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.

[smoothsailing]

The media still doesn't get it,cap.

It's falling apart in their little world.

[SuziQ]

Mr. Brown was probably right. I kept hearing about the Superdome and I knew people were there. It wasn't until late Thursday that I heard anything about the Convention Center. I'm thinking that lot of people just assumed that reporters were talking about the Superdome. I knew they were two different places, but I was confused because I had not known that people were in both places.

[ZOTnot]

Yes, my head DOES spin. It is not the same FR I remember from even one year ago. What has happenend on this site?

[WOSG]

"But Stephens stopped short of placing blame on authorities for not responding to the needs of the city sooner. He said it would have been impossible to have the required number of buses arranged that were required to evacuate such a large number of evacuees."

UM, NO. As pointed out, The NO authorities let the 300 busses at their disposal get waterlogged. It took another 3 days for state and local authorities to grab a clue and get busses from elsewhere.

[RobbyS]

Even FReepers have seen only a small portion of the whole. This was a monster storm. What is increasingly clear about the campaign of the MSM is that these people see everything from the perspective of the Beltway, this notion that government is simply the national government. IF FEMA has failed, it is because it has been given a mission it could not possible execute. Even the inept government of New Orleans has to be cut some slack, because it almost dodged the bullet once again, and would have had no a levy had a fatal construction flaw. On the other hand, if the extend of this city governmen's corruption t is covered up, which is the aim of its allies in the Democratic Party, then the country has lost a golden opportunity.

[patriciaruth]

the only major levees in the country are built and maintained by NOLA area agencies.

This is news to me. The news media has stated it is the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers.

[pieces of time]

If this was an act of terrorism instead of an act of nature, would that give the President the opportunity for jurisdiction over the area? Or do the same Constitutional and protocol restrictions apply?

I think we also have to keep in mind that FEMA could not go into an area that was not secure. New Orleans was being shot up and looted. Blanco didn't ask the Feds for help so the Military could not go in. When were the prisons opened?

The other thing that confuses me is that Blanco said she gave the National Guard orders to shoot to kill. Someone on TV said that the National Guard never has the authority to shoot looters, only to defend life. Which is the case?

[cookcounty]

" Doesn't DHS or FEMA have access to CNN......?

A) They don't have time to sit and watch rescue reruns.

B) Are you speaking of the same CNN that informed the world on Monday night that New Orleans had, in their words, "dodged the bullet?" TV news is NOT an accurate source of info.

[patriciaruth]

Michael Chertoff's denial of any knowledge of conditions in the Superdome

It was the Convention Center he did not have knowledge about.

Nobody learned that people had on their own gone to the Convention Center until Thursday, far as I can tell. Some report they broke in, some report the police opened it up for them, but it was never a designated shelter of last resort or an official staging area for evacuees.

[KavMan]

We need to keep the heat on foul mouthed Nagin and crocodile tears Blanco. God I hate the MSM!!

[BIRDS]

Are you saying the same horrible behaviors and desperation existed there during/after Hurricane Ivan?

In which case, I completely missed that. I do know that the Superdome was known to the Mayor/City/State/whoever to be able to contend with (up to) a Category THREE hurricane, not a four, not a five, but a three. And, it was supposed to be a survival shelter of last resort, so to speak, a place for the most infirmed, unable to evacuate.

Unfortunately, it was used by thousands who were able physically to flee but not able emotionally/psychologically to do so. To state the obvious.

[Lokibob]

A couple of reasons why this was a cluster f, and NYC wasn't:

NYC covered a 10 square block area, Katrina was 90,000 square miles. Guaranteed that if NYC had to be evacuated, it would have been just as terrible.

NYC was a single event, New Orleans was a double disaster, the hurricane, and the levee failure.

NYC had Rudy Guliani, N.O. had Nagin.

NYCFD and PD vs. N.O. PD. (Did anybody hear anything about the N.O. FD?)

NYC--Daylight N.O. Nighttime.
NYC--Fairly affluent N.O.---Poverty

[Texas Jack]

Meanwhile, the main stream media, in league with the political shills that occupy positions of responsibility in Louisiana, continues to politicize this tragedy.

Ted Koppel's grilling of Michael Brown of FEMA reached a new low last night when Ted said something to the effect of, "How could you not know what was happening at the Super Dome? Don't you watch television?"

My response to Ted would have been, " I sure do Ted. I saw television crew after television crew, day after day, make there way to the Super Dome to report on the people's plight. But, you know what Ted, I didn't see a single TV person, or anyone with them bring in any supplies. I didn't see a single TV person do anything about the suffering. I didn't see a single TV person offer one person a drink of water. Why is that Ted? Don't they watch television? Didn't they know they were heading into an area that needed water and food? It seems that television reporting people have no sense of community. How else could you explain standing by and reporting on a problem without attempting to help?"

[JustaCowgirl]

It was the Convention Center he did not have knowledge about.

My bad, then, I take it back. And I feel a whole lot better. I heard the clip and thought they were talking about the Superdome. Where is the Convention Center from the Superdome?

[George W. Bush]

It's very sad really because not understanding means you can't make an informed decision on what is good or what is bad. I've seen posts from people who have been here for years that would make your head spin. Some of these post would indicate that they think we have a King not a President of a Federal Republic.

And maybe your complacent posts make other people's heads spin.

You really oversimplifies the issues, I think. There is a subtext here that isn't readily apparent. It has to do with perceptions about federal response to emergencies and the privatization of many FEMA functions. FEMA, a Carter creation, always did cause a stir with conservatives when it was a cabinet post. But creating DHS and then folding FEMA into it causes a lot of questions and confusion. The Bush policy of privatizing much of what FEMA had previously done will also be reviewed and questions will be asked about whether the private sector really is best suited to respond to massive disasters. The FEMA response now is going to be compared to the abysmal failure during Hurricane Andrew and to the far better FEMA response to the 2004 hurricanes in Florida.

Actually, I welcome the upcoming hearings. I want more representation from my spineless senators. They pass far too many things without even reading them. They've granted OMB and the White House far more influence than most conservatives really want IMO. And I welcome the national debate over the use of National Guard as regular troops in the occupation of Iraq and the NG role in disaster relief.

Much of this will be about the size and role of FEMA. Someone like Brown shouldn't head FEMA. You just don't put cronies into important jobs. The crisis has revealed real leadership from Honore and Barbour and some fine work by the Corps (when you actually give them money). And it will return us to the old debates over national responsibility for vital ports and flood control and the protection of the Gulf Coast which is appropriate as the area from Baton Rouge to the Gulf constitutes the largest port in the world and a port area that contains about 25% of our refining capacity. We need to address refinery regulations and energy policy more forcefully too. And that entire port area is not addressed adequately by state or local or federal agencies. Many of us in the Midwest all the way to Chicago are going to be affected by this so it's simply not adequate to say that it's their problem. If New York and Seattle-Tacoma are national ports, then NOLA is even more so. The human tragedy is bad enough. But the damage to our ports is just made worse by the human disaster. And spending the $15 billion to upgrade NOLA's levees to Cat 5 protection is obvious in hindsight a far better investment than, say, the $15 billion BushCo shipped off to Africa. Where's the compassion for our citizens here? Well, that kind of hindsight is a little unfair but our ports, chemical plants and port traffic is too important to just dismiss it all. So much of the loss of life and economic damage was preventable.

Political heat, even if not completely well-founded, isn't always a bad thing. We need to send a wake-up call to the congresscritters.

[George W. Bush]

So I have to wonder what standards did N.O. use in selecting the Superdome as a special needs shelter?

I recall hearing on TV that Superdome was chosen as it was the only large building designed to withstand a Cat 5 hurricane and it is elevated about flood level.

However, the local and federal officials knew that it was completely inadequate to shelter people for more than a day due to a previous hurricane evacuation in the last few years.

[patriciaruth]

Don't know where the Convention Center was, but found all those aerial views showing all the buses parked 1.2 miles from the Superdome pretty interesting.

[OKIEDOC]

Could it be that these Federal fellows were so busy that they did not have time to sit down and watch Shep, Geralda, and others cry on television about how bad it was.

I saw a tour of the State of Louisiana emergency management center in Baton Rouge.

In the war room was several monitors. On each monitor was a major cable network and it's coverage of Katrina.

Why in the hell didn't someone from the state send aid.

Seems to me that the police would drive by and be indifferent to questions about when is aid coming.

The whole operation by the city and state was a SNAFU from the beginning.

Now our government is over reacting.

I wonder if it is the governments responsibility to make people completely whole after a disaster.

Communism would say yes.

Jessie the race baiter Jackass would say YES.

[OKIEDOC]

Looking at the filth bugs me also.

It looks like what you would expect from citizens of a third world country, not American citizens of 500 year old city.

I was amazed at the complete breakdown in basic concepts of civilization.

Scary huh!

How fast people reverted back to survival of the fittest.