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.
And whose fault was that? Why didn't the local government have supplies prepositioned? If they are going to send people to the superdome for refuge, they had an obligation to take care of them, not tell them to bring their own food and a lawn chair.
They would have been better off to tell them to bring their own food, a lawn chair, and an AK-47 to defend themselves from the criminals freely roaming the dome during that time.
What the hell's wrong with you? You are doing exactly what the dims want you to do. You are placing the blame for the failure of the state and local level somewhere it doesn't belong.
If all of you who blame fema or who ever else the dims are trying to blame would just open your eyes and see you're being played like a fool by the dims. You are swallowing their blame game hook line and sinker. Damn, I'm shocked how easily some of you are swayed. Can you hear yourselves....you're agreeing with Hillary Rodham Clinton!!!!
"...In his last extended TV interview on CNN, Brown admitted Thursday that the federal government did not know that thousands of survivors without food or water had taken shelter at the city's convention center, despite a day of news reports.There is also far more investigation going on into the backgrounds and qualification of top FEMA staffers. The top two staffers who would take charge if Brown were fired also fit the crony model (former campaign workers) and have no experience in disaster management.
Since then, Brown has been eclipsed by his boss, Chertoff -- who flew overnight Sunday to take charge of integrating military with civilian efforts -- and by a new deputy, U.S. Coast Guard Vice Admiral Thad Allen, whom Chertoff named yesterday to take charge of federal recovery efforts in New Orleans.
During hurricane Georges, the Superdome became home for 14,000 refugees, which was more than they expected. According to a report I read earlier this week, there was widespread theft and vandalism because of a lack of security.
During Ivan, while they had enough security, the Mayor didn't didn't open the Dome until too late, so only about 1100 made it to this shelter of "last resort". It appears they haven't even guessed right on these occassions.
Oh... does FEMA Director Brown not have a television? A radio? The Convention Center not being on some list is no excuse for not knowing there was help needed at the Convention Center when it was on the news for two days.
This was false before you posted, while you posted, and will continue to be false. But thank you for playing.
Thanks. I can see criticizing the lack of security and opening a shelter too late. But trying to plan for the number of attendees is incredibly difficult, especially with so few precedents.
Show me the evidence that it was reported before Thursday. You can even cite a thread on FR if you want.
I agree about Georges...but that's what makes Katrina inexcusable. They knew they would at least have this amount (and perhaps twice) since the Dome officially became a mega shelter for the poor and ill after this time. The point is, they've had their live runs and failed.
Stop making excuses for the local and state gov. Stop fighting the dims war for them. It was the locals responsibility to have adequate food, water, shelter and security for Louisianians. That's called a PLAN.
> umm, why are so sure it was a "him"?
Good grief, are you gonna PC me? I've got to pepper my stuff with "him (or her)" "he (or she)". Blaaaagh. I'd expect that from some fat women's studies prof, not a fellow FReeper. :-)
Short answer: it could be a her.
But that, too, is no doubt the President's fault.
Exactly. I'm appalled that more people on here don't understand you post. The problem started with the state and local levels inability to handle a disaster and it bled down. A disaster that they had fore warning about, yet still did nothing. And now fema is catching hell because of the lack of leadership in Louisiana.
Fire Brown now.
The LA clowns that elevated their own to public office.
"With all of the City and State failures, why would you focus on FEMA? "
This thread is about Brown. That's the focus.
" You must know that the Dems have FEMA on the chopping block?"
The rats love the idea of FEMA. It's their creation and they want it strengthened by giving it more power and lowering the threshold of disaster. As long as it's not a rat bolstering FEMA's power in charge the dems will complain and cry inadequate.
"... they are utilizing the current state of confusion as a strength in order to target the Administration. Realize, the critics are focusing on the initial 48 hours only.
The President's intent was for his people to do what they could to minimize the loss of life and property. They could have done a better job and rendered these attacks futile. There was a remarkable failure on the part of FEMA to improvise in the absence of effective planning and prevent the situation from going so far down hill. There's also the failure to place someone amongst the cokeheads to remind them of their own plans features and other things they forgot. That's the "proactive" duty of FEMA.
" There is very apparent coordination between Pelosi/Reid/Clinton/Old Media within the past 24 hours which lends to the suspicion that those on FR calling for the resignation of Brown are premature and phony.
THey're always squaking. The coordination is no more than what happens when one dog barks, they all start barking.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.