Posted on 09/13/2005 2:17:25 PM PDT by grundle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050913/ts_nm/katrina_dead_dc_1;_ylt=A86.I0bIOidDI0EAAAEbLisB;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
Slowness of recovery of Katrina dead criticized
September 13, 2005
BATON ROUGE (Reuters) - Louisiana's governor condemned the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday for moving too slowly to recover the dead from New Orleans and said she has signed a contract directly on behalf of the state with the recovery company originally hired by FEMA.
"I have taken action today to resolve a matter that involves life, death and dignity," Kathleen Blanco told reporters and said she had expressed her "absolute frustration" with the pace of the recovery to federal authorities but to no avail.
"I cannot stand by while this vital operation is not being handled appropriately," she said.
Authorities have confirmed 279 deaths in Louisiana since Hurricane Katrina hit two weeks ago, though fears have begun to abate that New Orleans alone could hold 10,000 dead or more beneath its flood waters.
Blanco said she has signed a contract with Kenyon International Emergency Services after the company threatened to pull out of the state because it had not yet signed a formal contract with FEMA.
Asked about the issue, FEMA spokesman David Passey said: "From what I understand, Kenyon had some questions about the contract."
He said from the beginning FEMA had expected Louisiana to take the lead in the collection of bodies and FEMA was satisfied that the state had signed a contract with the company.
"I don't know the exact nature of the contract concerns. We made our best effort to engage Kenyon in a contract," he said. The fact that the state had signed a contract with Kenyon would allow federal mortuary teams to "get on with what they do best," the identification of the dead.
Blanco said FEMA's failure to sign a contract with Kenyon had slowed the entire recovery process. She spoke ahead of a meeting with a group of the state's elected officials, including the secretary of state and attorney general.
"The failure to execute a contract for recovery of our citizens has slowed the recovery operations," she said. "We are at the epicenter of a natural disaster of global proportions."
The governor did not give details of the financial arrangements of the state's contract with Kenyon, and spokespeople for the company could not immediately comment.
Kenyon, a division of Service Corp. International, said on September 7 it had been hired by FEMA for recovery services.
FEMA has become the target of strong criticism of the Bush administration's handling of the hurricane, which struck the U.S. Gulf coast two weeks ago, killing hundreds and displacing 1 million people in the nation's worst natural disaster.
FEMA director Michael Brown, whose work was initially praised by President George W. Bush, resigned on Monday.
Bush himself took responsibility on Tuesday for failures in the federal response to Hurricane Katrina and acknowledged the storm exposed serious deficiencies at all levels of government four years after the September 11 attacks.
FEMA is not responsible for cleaning up.
Blanco's got a lot of nerve. If she hadn't acted so slowly, these people wouldn't be dead.
I disagree and challenge you to identify even one country outside of the U.S. that is suffering negative impacts from Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Gulf Coast.
The term "global proportions" means "global", no?
The government will build cities for the evacuees to live in on a temporary basis. People will live there for what is supposed to be a short period of time. Years will pass, and the people will start complaining about the houses. So the government will build better homes for these people ( who were displaced by a storm ), and you and I will pick up the tab.
At least with MOVE, a bombing was involved. This was a natural disaster.
"I was always told to clean up after myself. She made alot of dead bodies, she should clean them up"
This is the most on-target statement on the whole thread, I think.
"I disagree and challenge you to identify even one country outside of the U.S. that is suffering negative impacts from Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Gulf Coast."
Any country that used New Orleans shipping ports. Any country that owned business` or property in the Gulf Coast.
But you don`t think terrorist have taken notice of all this mayhem in N.O.`s? These problems are far reaching, I am not that easy to say its nothing but a US problem.
Dude, we got to get those people buried ASAP so they can VOTE!
Yes FEMA is responsible for cleaning up, if FEMA is in charge. And, FEMA is in charge of recovery here.
Kenyon has had a generic contract with FEMA since 1997. It participated in cadaver recovery at the Twin Towers, and in several plane crashes.
For some reason, DHS can't seem to get a specific contract signed with Kenyon here, and these people do not work for free.
So Blanco hired them. Now, she will also have to indemnify them if somebody gets hurt or sick from Kenyon.
Blanco is merely demonstrating the old trick 'the best defense is a good offense' But I don't think it's gonna work this time.
Oh, c'mon. Bush didn't play the way she wanted to to begin with. They knew what was coming in from the gulf. Katie expected Bush to come rolling in with the troops so he could be impeached within a week. He still won't play the way she wants. As much as we don't like it, he's taking the higher road. Contrary to what the polls and the media say, other than the brain dead liberals, no one thinks Katrina or the levees or evacuation was his fault anyway.
Actually, I know a liberal who loathes Bush and took his side on this one. She used to organize for charities. That was complicated with no crisis.
He's in Dallas with the peeps who are gonna rebuild NOLA.
Bush cronies?!!! Since when is Anthony L. Coelho a "Bush crony"?!
Service Corporation International (SCI) assists numerous families each year through a network of more than 1,500 funeral homes and cemeteries in North America. SCI is dedicated to compassionately supporting families at difficult times, celebrating the significance of lives that have been lived, and preserving memories that transcend generations, with dignity and honor.
Board of Directors
Alan R. Buckwalter, III [Bio]
Consultant
Anthony L. Coelho [Bio]
Consultant
A. J. Foyt, Jr. [Bio]
President, A. J. Foyt Enterprises, Inc.
S. Malcolm Gillis [Bio]
University Professor and Former President of Rice University
Victor L. Lund [Bio]
Consultant
John W. Mecom, Jr. [Bio]
Chairman of the Board of The John W. Mecom Company
Clifton H. Morris, Jr. [Bio]
Chairman of the Board of AmeriCredit Corp.
Thomas L. Ryan [Bio]
President and Chief Executive Officer
R. L. Waltrip [Bio]
Chairman of the Board
W. Blair Waltrip [Bio]
Independent Consultant, Family & Trust Investments
Edward E. Williams [Bio]
Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor and Director of the Entrepreneurship Program at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management at Rice University
http://www.sci-corp.com/CorpOfficers.html
******
Anthony L Coelho
Director at
Service Corporation International
Houston, Texas
SERVICES / PERSONAL SERVICES
Director since 1991
62 years old
Mr. Coelho was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1978 to 1989. After leaving Congress, he joined Wertheim Schroder & Company, an investment banking firm in New York and became President and CEO of Wertheim Schroder Financial Services. From October 1995 to September 1997, he served as Chairman and CEO of ETC w/tci, an education and training technology company that he established and subsequently sold. He served as general chairman of the presidential campaign of former Vice President Al Gore from April 1999 until June 2000. Since 1997, Mr. Coelho has worked independently as a business and political consultant. Mr. Coelho also served as Chairman of the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities from 1994 to 2001.
Dang you for making me laugh on a dead body thread. :-)
Well, well........the Dems are SWARMING, aren't they???
Read #72.
Oh, gag, Howard Dean is on H & C now.
Dean...Bush 41 screwed up FEMA...Clinton came along and cleaned it up by appointing Witt...Bush 43 comes along and screws it up again...,,,,,,,sheeeeeeeeeesh!
And Congress had nothing to do with it (Joe Lieberman) of course.
Yeah I forgot about the poll. Yeah but it ticks me off anyway. I wake up today, go to the gas station before work look down at the papers, and see, Bush: "I take responsibility". I'm just so sick of it. I know you're right, but everything that happens they try to pin it on him.
Terrorists attack : Bush's fault
Hurricane comes: Bush's fault
Arsenic in water: Bush's fault
High Oil : Bush's fault
Power outage on East Coast : Bush's fault
Bush underfunds
Bush overspends
Bush lied
Bush is dumb
Bush tricked the Congress into going to war
Bush did Cocaine
Bush hates Blacks
Bush hates poor people
Bush41 didn't finish the job in Iraq
Bush lied about Iraq
Im just sick of it. It's so pathetic.
And yes I know I need to calm down and get over it.
To me, the only botched part of all of this was the Superdome and that was Blanco's fault for blocking the Red Cross. I don't see where he can say any of this is his fault, other than feel a little stupid for not having checked Brown's resume.
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