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 ...
Living in Pensacola and being hit by 6 major hurricanes within the last 15 years. Including Ivan, Dennis, and Katrina in the last 12 months.
Didn't the Aussies say that there was light at night or they probably would have been murdered?
This info you have posted should be on a thread of it's own. It is breaking news.
Chertoff are Brown are incompetent.
Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Times-Picayune Sunday afternoon that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi--and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.
"Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings," the paper reported. "He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.
"We were briefing them way before landfall," Mayfield said. "It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped."
Hurricane Center Director Tells Paper He Briefed Brown and Chertoff on Danger of Severe Flooding
http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001054595
Perceptions are sometimes more important than reality. Chertoff did not appear to have a sense of urgency or to be forceful in his public appearances. GWB understood the need to get out front publicly and show that he was in charge. Gen Honore also understood the PR aspect of all this. If Chertoff had been more astute PR wise, he would have stepped in immediately to fill the leadership vacuum left by Blanco and Nagin, legalisms aside. We needed a man of action. Gen Honore became that man.
Didn't know until Thursday night?
Did they ever hear of Fox News or CNN?
It was on there 24/7! Did they EVER HEAR of the internet?
Not that I'm giving the mayor or Gov. a pass! They STRONGLY deserve the MAJORITY of criticism! I think MANY failed to get their sh!t together and worried too much about politics instead of getting something DONE!
I keep coming back to the photo of all those buses and it totally pi$$es me off!!!
Someone commented here on FR about the unionized bus drivers and the fact that they wouldn't have wanted to drive, blah blah blah. I say, take a lesson from that group and the 18-year old driver who escaped by "stolen schoolbus." Times like these call for loosening of the rules. I would have driven a frigging city bus if that was my only option for escape. I guarantee, in ANY group large enough to fit on a bus, there's bound to be ONE PERSON who has operated a LARGE vehicle before and would know how to handle it.
You were hit by Katrina in Pensacola? Or are you referring to residency in the state of Florida in general? Then you would share "qualifications" in disaster planning with 15 million people or so....
So you are saying they have nothing to worry about, thanks to the MSM?
"Even the problems that occurred at the Superdome this week had a precedent – during a threat by Hurricane Georges in 1998. An estimated 14,000 poured into the stadium, but theft and vandalism were rampant.
During the threat by Ivan, only 1,100 fled to the Superdome and they were supervised by 300 National Guardsmen, who were able to avoid major crime problems.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Nagin both acknowledged after the Ivan near miss they needed a better evacuation plan"
No I was hit by Katrina in Tuscaloosa, Al. Pensacola was also brushed by Katrina with Category 1 Force winds. Thats about the same as what hit Tuscaloosa.
I agree. I think there is plenty of blame to go around.
1. The local officials in NO are first in line for blame IMHO. They should have enacted evacuations before GW felt it necessary to call them personally and get on TV with his plea to evacuate.
2. The local authorities should have had a better plan in place and should have conducted drills in preparation because just about everyone knew this was going to happen eventually. While I don’t care at all for the Mayor of Baltimore, where I live, at least I have to give our local authorities credit for conducting terror and other disaster drills several times a year. If I am not mistaken, our local authorities have Sat phones after the lessons learned from 9/11.
3. Local officials should have dispatched all available police to the shelters of last resort. Given the known crime rate they should have known the potential for violence.
4. The governor should have declared an emergency, enacted marshal law with shoot to kill orders as necessary to keep order and dispatched the National Guard before the hurricane hit.
5. The Corps of Engineers said that the levies were in good or excellent condition but were only designed to withstand a CAT 3 – who was responsible for getting them up graded? I understand the Clinton administration cut funding to do just that. Why didn’t the local officials press this matter – did the Corps follow up?
6. FEMA was slow to respond after Andrew and that was a relatively small area of destruction in comparison. FEMA was supposed to have learned lessons from that disaster and improve but evidently didn’t.
7. Homeland Security was charged with providing assistance in a natural disaster as well as terror attacks. I feel this is misguided and an over stretch for this agency and only adds to the layers of bureaucracy. FEMA needs to be bulked up and have strong leadership and the ability to act before being formally asked. Protocol be damned.
8. Laura Bush (a woman I greatly admire) said in an interview that parents need to keep their children to school. That’s fine unless of course there are no schools to send them too. And Condlolisa Rice’s Manhattan escapades (another woman I normally greatly admire) in the midst of an on-going crises would seem to indicate a lack of understand by the administration of the gravity of the situation.
Yep there is blame a plenty to go around.
You may be able to convince the sheep at DU, but there aren't many hear buying into your mantra.
Think I'll go out and purchase another case of ammo this afternoon.
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