Posted on 10/26/2005 9:37:56 PM PDT by blam
Florida governor Bush admits Wilma relief effort weak
Wed Oct 26, 7:20 PM ET
MIAMI (AFP) - Victims of Hurricane Wilma's wrath in Florida pressured officials for relief as they suffered a third day without electricity and scant basic supplies, while Governor Jeb Bush admitted the emergency relief effort "didn't work as it should."
AFP/Getty Images Photo: A mother and daughter leave with relief supplies at the Orange Bowl Stadium after Hurricane...
The White House, meanwhile, announced that President George W. Bush, the governor's brother, would visit the hurricane-damaged region Thursday.
In Mexico, officials estimated damage from the ferocious storm was costing 15 million dollars a day in lost tourism revenue from the glitzy Yucatan peninsula, while in Cuba tourism officials said the sector would be back on its feet in a week.
At least nine people died in Florida in connection with the storm that pummeled much of the Florida peninsula Monday, according to police and local media.
Hurricane damages were estimated between four and eight billion dollars in Florida, California-based risk analysis firm EQECAT said.
Before hitting Florida, Wilma had devastated Mexico's Yucatan peninsula and Cozumel island, leaving at least 10 people dead. Four people died in Cuba during pre-storm evacuations.
In Florida, all along the eastern coast, the same scene of desperation repeated itself. Thousands of people filled the streets in search of water, ice, food and gasoline (petrol) they needed to cope with widespread power outages.
Some six million people were still without electricity. The lack of power made restoring water pressure difficult.
More than 70 distribution points for water, ice and food had been opened in the state, the governor said, and their number should increase to more than 80 in the next few days.
Nevertheless, many of the aid centers did not function as expected Tuesday, and supplies were snapped up Wednesday as people waited in long lines for scarce aid.
The snags sparked criticisms of the state and federal governments, especially the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), still under fire for its slow response to the victims of Hurricane Katrina in late August.
The complex aid system "didn't work as it should yesterday, and I probably raised the bar too high... we did not meet those expectations and I accept responsibility for that," Governor Bush said at a news conference.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez said the provisions sent by FEMA to his county had already run out.
"Everything that the federal government has provided to us has been distributed... we're not holding back anything," he told reporters.
"It's the process and how it's structured, and it's flawed... and I'm not blaming anyone," he said, adding that the delivery of aid to the people had been bogged down for hours in red tape.
Acknowleding that people were "frustrated, disappointed, angry," the mayor said: "I think the system needs to be reviewed."
David Paulison, FEMA's acting director and a former chief of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Department, said the long lines seen Tuesday could have been avoided.
"That's why we tell people, have 72 hours of food and water, so you don't have to stand in line," Paulison said. "But regardless, we're going to make sure to increase the supply line."
Smug fool, generators require gasoline. Do you have three weeks supply of gasoline in your basement ? Would you like to ? And since the power is down gas stations aren't pumping.
After Rita, the power company told us not to expect power for 2 to 3 weeks. With some changes to our gridwork - tying us into a western grid, they had us back online within 6 days. Last week we lost power for a couple hours while they tied us back into our regular grid. From what I saw in the days following Rita was that the power companies were working harder than anyone to restore "normal life".....and getting that little wheel spinning again. Kudos to them.
People should fill their cars BEFORE the hurricane comes. And you don't need to use your generator 24 hours a day. I have been through many hurricanes and never once stood in line for food or water. But I guess it's asking too much for citizens to take some responsibility for their own lives. Why should they when they can depend on the government to take care of them?
I thought I would be without power for four weeks, but got it yesterday. There are a lot of down poles and lines, but FPL is isolating those areas, so one person may have power but the person right next to them not. Good luck to your uncle.
That's true, but there is one step before that. They restore hospitals and other vital infrastructure like Port Everglades first. It's a great strategy, and they were very accurate with their predictions after Katrina. The only surprise is if you get your power ahead of time.
People who rely on government handouts will always be unhappy, and the MSM will seek them out like bloodhounds for their opinion. Most people are doing well down here. The grocery stores are open. What productive people need is gas. There is lots of it, but no power to pump it. Why they can't use generators I don't know. The government would do well to supply generators to the gas stations, but otherwise leave us alone.
Methinks that all these disasters reveal the incredible number of illegal aliens living in the country. You can't plan adequately for people whom you don't know are living in your area. Then they all show up for the supplies they were told to provide for themselves before the storm. I'm waiting for the first brave politician to call ICE and start checking immigration status at these relief centers. It will be a LONG wait...
Yes, just pay subsidies to them, and all the other major retailers. I figure each bag of government ice costs about a thousand dollars, and is two days late. Now that they are going to airlift it, I figure about two thousand dollars a bag.
If the government wants to help they can get power to the gas stations. Bring in military generators or whatever else works.
Yup. He said that folks told him (reporter) that they didn't prepare because they didn't think it would be a hurricane, or at least would be a very weak hurricane, when it would pass over the Florida East coast.
"What about those that weren't able to get that stuff?"
Then I would have to question what planet they were living on. When I see people driving up in new or late model vehicles to get MRE's and a couple jugs of water, I do not think of them as destitute.
I'm a native and except for Andrew there has been nothing like this. Ninety-eight percent of South Florida is without power. I looked at the published max wind speeds. It was by that measure a strong category one. Sustained winds were around 75 to 80 and gusts were from 95 to 105. But the damage is that of a category three. My guess is the cold dense air did more damage, something unusual for a hurricane that no-one predicted or expected. When the nitwit reporters were out in the wind and the rain they kept reporting cold gusts, but the blow dried mets back in the studio told them they were imagining things. I felt it myself. There was cold air in this hurricane.
I would say ninety percent of the damage was caused by blown over large, legally protected trees that never should have been planted here and which we didn't have so many of in the good old days. The politicians want expensive all underground utilities. They know that to say anything bad about the trees would be like the old third rail that was Social Security.
You know, I could buy that.
But, the Left would holler "No generators for gas stations", and line op for free stuff anyway.
Senator Bill Nelson, the lead Democrat in Florida is making it his number one issue. FPL is also making gas stations and grocery stores a priority. It's such an obvious problem now that even the media and liberals get it.
Smug fool, you are a DU caricature of conservatives.
I will challenge anybody on FreeRepublic to find when I have ever before slammed George W. Bush before but..... here it goes:
I realize the George W. Bush will never be another "Great Communicator" but, be that as it may, he has to at least TRY to make a minimal effort.
We on FreeRepublic know about lack of local leadership in Louisiana as we were on top of the story from the very beginning. However, outside of FR and conservative blog readers and conservative talk radio listeners, nobody else in the U.S. or the rest of the world has ever heard of it.
The liberal news media has classified the story as "Top Secret"....That, I can understand.
The White House has said nothing....That, I cannot understand.
Out here where I live on the Left Coast of the Pacific Northwest, whenever a liberal starts talking to me about the "failure" of New Orleans, I fully agree with them and, without mentioning Republicans, or Bush or Democrats, start talking to them about what storm surge is (I grew up in "Hurricane Alley"), about New Orleans' exposed position, about the Southern Louisiana Evacuation Plan and then about the hundreds of parked, unused New Orleans buses and the tens of thousands of low income residents left stranded in that predictable disaster.
Every single time, those flaming liberals have listened to me with a stunned look on their face before they exclaimed that that was horrible. They had never before heard a word about it.
One came up to me a couple of days later, told me that she had Googled the story about the New Orleans buses and thanked me for telling her about it.
The liberal news media had succeeded in tattooing "INCOMPETENT" right across George W. Bush's forehead by falsifying half of the Katrina story and covering up the other half.
The damage has become permanent because the news cycle has "moved on" leaving the liberal news media version of events, in the minds of a great majority of the American public, as a given fact.
The entire Katrina episode has left me angry, frustrated and disillusioned for the future of this country.
The liberal news media is in control of this country. They are now trying to win the Iraq War for the Jihadis and may very well succeed:
Why aren't the Republican politicians fighting back with the same intensity we are?
Maybe the answer is that, in the end, they are merely politicians and you can't really expect very much from a politician.
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