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'm sorry, that was exactly what I meant. It should have been directed at George
Poor guy. Seems he failed to grasp the basics of LA and Nawlins. Oh well, it's a jungle out there. I guess being a fed chieftan means one is as impotent as any other victim.
"the Dem Party is salivating..."
When are they not? They also drool.
I guess he can't be a political appointee or anyone known previously to President Bush.
And of course, it has to be a person that the Libs would have picked themselves.
Sorry dude, but we're giving show prep for the talk shows, you're not.
"Nice story, but a non answer.
As an aside, I'm glad you can read minds. Get your resume ready, there might be a job opening at FEMA for you."
I am very active in the private sector - and us kind of dogs would not be very usefull in the world of the BureaucracyBots
Have you ever heard of the management term "skunkworks".
And if you don't think that organizational behavior and management does not include a hefty amount of "mindreading" you are very wrong.
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:5fB-dJ72RvwJ:www.nfiresearch.com/subpage/release/832003.htm+%22mind+reading%22+management+business&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
"A Horseman of the Apocalypse is giving a press conference on CNN right now."
What's the upshot? No tube in the office.
You're spreading that so thin that I can see nothing but bread.
It is one thing to anticipate the results of foreseeable events, it is another to predict the future.
Concluding that a major storm in New Orleans woud cause widespread flooding isn't reading minds or predicting the future.
Faulting Bown because he didn't prepare for local incompetence is simply assinine.
(((Hmmm...lessee...gotta have contingency plans for New Orleans, Detroit, DC, and Madison because we KNOW that they'll screw the pooch if there's every a disaster there...)))
Oh. My. Gosh. Mr. Brown better get FEMA out to California RIGHT AWAY--TODAY, NOW!--he doesn't want to be accused of not getting the National Guard and everyone else out here before the next Big One hits!
I think his main complaint now is that Brown lacks PR skills and was fired from a job. Is that about it, spanalot?
LOL...I heard that 'SLAP!' clear over here!
can you read my palm?
what about Tarot cards?
"do you condone and/or encourage your fellow
management types who follow the practice expressed in "Must be willing to break the law "?
"
What is your fascination with the "law"? Did you ever drive over 55mph? Did you ever try on shoes without socks? Did you ever taste a grape at a supermarket w/o paying for it? Ever party with the boys after a shift and drive home?
Did you ever buy 13 ears of corn and pay for 12. - ever take a pencil from work.
Tell me that you would not "break the law" to feed people after 5 days without if you could.
"I think his main complaint now is that Brown lacks PR skills and was fired from a job."
No, malfeasance is more like it.
"LOL...I heard that 'SLAP!' clear over here!"
Let's see if youre still chirpin after you read this:
"Why Was the Federal Medical Response So Slow?
The Department of Homeland Security runs the National Disaster Medical System to provide around-the-clock emergency "medical response to a disaster area in the form of teams, supplies, and equipment" and assist "patient movement from a disaster site to unaffected areas of the nation." When needed, this system is supposed to be able to mobilize the Strategic National Stockpile of essential drugs and supplies. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the stockpile can be "delivered to any state in the U.S. within 12 hours."
Yet the medical response to Hurricane Katrina was severely lacking. Thousands of people in the Superdome and Convention Center languished without basic medical care. In New Orleans hospitals, staff struggled to care for hundreds of patients for days without adequate electricity, light, food, or sanitation. Area nursing homes issued desperate cries for help, including one banner stating: "HELP. THIS IS A HEALTH-CARE FACILITY. NEED MEDICINE. NO FOOD." Front-line doctors complained that the Department of Homeland Security sent disaster medical assistance teams to Baton Rouge, not New Orleans. Supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile did not begin arriving in Louisiana and Mississippi until three days after the hurricane struck. "
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