Brown needs to be fired IMMEDIATELY. I can't belive Bush ever gave such responsibility to this imbecile.
Is it SOP to wait?
Hysteria reins supreme.
DNC Talking Points? NewsMax is on the job. This reminds me of their PR machine for Hillary '08.
Ahh, I don't think the area is 2x as big as all of Europe, but rather just the UK. Oh well, why should a US Senator have a clue about geography before speaking.
This is bad???
I knew it was a huge mistake to combine a bunch of agencies under one roof. Bigger is not better when it comes to getting things one.
Yeah. FEMA should have prepositioned assets before the storm hit.
For what?
What was FEMA to do the day after the hurricane hit? And what good would such assets be if in the path of the hurricane?
The Red Cross even decided several years ago to NOT have shelters in New Orleans proper due to its elevation.
Sounds sensible to me. If they had been there during the hurricane they would probably be injured or dead and their equipment destroyed.
Next time we can send them in before the hurricane. Getting yourself killed is always a good way to help.
I think that I will once again, ask NewsMax to stop sending me emails. (I stopped it once, but somehow it didn't stick) This article is tells some of the truth, but leaves out the most important facts. Blanco didn't want them giving the orders, she wanted to be in charge. So, yes, they were told to hold off until they were asked to come.
Memo my ass! Has this guy heard of the telephone? This is Congress's fault too. Just a few weeks ago I heard about how FEMA screwed up in Florida last year burying some folks who shouldn't have been with federal funds. The GAO and the congressional pimps have the entire bureaucracy writing memos to cover their behinds rather than taking decisive action!
I've got a few questions:
1.)When President Bush picked Brown for this job, was he picked because he had a wealth of experience and expertise in emergency management, and an EXCEPTIONAL track record of managerial success?
2.) What criteria WERE used in the selection process?
3.) Was Brown the VERY BEST person available for this important job?
4.) How do you spell chronyism?
I'm starting to feel a little disappointed in President Bush on this issue.
FEMA is not first responders. FEMA has always let state and local governments know that they (not FEMA) are responsible for the first 72-96 hours of an emergency. FEMA will then assist as necessary. In the case of Katrina, there was no local or state support at all.
Should FEMA be 200,000 employees strong with their own fleet of boats, trucks, planes, choppers to handle (slightly better) a once every 200 year event?
"Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Mike Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29. Brown said that among duties of these employees was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims. "
Do you remember on Star Trek how you could tell which no name actors were the "expendables".
Accept their resignations immediately.
The following thread strongly refutes your article.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477255/posts
Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans at 8:00 AM with winds at 150 MPH and a storm surge of 18 feet.
As the Category 4 surged ashore just east of New Orleans on Monday, FEMA had medical teams, rescue squads and groups prepared to supply food and water poised in a semicircle around the city, said agency Director Michael Brown.
Brown, in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said the evacuation of the city and the general emergency response were working as planned in an exercise a year ago. “I was impressed with the evacuation, once it was ordered it was very smooth.”
Levee break at 17th street floods about 20% of the city.
At 11:00 AM, FEMA Director Brown arrives in Baton Rouge at the State Office of Emergency Preparedness.
It is my understanding that FEMA is NOT first response.
anybody correct me on this?
Given the role of the federal government in such situations I think his actions are reasonable. Again, New Orleans and Louisiana have the primary responsibility for dealing with disasters - the federal government's role is to pitch in, not to take over. That the federal government has essentially taken the job over shows a complete failure by the local and state governments.
The TSA and 'Homeland Security'(?) has been a joke for years. Tom Ridge and Norman Minetta have proven this. I have taken half a dozen potential 'weapons' on my business trips for over 35 years. A few years ago, I sent the FBI a list of 11 ways to make a flight crew, "uncomfortable." Subsequently, for at least a year I was drawn aside, and patted down, etc. It was a joke. A 53 year old 150 pound, shaven, bald WASP wearing a $500 navy blue pin-stripe suit being patted down and wanded. LOL
Oh well.