Also, why didn't the shelters have enough food stockpiled to handle several days without food anyways? I believe in my honest opinion that every single state and local official in New Orleans and Louisiana should be charged with negligent genocide.---
Because the real plan was:
Let the people fend for themselves.
Put hands out for money.
That's their plan. That's what they do. Unfortunately this time the levee actually broke.
I agree....isn't that strange? perhaps the cameras were not operating after the storm due to electrical failure, but that is not the case with media cams and reporters and journalists...the reporters 'talked' about what they 'heard'...since obviously, they were not 'there'..
"What aggravates me is the willingness to blame the president for the incompetence of others. It is easy to say after the fact that he should have known that they wouldn't do their job. If the president hadn't been the competent leader he has proved himself to be, the lack of competence of LA officials would have been an even greater set back, imho."
I agree with your above statement. The only thing I would want to say is that I live by one of Ronald Reagan's favorite sayings "trust but verify".
Apples and oranges...the hurricane/flooding risk was known and with that comes local responsibility. If a terrorist blew up levees do you really think the Governor would have written a letter asking for SBA loans, debris removal help, counseling, etc. as a first response? I am guessing she would have immediately deferred to the federal government.
Fox doesn't even watch their own coverage! There was a briefing just an hour or so ago regarding the incident of shooting thugs on the bridge by NOPD. The NOPD officer laid out the specifics of the event, yet Fox has someone on now and the interviewer still asking questions and doesn't know the specifics. All she had to do was tune in to her own news channel, right?
Point taken, although the Washington Times is one of the few papers I usually trust to get it right most of the time. That said, Chertoff DID sound stupid when he came on the TV and referred to the hurricane as "Kattarina". My wife and I both grimaced at the same time.
Regardless of those trivialities, in the end actions speak louder than words and Chertoff appears to be in high gear and making progress. That's what matters. All we need now is for those pathetic, incompetent Democrat hacks Nagin, Blanco, and Landrieu to shut up and stay out of the way.
Regards
LH
It is absolutely impossible to evacuate a large population before a hurricane strikes. Fuel, transportation, and shelter space are all limiting factors.
My home has been hit directly by two major hurricanes within the last year and has been within Category 1 winds of two others. I had first hand experience with FEMA after hurricanes Ivan and Dennis. FEMA's responses were very uncoordinated and inconsistent. Their responses in those cases only caused a prolonged recovery period but those same problems in Louisiana and Mississippi have caused a large loss of life and prolonged misery.
That is criminal negligence. FEMA has had multiple opportunities to learn from their mistakes but they have not done so. As long as Chertoff and Brown remain in control all Americans face a greatly increased risk from disasters and terrorist attack.
WHY HAVEN'T CHERTOFF AND BROWN BEEN FIRED ALREADY???
After the authorities in Baton Rouge had prepared a field hospital for victims of the storm, Fema sent its first batch of supplies, all of which were designed for use against chemical attack -- including drugs such as Cipro, which is designed for use against anthrax.
"We called them up and asked them, 'Why did you send that?', and they said that's what it says in the book," said a Baton Rouge official.
Anyone care to look into the background of FEMA director Mike Brown?
For days, Bush's top advisers argued over legal niceties about who was in charge, according to three White House officials.
"It appears that the money has been moved in the president’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we are doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us."
-- Walter Maestri, emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana; New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 8, 2004.
My favorite quote from Bush this week, "I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."
"First, he was out of touch in Crawford, not alert to what was coming – and, indeed, photographed fooling with a guitar the day the storm hit. Second, despite the investment of scores of billions, the Gulf Coast, on his watch, was unprepared for a Category 4 hurricane.
Third, when the need arose for the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard to save the poor of those states, and defend lives and property after the storm, 7,000 Guardsmen were not on the Gulf of Mexico, but in the Persian Gulf." - Pat Buchanan
I agree with that but my point is the Feds did not fail here, it was a total collapse of the bottom rungs of the ladder of relief.
You made a choice to live in a hurricane zone, and it's YOUR responsibility to ensure safety of family members, not mine - and CERTAINLY not the government! I made a choice to live in a tornado zone, so it's up to me to heed early warnings of severe weather.
Don't act like a child and play the blame game. Any blame would rest solely on state and local government, but ultimately it's you. It's called RESPONSIBILITY!
Actually, the president was being nice.
Obviously there was an expectation of the levees breaking. Obviously the local authorities didn't having a working plan to deal with it.
Get your own facts straight, pal. Who spent the weekend on the phone with her, compelling her into action? And let's see what the good Governor called for, where exactly did she advise the federal government that NOLA was incompetent and couldn't handle the evacuation, couldn't employ its own resources, had insufficient food, water and facilities where they sent their citizens and wouldn't be able to secure the shelters?
331 posts into a thread of confusion and misinformation and we finally get your post.
Got a link to Brown being informed on Thursday morning like the rest of us? Thanks.
I take your points. Nevertheless, Chertoff was totally unconvincing on television. I am a huge defender of the president, but this guy was embarrassing.
---My favorite quote from Bush this week, "I don’t think anyone anticipated the breach of the levees."---
Do you think Nagin anticipated the breach in the levee? If so, how do you explain all the municipal buses and school buses being left in their yards? The head of the National Weather Service called Nagin on Saturday and urged him to evacuate. Those buses were listed in the plan as transportation for the evacuation.
As far as supplies for use against chemical attack, they are listed in an equivalent of a military TO&E (table of organization and equipment) along with the rest of the emergency supplies. When the balloon goes up you send everything, because you don't know the full extent of what may happen.
President Bush is not out of touch anywhere he is. The fact that he was in Crawford is irrelevant.
Pat Buchanan is a putz.
That's why I watch CNN for coverage of situations of this kind. Fox is does a better job on panels of commentators and political discussion. But CNN does the best job of covering large amounts of data. Fox just doesn't have the necessary resources.
People inside the disaster area have the least information about the current situation. They do not have power and most if not all communications networks have been destroyed. That usually also applies to the police and local Emergency Management personnel.
After hurricane Ivan we were without power, phones or, cable for four weeks. Luckily Verizon's local cell phone tower survived and I could charge my cell phone from my car battery. Relatives in New Mexico and Arizona watched CNN and relayed their reports to me via cell phone. I could then inform my neighbors of the situation in our local area. The news networks are the best possible source of information after a disaster. If Homeland Security doesn't make use of that resource they are not doing their job.
Obviously you're never going to get everybody out.
However, most were able to evacuate from NO. Most of the rest should have evacuated as well...and there should have been a workable plan in place for those without transporation.
There wasn't.
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