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 last I checked, we were talking about Hurricane Katrina and what an impressive job FEMA, DHS and Mike Brown did. (Other than an occasional ignorant rant from some misinformed passerby...)
So you knew on Saturday exactly where the hurricane was going to hit. Maybe we should appoint either you, or better yet, your crystal ball as the head of FEMA.
Great post. Man, people are dumb.
You guys didn't do your homework and you end up agreeing with the ultra Liberals:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477255/posts
Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans at 8:00 AM with winds at 150 MPH and a storm surge of 18 feet.
As the Category 4 surged ashore just east of New Orleans on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, said agency Director Michael Brown.
Brown, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said the evacuation of the city and the general emergency response were working as planned in an exercise a year ago. “I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth.”
Levee break at 17th street floods about 20% of the city.
At 11:00 AM, FEMA Director Brown arrives in Baton Rouge at the State Office of Emergency Preparedness.
http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/brown.shtm
Under Secretary Brown has led Homeland Security’s response to more than 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies, including the 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster and the California wildfires in 2003.
This is the great FEMA: 1000 bureaucrats recruited to have one day of disaster training? This is what people think should have saved the day? No way!
Escapees from the asylum perhaps.
LOL! Bullseye!
Can you really be that stupid or do you just play a dumbass on FreeReublic.
Get a grip. FEMA is not a 'first responder'. The tragedy of the Super Dome and the Convention Center are the fault of local authorities. Not because they failed to evacuate them after the storm, that was a herculean task that had to take the time it die, but rather putting them in there in the first place.
I firmly believe it is all about a financial issue; all the NOLA officials were debating among themselves who would be responsible to foot the extra bill in connection with the evacuation transportation!??!
Keep in mind the looters were shooting at the rescuers, which DELAYED more time in getting badly needed supplies into the ravaged city. This needs to be shouted from the rooftops whenever some idiot crys "Why did relief take so long?"
The Stafford Act and Declaration process:
The Declaration Process
Assistance Available
FEMA/EPR Regional Offices
THE DECLARATION PROCESS
The Stafford Act (§401) requires that: "All requests for a declaration by the President that a major disaster exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State." A State also includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia are also eligible to request a declaration and receive assistance.
Also, more on what the federal govt will do for the "evacuees"
http://www.fema.gov/rrr/dec_guid.shtm
Boy, isn't that the truth.
I've already stated that this was hard to defend.
I'll bet you thought you had me in a 'gotchya' moment! lol...
Maybe transporter beams and they could have use them to get into the city faster for all the nanny state fans.;)
Scary week huh?
You've got some great posts, but let's face it. The folks calling for Mike Brown's head have absolutely no interest in facts. I guarantee most of them already know FEMA was well organized prior to the storm's impact, and they simply DO NOT CARE. They want a scapegoat.
It is my understanding that FEMA is NOT first response.
anybody correct me on this?
Thanks. I'm not sure that I'm not dealing directly with some (not all) DU-type plants. Those are the disease carriers and I'm trying to provide facts to stem the spread of the disease.
Well I dare say President Bush and Chertoff knew about and approved what he did. Displaced Bush bashing?
"Everybody who had a way or wanted to get out of the way of this storm was able to," said Terry Ebbert, the city's Homeland Security Chief. "For some that didn't, it was their last night on this Earth."
This should be worth a few quotes for folks blaming FEMA for all this.
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