Posted on 09/08/2005 5:09:47 AM PDT by txgirl4Bush
The Bush administration is being widely criticized for the emergency response to Hurricane Katrina and the allegedly inadequate protection for "the big one" that residents had long feared would hit New Orleans. But research into more than ten years of reporting on hurricane and flood damage mitigation efforts in and around New Orleans indicates that local and state officials did not use federal money that was available for levee improvements or coastal reinforcement and often did not secure local matching funds that would have generated even more federal funding.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
Search is a good tool.
This has been posted like, 15 times already.
This is exactly why we need an investigation. We can't let the media simply declare Bush guilty, with no presentation of the opposing view.
Closer scrutiny reveals the lies surrounding Katrina evacuation and recovery
By Linda Prussen-Razzano
web posted September 5, 2005
Having lived on Long Island for most of my life, I weathered only the most minor effects of hurricanes. Typically, their devastating strength drained along the coastline as they churned northwards. When I was a child, my father comforted me through Hurricane Belle; not by holding me and telling me everything would be alright, but by his activity in securing our house, his purchase of supplies and preparations, and his explanations of hurricanes and their threats.
While the storm whipped overhead, my piqued curiosity prompted me to ask about all different kinds of natural disasters. We passed the time discussing typhoons, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods. I never thought I would use this information, but I did; twice.
At 19, my passenger and I found ourselves caught in the only flash flood in the history of Long Island. What started as a heavy rain became an overwhelming downpour within minutes. Not unlike the City of New Orleans, the patch of road on which I traveled was nestled in a natural funnel. In the space of minutes, we experienced more rain in that small bit of road alongside Eisenhower Park than all of Long Island had received in a year. With traffic surrounding me, I had not choice but to inch forward to the overpass that would take me to higher ground. Just moments before my car cleared the water now pouring in under my doors, the engine stalled, and my Monte Carlo sank back down the embankment, eventually to be completely submerged.
We had to wait until the water rose inside the car and the pressure stabilized before we could get out.
The gas pumps at the corner station began bubbling up, turning the water so black you couldn’t see your hand just two inches under the surface. An elderly man, trapped in his car, didn’t want to leave. Plodding through chest deep water, my passenger and I managed to get his door open and help him slog back to safety.
Everyone caught in that mess experienced a loss, but it is nothing compared to Katrina.
The second time I used my father’s sage advice came when I moved to Texas. In the bottom tip of the tornado belt, I knew what to do when the sky turned an ominous shade of green, the clouds started rotating above my head, and where to seek shelter to maximize my potential for living. It was in those few moments, when the doors and windows rattled and I imagined that my new house would be reduced to kindling around me, that all my priorities changed…forever.
The folks in Louisiana and Mississippi experienced wide scale devastation during Katrina. New Orleans, and other parts of the coast, experienced a second, even more devastating blow from the horrible flooding. One is bad enough, but both? It’s a catastrophe beyond comprehension, and our fellow Americans need our compassion, our generosity, and our understanding as they rebuild their entire lives.
We should be coming together, as we did after other catastrophic events in the last decade, to help and heal.
Sadly, that is not the case.
What I find astonishing is the almost immediate response from Bush Bashers to blame everything that happened, from the actual hurricane itself, to the anarchy that quickly erupted, on the President and his administration. When they do so, they not only distort the truth, they outright lie to the public, and they are doing so daily through any media venue that will give them the opportunity.
Lie #1: President Bush doesn’t care about the people of New Orleans.
This outrageous lie is thoroughly debunked by the fact that it was President Bush who pushed for a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans.(1) Governor Blanco issued only a voluntary evacuation order, but admitted that she received a call from the President on August 27, 2005, urging her to make it a mandatory one. He wanted as many people as possible out of the path of the storm.
So much for the President not caring.
Despite the fact that New Orlean’s own Emergency Response Guidelines call for a mandatory evacuation of the City if a strike by a Category 3 Hurricane is projected, with 72 hours advance notice to all residents, Mayor Nagin didn’t order a mandatory evaluation until Sunday. Further, he only did so after Max Maxfield, the National Hurricane Director, called Nagin at his home to plead that he empty the City. (2)
Why did Nagin wait so long? He was worried about the legalities. If people want to affix blame, perhaps they can look at lawyers.
How ironic, that The Drudge Report (3) and Free Republic (4) have pictures of dozens of New Orleans’ submerged and now useless school buses, buses that could have been used to transport residents out of the City prior to the storm, bring in supplies after the storm, and help evacuees escape the flooding. Meanwhile, Governor Blanco issued a request to the State of Louisiana to provide her with buses from local school districts.
According to a Washington Post report on Sunday, September 4, “Shortly before midnight Friday, the Bush administration sent her a proposed legal memorandum asking her to request a federal takeover of the evacuation of New Orleans, a source within the state's emergency operations center said Saturday.”
Bush’s offer to have the federal government aid in the evacuation was rejected. (5)
Lie #2: The Bush Administration was slow in coordinating help.
Mike Brown, Under Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security for Emergency Response and Preparedness, received the order from President Bush on August 27, two full days before the storm hit the region, to prepare for Katrina disaster relief. (6) The President also declared the entire region under a State of Emergency, so that FEMA could coordinate efforts at the request of the Governors. (7) Under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, the Federal Government and FEMA are not allowed to interfere with local operations unless they are authorized by state and local leaders.
Blanco did not authorize this until September 1, 2005.
Further, according to an Association Press report on August 30, “The federal government began rushing baby formula, communications equipment, generators, water and ice into hard-hit areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, along with doctors, nurses and first-aid supplies. The U.S. Defense Department sent experts to help with search-and-rescue operations.” (8) FEMA was there and helping, in the capacity that was allowed by local officials, but could not swing into full gear until after Blanco gave them permission.
Lie #3: The Bush Administration did nothing to control the anarchy.
The local and state governments have control over law enforcement activities in their state, and such activities could only be coordinated through the federal government with their permission. It was not until terrible reports of rapes and violence, videos of looting, and reports of shoots being fired at rescue workers did Governor Blanco relinquish any claim of control on an out-of-control city.
An August 31, 2005 Fox News Report reveals, “The looting prompted authorities to send more than 70 additional officers and an armed personnel carrier into the city. One police officer was shot in the head by a looter but was expected to recover, authorities said. Blanco said she will ask President Bush for military troops to help keep looting under control.” (9) Almost immediately thereafter, FEMA, the military, and the Bush Administration began to restore order.
Further, on September 2, 2005, the Bush administration “sought unified control over all local police and state National Guard units reporting to the governor. Louisiana officials rejected the request after talks throughout the night, concerned that such a move would be comparable to a federal declaration of martial law.” (10)
Lie #4: The Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the flooding.
Predictions of wide spread devastation have been known since Hurricane Camille in 1969. Despite these, it was local officials who reportedly appropriated funds designated for levee improvements towards such necessary purchases as a casino, hotel, and other projects.
Amazing, isn’t it?
From the carnage inside the Superdome, to the massacre of the truth on television, this is a sad time for all of America.
Just don’t forget who helped all this to happen….because despite what the media wants you to believe, it wasn’t President Bush.
Linda Prussen-Razzano is frequent contributor to Enter Stage Right and a number of other online magazines.
Footnotes:
1. Associated Press, “Mandatory Evacuation Ordered for New Orleans,” August 28, 2005, 10:48 a.m. CT.
2. Knight Ridder Newspapers, “National Hurricane Director had to call Nagin at home Saturday night to plead: "Get people out..." by Marc Caputo, David Ovalle, and Erika Bolstad, August 28, 2005
3. www.drudgereport.com
4. www.freerepublic.com
5. Washington Post, “Many Evacuated, but Thousands Still Waiting, White House Shifts Blame to State and Local Officials,” Manuel Roig-Franzia and Spencer Hsu, Washington Post Staff Writers, Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01
6. FEMA Press Release, “Emergency Aid Authorized For Katrina Emergency Response In LA” August 27, 2005
7. Associated Press, “Bush Declares Emergency in Louisiana,” August 27, 2005
8. Associated Press, “Federal Government sent emergency supplies to Louisiana as early as Tuesday,” August 30, 2005
9. Fox News.com, “It’s Not Safe In New Orleans,” August 31, 2005
10. Washington Post, Ibid
First I saw it.
The more this stuff is posted, the better! Keep it coming..not everyone spends 24/7 on the computer!
Sorry about that Mr.highlymotivated, I am a FR newbie. I will try to learn the how to's and do better.
It was posted numerous times here yesterday and I think the moderator wiped them. Search keeps the repeats from being posted. I thought that this was an update and was hoping to see Nagin and Blanco getting slammed.
In my opinion, it's a done deal. The Dummies are guilty as charged!
Not jumping on you, just informing. I made the same mistake a few times as well. No prob.
TRANSLATION: Democrats LOST the blame game last week. I saw the facts here on FR.
There should be independent investigations, and there should be criminal prosecutions....but it is doubtful the latter will ever occur. Politicians tend cover for each other, regardless of party--mainly because, if a full investigation starts, it could incriminate too many who had their fingers in the pie.
Excellent point. It'll stay that way until the American public unites and demands/forces a change. The problems started when the bums started getting a paycheck and a pension!
I like that. Using levee money to build a golf course.
Personally, I don't think the govenment should be building golf courses. That's a private enterprise. There's no such thing as a "public requirement" for a golf course. And there's no good reason why public money should pay for a business that competes with private enterprises whose taxes pay for such a misuse of funds.
As always, never believe a government official who says that taxes need to be raised because the budget is more than the income. Of course it is when things like golf courses are part of the budget.
Thanks for posting....first I saw it too.
I know some of you have friends and relatives in the disaster zone and this does not mean to diminish any of them in any way. It is something to think about.
School of Hard Knocks
If people haven’t been learning the lessons from Katrina that they absolutely need to learn, then they haven’t been paying attention.
1. On Friday evening the National Weather Service predicted the path of the storm heading towards New Orleans. By Saturday morning, it was clear that the storm was growing in strength and it was suggested that people begin evacuating.
2. By Saturday afternoon it was clear that Katrina was growing in strength. The Mayor of New Orleans appeared on TV weepy and sad, expressing concern about what could happen in New Orleans.
3. Sunday morning it was obvious that the storm would hit as a Category 4 or 5.
4. On Sunday the Governor of Louisiana was crying and worried about the state and asked the rest of us to pray for Louisiana.
5. Sunday at 2:00 pm a mandatory evacuation was ordered.
Now let’s look at what has happened so far and what we know after the fact:
1. 10% of New Orleans was below the poverty level. It would have been obvious (and was obvious) that these people had no means to leave the city themselves.
2. Not a single hospital, faced with mandatory evacuation orders, was moved. We’ve not heard of a SINGLE airlift of patients out of hospitals in the direct path of the storm, moved to areas outside of the impact zone.
3. Not a single school, public, or charter bus left the city carrying people unable to find the means of leaving on their own.
What should happen now:
1. There are hundreds of buses and cars under water in New Orleans and elsewhere in the regions. The Mayor of Louisiana should be brought up on criminal negligence charges.
2. The people should understand that you NEVER elect a sympathetic social worker type to public office. If an individual hasn’t served in the military or in an equivalent capacity of managing huge infrastructures and people, they have no business running a government.
3. The Governor of Louisiana should be brought up on criminal negligence charges--she did not call up the National Guard, order a single evacuation plan, or organize shelters until AFTER the disaster hit. She, a babbling idiot, should spend the rest of her days behind bars, watching the death and destruction on a continuous loop her a jail cell.
The Federal Government is not the authority in charge here. The STATE and LOCAL governments are in charge. If the people you’ve been electing to PROTECT AND SERVE you in your local and state are bureaucrats with no leadership, management, or disaster experience, knowing how to do nothing more than write welfare checks, you are seriously screwed.
Not a single event of this catastrophe is a surprise, with the exception of the extent of the incompetence of the local leadership.
When all the finger pointing has died down, it will come to this: evacuations are extremely expensive in both money and political capital.
NOLA had evacuated once before, and the hurricane missed. The local government was not willing to take the heat for another unnecessary evacuation, particularly one involving transportation and housing for the poor.
I can't believe people haven't figured this out.
Thanks for posting this.
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