Posted on 09/02/2005 11:05:34 PM PDT by doug from upland
Thanks again for sharing your expertise with us.
========================================
Experts say the answer is more complicated. New Orleans suffered from a string of problems, some of which could not have been foreseen and others with roots dating back decades, including a lack of money for preparation, a weak warning to evacuate and a sprawling bureaucratic agency ill-equipped for a quick response.
Emergency management experts say the blame doesn't lie only with FEMA, which coordinates the efforts of more than a dozen agencies with state and local authorities. State and local agencies respond first and design preparedness plans, but in a disaster this unprecedented they could not meet the needs of victims without federal help.
Officials have known for decades that New Orleans was vulnerable to hurricanes and flooding.
Just last year, FEMA hired a private company, IEM Inc. of Baton Rouge, to help conduct an eight-day drill for a fictional Category 5 hurricane in New Orleans named Pam. It included staging a helicopter evacuation of the Superdome, a prediction of 15 feet of water in parts of the city and the evacuation of 1-million people.
But the second part of the company's work - to design a plan to fix unresolved problems, such as evacuating sick and injured people and housing thousands of stranded residents - never occurred because the funding was cut.
Despite all the planning, numerous problems conspired to make a devastating situation worse.
I think you are wrong. Look up what happened on September 24,1957 in Little Rock, AR. President Eisenhower federalized the Arkansas National Guard. The Little Rock mayor called for help.
Thanks.
My understanding was the law would be enforced by the National Guard on their state level role not their federal role.
I'm not familiar with what happened then, but just from what you said it appears the Governor must have requested the action. Was it a natural disaster? And has anyone in New Orleans asked the President to federalize Guard troops?
To the first part of your comments: Maybe not all of them could have been evacuated, but more than were evacuated could have been. I believe it has been reported that it would take 72 hours to evacuate New Orleans, and I read the President made this request on Friday. Katrina came ashore on Monday morning.
No, I did not say the President ordered, I said he asked...there is a difference between the two. If he ordered the mandatory evacuation on Friday, then the governor and mayor didn't obey his order! Didn't they issue the mandatory order on Sunday and a voluntary evacuation request on Saturday? Where is it written that mandatory evacuation has to be done at the point of a gun? You can verbally order someone to evacuate, and if they refuse; they are responsible for the outcome.
To the first part of your comments: Maybe not all of them could have been evacuated, but more than were evacuated could have been. I believe it has been reported that it would take 72 hours to evacuate New Orleans, and I read the President made this request on Friday. Katrina came ashore on Monday morning.
No, I did not say the President ordered, I said he asked...there is a difference between the two. If he ordered the mandatory evacuation on Friday, then the governor and mayor didn't obey his order! Didn't they issue the mandatory order on Sunday and a voluntary evacuation request on Saturday? Where is it written that mandatory evacuation has to be done at the point of a gun? You can verbally order someone to evacuate, and if they refuse; they are responsible for the outcome.
and what did the gorvernor know, and when did he know it? :P
I sympathize with her. I saw some interviews with people, mostly black, before they went in to the Superdome, and there were some very nice people there.
I wish the "black leaders" would notice that these people were as much the victims of the thugs as whitey. But they probably already know that and simply don't care, because for some reason, our political system rewards those who defend and promote the lowest common denominator. I don't know what has happened to us in the last 40 years, but it isn't pretty.
He found : Gov Blanco had her Louisiana National Guard troops and assests prepositioned-but, did not pull the trigger. President Bush should have realized the collapse of state govt ( my words ) and federalized troops. Legal considerations here, but, that could have been overcome. Louisiana National Guard were staged 30 miles north of NO- Governor had no eyes on the ground, no communication in NO to assess the situation-people not evacing, levees breaking,etc. Everyone had 5 days notice storm was coming at state level and no prep was done. Blame falls on Gov Blanco, Gov Blanco, Gov Blanco and secondarily -President Bush- for trusting that Democrat Governor Blanco had situation in hand and failing to step in earlier and federalize the entire military situation. And of course, had President Bush stepped in and legally usurped Blanco- the Democrats would have gone ballistic.
There you have it!
This is preCISELY the way it looks to me.
Key point: for Bush to have asked Blanco to step aside on Monday would have been greeted with inconceivable outrage by the MediaDemocrats.
Well actually, all too conceivable - "Bush Coup d'etat!"
The Guard was federalized in Little Rock, not for national disaster, but to enforce a court desegregation decision.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — In the face of a catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, a mandatory evacuation was ordered Sunday for New Orleans by Mayor Ray Nagin.
Acknowledging that large numbers of people, many of them stranded tourists, would be unable to leave, the city set up 10 places of last resort for people to go, including the Superdome.
The mayor called the order unprecedented and said anyone who could leave the city should. He exempted hotels from the evacuation order because airlines had already cancelled all flights.
Gov. Kathleen Blanco, standing beside the mayor at a news conference, said President Bush called and personally appealed for a mandatory evacuation for the low-lying city, which is prone to flooding.
Mostly Humvees. In all probility they were unarmed. No BFV's Towing covered trailers, maybe had morters, don't know about that.
barbra ann
It was not strictly legal and in violation of PCA, (but when has that ever stopped them before) but enforcement of the orders of the court was the excuse for using the 101st Airborne on unarmed civilians.
barbra ann
we already have the Bonne Carre spilway between Laplace and Norco. Used quite frequently as I remember from my sojourn there. direct Miss R water to Ponchatrain.
barbra ann
Remember; A man that can smile when things go wrong, has thought of someone to blame it on.
barbra ann
An interesting read, describing what will happen when NO gets the "big one" an article published in the Times-Picayune in 2002. Check it out on the website,
www.nola.com
barbra ann
You are very welcome, I did the same thing in my screen-name, de Bouillion is the correct spelling, and I knew that. To much trouble to change, though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.