What Went Wrong after Katrina and Rita

STATE HOMELAND SECURITY LEADERS MET TODAY TO DISCUSS WHAT WENT WRONG AFTER KATRINA AND RITA.

NEW TWO'S VERONICA MOSGROVE WENT TO THE FOLKS IN CHARGE TO GET ANSWERS TO FIND OUT WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY.

ALL AGREE COMMUNICATION WAS ONE OF THE BIGGEST FAILURES. Return to index of stories...

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As Louisiana tries to pick up the pieces of this devastated region. State officials are reviewing everything that happened right before and in the weeks after the storm hit. U-S Senator Mary Landrieu says while the state is partly to blame for the failures.calling the states evacuation plan inadequate. Landrieu says the federal government is largely to blame.

nothing will change the fact that communication failed.And that was a federal responsibility,.The levee system failed. And that was a federal responsibility.and the emergency response failed.FEMA is the federal emergency management agency and it failed

When New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was asked what three things he would do differently if he could turn back the clock. He said he would order a mandatory evacuation sooner, he would commandeer the buses to move people out and he said he would not wait for the federal government to come to the rescue.

And here's what Governor Kathleen Blanco says she would do differently. She says she'd have a back up communication system.

And instead of waiting for the feds, she'd prepare for the state to handle its own emergency.

The governor says she would activate an automatic phone message, pleading with people evacuate. That calling system would also feature an option for those with no way out to notify them and get help. Return to index of stories...

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THE GOVERNOR ADDS. THE STATE WILL HELP PARISHES CREATE A PLAN TO EVACUATE THE AT-RISK POPULATION.

AND SHE SAYS WITH THE NEED TO HAVE STRONGER HURRICANE PROTECTION. THERE SHOULD BE ANNUAL INSPECTIONS OF THE LEVEE SYSTEM. Return to index of stories...

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KATRINA SURVIVORS AGREE.THINGS COULD HAVE BEEN HANDLED MUCH BETTER THAN THEY WERE.

"letting people know, you know, where to go cause I really didn't know where to go. And I guess a little bit earlier than what they did causing the mandatory evacuation."

THE STATE OFFICE OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS MET TODAY TO REVIEW ITS RESPONSE.

"When New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was asked what three things he would do differently if he could turn back the clock. He said he would order a mandatory evacuation sooner, he would commandeer the buses to move people out and he said he would not wait for the federal government to come to the rescue."

#1 is stupid. An earlier evacuation wouldn't have gotten more people out. Everyone left behind either chose to stay or had no way to get out (in their minds).

#2 is something he was required to do because it is part of the EOC protocol handbook (guess they lost the protocol book just like they did during Ivan the year before).

#3 is just ridiculous. If your local people are overwhelmed and the state is sitting around unable to decide what to do, you have no choice but to wait for federal help. And federal help wasn't going to come until the situation was not life threatening to the rescuers.

Nagin proves he is an idiot. We already knew Blanco was one.

What Nagin should have said was:

#1 certify that the feds properly constructed the levees and floodwalls.

#2 made sure the local emergency responders would have all the materials (water, food, medicine, rescue boats, etc) and manpower needed to respond to the situation for a minimum of 5 days without any outside assistance.

#3 made sure that there was sufficient funds set aside for reconstructing the basic infrastructure of the city.

§1300.2. Petition for recall election; campaign finance disclosure

A.(1) Whenever the recall of any public officer is sought, a petition shall be directed to the governor. The petition shall be limited to the request that an election be called and held in the voting area for the purpose of recalling the officer. No recall petition shall seek an election for the recall of more than one public officer, individually, in the same recall petition.

(2) The secretary of state shall provide a form approved by the attorney general to be used for the petition for a recall election. Such form shall be in conformity with the provisions of this Chapter and R.S. 18:3. All recall petitions shall be on an approved form or on a form which contains the same information as required by the approved form and any petition not on such a form shall be invalid.

B. All signatures on recall petitions shall be handwritten. [b] This petition shall be signed by a number of the electors of the voting area as will in number equal not less than thirty-three and one-third percent of the number of the total electors of the voting area wherein and for which a recall election is petitioned; [/b]however, where fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be signed by not less than forty percent of said electors.

C.(1) Prior to the entering of any signatures on a petition, the chairman designated to represent the petitioners shall file with the secretary of state a copy of the recall petition which will be used and upon receipt of the recall petition the secretary of state shall endorse thereon the fact and the date of filing. A copy shall be transmitted by the secretary of state to the registrar of voters for each parish in which the recall election is to be held. The chairman shall list on the petition every parish which is wholly or partially within the voting area in which the recall election is to be held. The petition shall be deemed filed when it is received in the office of the secretary of state, or at the time it is postmarked by the United States Postal Service or is receipted on a return receipt request form, if it is subsequently received in the office of the secretary of state.

(2) The signed and dated petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters for each parish within the voting area not later than one hundred eighty days after the day on which the copy of the petition was filed with the secretary of state; however, where fewer than one thousand qualified electors reside within the voting area, the petition shall be submitted to the registrar of voters not later than ninety days after the day on which the copy of the petition is filed with the secretary of state. If the final day for submitting the signed and dated petition falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline for filing such petition shall be on the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

(3) The chairman shall file notice with the registrar on the third day before the petition is submitted to the registrar that he will submit the petition and the date of such submission, unless such submission is made within three days prior to the expiration of the period for submitting such petition. Such notice of submission shall be a public record. If the notice filed with the registrar on the third day before the petition is submitted includes a date for submitting the signed and dated petition which falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday, the registrar shall so inform the chairman and advise the chairman of the next day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or other legal holiday and on which the petition is to be submitted.

D. Each elector, at the time of signing the petition, shall enter his address and the date on which he signed beside or underneath his signature; however, if a person is unable to write, as provided in R.S. 18:1300.4, the two witnesses shall date their signatures. In addition, each petition shall be in compliance with the provisions of R.S. 18:3. In determining the number of qualified electors who signed the petition in any parish, the registrar of voters shall not count any signature which is undated or bears a date prior to the date on which the copy of the petition initially was filed with the secretary of state or after the date of the submission of the petition to the registrar except as otherwise provided in R.S. 18:1300.3(B). The registrar shall not receive or certify a petition submitted to him for certification unless it is submitted to him timely.

E. The secretary of state shall notify the Supervisory Committee on Campaign Finance Disclosure of the filing of a copy of a recall petition to be used to seek the recall of a public officer, including the date of such filing, the officer who is the subject of the petition, and the names and addresses of the chairman and vice chairman designated on the petition. The Campaign Finance Disclosure Act shall be applicable to persons supporting or opposing the recall of a public officer as provided in R.S. 18:1486.

Amended by Acts 1968, No. 590, §1; Acts 1977, No. 473, §1; Acts 1979, No. 148, §1; Acts 1984, No. 672, §1; Acts 1985, No. 754, §1; Acts 1986, No. 669, §1; Acts 1988, No. 909, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1989; Acts 1990, No. 107, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1991; Acts 1995, No. 555, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996; Acts 1995, No. 1046, §1, eff. June 29, 1995; Acts 2001, No. 1032, §7; Acts 2002, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 130, §1, eff. April 23, 2002; Acts 2003, No. 1220, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2004.

NOTE: See Acts 2001, No. 1032, §17.

"The people of Louisiana have screwed themselves. The majority of New Orleans refugees are the lowest dregs of society that one can imagine. The American people have seen this, some of us, close up and personal!!! Fact is: the overwhelming number of American citizens could care less about New Orleans and its restoration. America has seen what New Orleans was really like, and they don't like it one bit. Mayor Nagin, Governor Blanco, Mary Landrieu are whistling in the wind. No one in America cares!!!"

Actually I have been around the US in the last 3 months and found the majority of Americans to be very caring and want the people of New Orleans to get back on their feet. The issue of rebuilding New Orleans is a different story and you get a variety of opinions and because most people are not well-informed about the city and gulf region, you get some strange opinions based on personal prejudices, wild conjecture, MSM lies, and sadly few opinions based on facts.

Finally I have to take you to task for your comment that the refugees are the lowest dregs of society. That is simply untrue. There are many "refugees" who are in the upper 5 to 10% of income earners. For example, the Lakeview region (and the surrounding neighborhoods) are still unlivable being directly between the 17th and London canal breaks. These neighborhoods held a substantial number of the high income residents of the city. Homes in this area were anywhere from $300K to $3M. As long as these residents are in temporary housing and families split apart and kids living in other cities to attend school, I would call them evacuees or "refugees" by your definition. There are other pockets all over SE Louisiana and Mississippi of very well-off residents who lost their homes and many lost both their first and second homes. You and so many others seem to be fixated only on the poor black population, or think that the area is only made up of destitute people living on welfare, but I blame that perception mostly on the media and politicians trying to make political hay. Sadly, there are also too many FReepers who are totally mischaracterizing the situation either out of sheer ignorance or for political purposes.

I know New Orleans, having spent significant time there either doing business with corporate aircraft brokers, attending the convention center for both the amusement park and aviation industry, or visiting long time personal friends. The cabbies used to tell me, "sir, don't go walking around at night here, you take your life in your hands". Blacks folks, whom I know very well, and who really loved the city tell me the place is a cesspool of welfare clients living in a world of crime, drugs and sub-human culture. Folks have I have seen and had contact with can barely read, cannot communicate effectively, and don't have an ounce of credit to their name. The women have the credit cards, if they have any at all. The men hang out in the background, wards of the welfare state created by their "Black" leaders in NO and the Louisiana Democrat Party. It is distressing to watch humanity sinking so low!!! This is the way it really is. I could write a book of what these eyes have seen, but the American people are not going to subsidize a society that is dependent on Democrat political hacks for their survival, if one can call the way Black folks lived in New Orleans survival. Sadly this scenerio is repeated to a somewhat lesser degree in cities like Baltimore, Washington DC, Detroit, etc. My friend, this is what the Congressional Black Caucus and the Democrat Party have created, a new form of slavery and oppression. Too bad "Black" folks don't have the sense to see what has happened to them!!! New Orleans is not going anywhere until a "sea change" of political, economic and social change takes place. That is reality!!!

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