FEMA is getting an earful from the man heading New Orleans' emergency operations. Posted on 09/01/2005 9:05:22 PM PDT by M. Espinola
FEMA is getting an earful from the man heading New Orleans' emergency operations.
Terry Ebbert says the federal agency's response to Katrina is "a national disgrace."
Ebbert says FEMA has been in the city for three days, but he says that has yet to result in any command and control. He says Mayor Ray Nagin has been "pushing and asking, but we're not getting any supplies."
The emergency chief says the evacuation of thousands from New Orleans to Texas has been "almost entirely" a Louisiana operation -- saying he hasn't seen "a single FEMA guy."
But enough time for that later...as of right now, there is a city to clear and yet thosuands upon thousands who can be saved. That he would make such comments at this stage is even more indicative of his own failings. My guess is that the baton is wholly out of his hands at this point...and that is good.
Maybe we need to create a New Federal Agency inside FEMA....
Two planes intentionally crash into WTC. Mayor's reaction: "What did you say happened?????????? Okay, here's what we're gonna do ..."
Hurricane hits New Orleans. Not for the first time. Mayor's reaction: "Is this as bad as we thought it would be??????? I have no idea what to do ..."
This aint the first time the NO emergency morons have screwed up!!
Notice the date!
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,132540,00.html
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Superdome's (search) high-priced sporting events, glitzy shows and top-dollar concerts are not part of Matty Howard's world. But on Wednesday, the 31-year-old homeless mother of three, who'd never stepped inside the massive stadium, saw it as her last hope.
"I usually stay by the Salvation Army (search), but they aren't taking anyone now," said Howard while heavy wind buffeted the stroller where her 18-month-old twins slept and her 4-year-old daughter tugged at her shirt. "If they don't let me in here, how can I keep my kids safe?"
City officials, who originally restricted the Superdome to people with special medical needs, opened it Wednesday afternoon to the general public -- those with nowhere else to feel safe as Hurricane Ivan (search) swept by.
"It's primarily for senior citizens and those with small children," Mayor Ray Nagin said. He promised no one would be turned away and organized city buses to bring evacuees from pickup points.
By nightfall, 1,100 took refuge in the dome and were served spaghetti and meatballs, though they'd been told not to expect to be fed. Big cheers greeted news they would get blankets -- inside temperatures were in the 60s -- and word that television sets would be turned on.
There were also 300 National Guardsmen to prevent the kind of misadventure that marred the last time the 72,000-seat dome was opened as a shelter. In 1998, when Hurricane Georges aimed at New Orleans, about 14,000 people stayed inside, but there were numerous problems.
"While this building certainly can accommodate a large crowd for a four-hour event, we're not equipped to handle 30,000 or 40,000 people for three or four days," said Superdome general manager Doug Thornton.
In 1998, people showed up with insufficient or no food, and complained when the Dome served them hot dogs and orange juice. When kept from leaving after the storm because of a curfew, shouting matches erupted with security and police. Some occupants hauled off televisions and furniture.
"I'd say 99 percent of the people were fine," Thornton said. "But we didn't have enough security people to handle the crowd and prevent problems."
The Superdome can withstand most catastrophes; the roof is built to stand up to 200 mph wind and even deep flood water wouldn't reach the second level 35 feet from the ground.
There are potential problems nonetheless. Although the building has its own generators, they would not provide lights or air conditioning for the entire area if electricity went out. Nor would pumps providing water to second-level bathrooms function.
Just as during Georges, the Dome has only a small work crew for Ivan, which means providing security and services gets even harder, Thornton said.
"The office of Emergency Preparedness and the city decided that the Dome would not be operated as a shelter," he said. "That means we are not equipped as one."
The city previously provided shelters for those unable to leave when storms threaten. Now, the Red Cross will not set up shelters for a storm larger than a Category 2, saying New Orleans -- much of which is below sea level -- is not safe in bigger storms. Because of that, the city concentrates on evacuation first.
From a planning standpoint, Nagin said he did not regret keeping the Superdome from use until the last minute. "As far as an empathy standpoint," he conceded, "we could have moved a little quicker."
I guess this means Ebbert is giving FEMA the thumbs down.
The FEMA guys simply refused to make the necessary token payments to the local brothers. Unless the local politicians are taken care of, no outsiders are going to get in. That's the way it works in the hood!
Yes, but the kettle is black and FEMA, for its billions of dollars of funding, is not doing a good job. That's the facts.
LOL! Like the City of New Orleans' government has been so cleancrisp, disciplined and efficient over the years.
looters tried to break into Children’s Hospital
looters were breaking into stores all over town and stealing guns
had ceded the streets of New Orleans to looters
armed looters roam the water-filled streets
I always thought that the local emergency management agencies were responsible for these disaster responses and they called FEMA in as additional resources were needed. Preparation and initial response were the responsibility of local agencies. Is that not correct?
Hey Bud .. you REALLY don't want to go down this road
MAYBE .. just MAYBE if you had control of YOUR city and they weren't shooting at people .. then they could do more
Agreed. Perry has been a damn sight more to help restore LA than the LA officials.
Bush isn't getting the credit he deserves for what he is doing behind the scenes, which I'm sure is instrumental including telling these dimwits to evacuate because they didn't have the sense to do so on their own.
Barbour has been absolutely wonderful, and the other governors not shabby at all. All Republicans.
Yet LA is having trouble. I wonder WHY.
""New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert"" is in Google from a couple of years ago when he got the job.
http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2003-03-25/commentary.html
A few of the comments,
"Mr. Ebbert is responsible for all matters related to public safety," the mayor said.
"He is a true gentleman, extremely intelligent and probably one of the most perceptive individuals I know," local U.S. Attorney Jim Letten says. "I can't think of anybody who is more on the cutting edge of issues like crime enforcement and prevention -- and also national security."
Looks like he is in charge, not FEMA.
If these loudmouth, carping RATs aren't careful the Cindy Factor will set in.....Pushing too hard, blaming others for your plight, exposing a political agenda...eventually the sympathy begins to erode.
Any of them have one easy out... The shooting. That's all they have to say.
This should be a wake up call.
This Nation is not prepared!!! Whether natural disaster or major terrorist attack.
We have plenty of plans on file and committees and departments and organizations, but when 'it' happens, we have little leadership and coordination. NYC was lucky to have Guliani -- someone who spearheaded and made sure the necessary things got done.
An even bigger disgrace is the utter morons putting others lives in danger because they didn't evacuate when they were told to.
Bigger disgrace than that? The jackasses shooting at people trying to rescue survivors.
1. Open up Superdome.
2. Call FEMA.
3. Sit on ass and wait for Feds to take care of everything.
HEY DUMBASS, why did YOU not set up a command center in the Superdome?
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