Posted on 09/06/2005 5:56:44 PM PDT by bobsunshine
WASHINGTON - The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region - and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.
Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.
Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged Tuesday the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged. Brown's memo to Chertoff described Katrina as "this near catastrophic event" but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, "Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities."
The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew. President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Brown had positioned front-line rescue teams and Coast Guard helicopters before the storm. Brown's memo on Aug. 29 aimed to assemble the necessary federal work force to support the rescues, establish communications and coordinate with victims and community groups, Knocke said.
Instead of rescuing people or recovering bodies, these employees would focus on helping victims find the help they needed, he said.
'Time for Blame'
"There will be plenty of time to assess what worked and what didn't work," Knocke said. "Clearly there will be time for blame to be assigned and to learn from some of the successful efforts."
Brown's memo told employees that among their duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public."
"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.
Knocke said the 48-hour period suggested for the Homeland employees was to ensure they had adequate training. "They were training to help the life-savers," Knocke said.
Employees required a supervisor's approval and at least 24 hours of disaster training in Maryland, Florida or Georgia. "You must be physically able to work in a disaster area without refrigeration for medications and have the ability to work in the outdoors all day," Brown wrote.
The same day Brown wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to coordinate fire and rescue efforts.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said Tuesday that Brown should step down.
After a senators-only briefing by Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and other Cabinet members, Sen. Charles E. Schumer said lawmakers weren't getting their questions answered.
"What people up there want to know, Democrats and Republicans, is what is the challenge ahead, how are you handling that and what did you do wrong in the past," said Schumer, D-N.Y.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, said the administration is "getting a bad rap" for the emergency response.
"This is the largest disaster in the history of the United States, over an area twice the size of Europe," Stevens said. "People have to understand this is a big, big problem."
Meanwhile, the airline industry said the government's request for help evacuating storm victims didn't come until late Thursday afternoon. The president of the Air Transport Association, James May, said the Homeland Security Department called then to ask if the group could participate in an airlift for refugees.
"I believe I've seen quotes from LA Guardsmen that have said they handed out water at the Convention Center.
Let alone mounds of trash that would indicate these folks were eating and drinking something."
Could be - and they were told to bring their own - but why did these folks have to be detained for 5 days to give every MSM camera a photo op for the Dem Convention in 2008?
There were open highways from day one - get them out beforwe the Penns and the Travoltas get there.
The Hurricane hit on Sunday - nobody had turkey dinner that night and that means sun, mon, tues, wedn, thurs/fri
Do you really want to toe dance with the dems on whether it was 4 or 5 days?
I saw many reports of La. HS department and La. troopers turning back first responders. This is the first place I have seen any indication that FEMA turned away these responders.
Bingo. But he was a Republican nominee so by default he can do no wrong. He apparently can't turn on a television either. Comforting to think that most of the American public knew about the dire straits in NO perhaps days before the director of FEMA isn't it?
http://wid.ap.org/documents/dhskatrina.pdf
Where was the Louisiana National Guard?
Blanco didn't call them out until Tuesday night, meaning they couldn't really be on the scene until Thursday, Friday.
The federal response was not what it should have been, but the MSM is slowly starting to investigate the total NON-RESPONSE of the city and state governments.
Contrast that with the great job the state of FLorida did in FOUR hurricanes last year, and the leadership of Jeb Bush.
I guess the blamegame crowd believed the feds were suposed to roll up out of the sea like the Normandy Invasion right behind the Hurricane.
"I saw many reports of La. HS department and La. troopers turning back first responders. This is the first place I have seen any indication that FEMA turned away these responders."
Yeah - something ain't right here. Are they going to find that all the banks have been tunneled into or something?
I would have driven a boat in there and got her out myself.
His bawling told me even he realized that he ought to have done the same thing.
"The federal response was not what it should have been, but the MSM is slowly starting to investigate the total NON-RESPONSE of the city and state governments."
No argument here but winning new La Repubs is not as important as keeping the ones we have in the rest of the country. Homel;and and FEMA screwed up and Bush needs to excise those responsible before the toll comes out.
Do the right thing now, worry about the politics later.
Bravo to you as well.
I can not fathom how anyone can publicly defend the disgrace of the lack of uniformed response which resulted in American citizens (not refugees) dying.
Private citizens, doctors, nurses, clergy, coupled with charity groups of all types took more self-initiative immediately after Katrina winds headed away from the coastline, then government officials.
"What did you do to alleviate their suffering?"
I paid $80 k in taxes - where did it go?
Broussard is a lying crybaby! In the end his efforts to protect his mayor, governor, or his own little feifdom will be his undoing.
Do you really want to say that FEMA should have feed them before they evacuated their homes? Stop worrying about the Dems, start worrying about the truth. But if all you can see in this the effect this is going to have on the 2008 elections, that is sad, but so be it.
This claim is really ridiculous. The local authorities are responsible for notifying FEMA of what dangerous conditions need to be addressed. If the locals can't tell FEMA about local conditions, what are the Feds supposed to do?
You're doing exactly what the press and the Democrats are doing--taking yet another aspect of the absolute worthlessness of the local authorities, and blaming it on the administration.
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