Katrina Response Mismanagement

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

Edited to add: Oops...Upon reviewing this thread, I see that I made this point previously. Still, it bears repeating.

It does. That is inexcusable. Bush should answer for that. The director of FEMA should be fired, no doubt.

I will hold back judgement on any inhabitant of the affected areas. That lady might not have slept for days.

However, as far as where the buck stops, the first two places it should stop are with the local government - specifically the mayor of NOLA and the governor. I believe these two points bear repeating - the mayor had days to evacuate and yet didn't even abide by the written plan. Hundreds of busses that could and should have been used to evacuate well over 10,000 people who had no transportation sit in a flooded parking lot. The governor did not declare martial law, and made no use of the national guard because she did not request them, and as GD points out, they can't just come storming in.

The local officials had the responsibility of predisaster execution and did nothing. Yes, there was gross mismanagement by FEMA and the feds in the first three days after Katrina passed, but the amount of human suffering would have been greatly reduced if the local officials had done something to get those people out or get the national guard in there to keep order in the first couple of days afterward.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

...or get the national guard in there to keep order in the first couple of days afterward.

Nothing local government could have done about that without the Federal government preparing the guard days ahead of time. The national guard was mobilized immediately...but it's made up mostly of people with full time jobs, not units sitting on a base. It takes 3 days minimum to mobilize the national guard, especially in its thinned out state with so many of them in Iraq. Martial Law or not, had the guard been mobilized 4 days BEFORE the hurricane, they would have been ready to get into the city and start rescuing people and handing out aid immediately, even if they weren't allowed to take police action (though I'd bet their mere presence would have severely reduced the amount of need for police action even without martial law...if I see a dude with an AK, I'm not going to go check the news paper to find out if he's been granted the power to shoot me or not).

There is absolutely no excuse for news crews being able to get those stupid vans to the Convention Center days before the guard, and that's not something local government has control over.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

The national guard was mobilized immediately...but it's made up mostly of people with full time jobs, not units sitting on a base. It takes 3 days minimum to mobilize the national guard, especially in its thinned out state with so many of them in Iraq.

Another important point is that many of the thousands of guardsmen who are in Iraq were local police and firemen. Their knowledge of the area could have helped much more than sending in guards from other states.

I still don't understand why we have National guardsmen in Iraq. That isn't what they signed up to do and they were needed HERE.

[alphabassettgrrl]

One point to remember also concerns the people interviewed on camera. They're not the average person. They're chosen for effect, for what they will say. Somebody probably thought it was funny or outrageous for the woman to seem more concerned for her house than her daughter.

[scaeagles]

Originally Posted by Motorboat Cruiser

Another important point is that many of the thousands of guardsmen who are in Iraq were local police and firemen. Their knowledge of the area could have helped much more than sending in guards from other states.

I still don't understand why we have National guardsmen in Iraq. That isn't what they signed up to do and they were needed HERE.

While the debate is certainly valid about national guardsmen being in Iraq, Louisiana has 11,700 National guardsmen, and 8,000 are still there. It isn't an issue of all of the guardsmen not knowing the area at all.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Originally Posted by scaeagles

While the debate is certainly valid about national guardsmen being in Iraq, Louisiana has 11,700 National guardsmen, and 8,000 are still there. It isn't an issue of all of the guardsmen not knowing the area at all.

My understanding is that the ones sent to Iraq were ones specifically with fire/police training. I could be wrong though. Lots of unverifiable info floating around these days. If true though, the ones over there might have been especially helpful.

[SacTown Chronic]

God bless Barbara Bush. It just burns her ass that those poor folks aren't more grateful for all the free food and blankets.


She's gonna be livid when she sees them bunking on those cruise ships. Shhhhh.

[Motorboat Cruiser]

Oops...

(CNN) -- Add geography to the growing list of FEMA fumbles.

A South Carolina health official said his colleagues scrambled Tuesday when FEMA gave only a half-hour notice to prepare for the arrival of a plane carrying as many as 180 evacuees to Charleston.

But the plane, instead, landed in Charleston, West Virginia, 400 miles away.

It was not known whether arrangements have been made to care for the evacuees or transport them to the correct destination.

A call seeking comment from FEMA was not immediately returned.

"We called in all the available resources," said Dr. John Simkovich, director of public health for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.

"They responded within 30 minutes, which is phenomenal, to meet the needs of the citizens coming in from Louisiana," he said.

Simkovich said that the agency had described some of the evacuees as needing "some minor treatment ... possibly some major treatment."

"Unfortunately, the plane did not come in," Simkovich said. "There was a mistake in the system, coming out through FEMA, that we did not receive the aircraft this afternoon. It went to Charleston, West Virginia."

A line of buses and ambulances idled behind him at Charleston International Airport as he described what happened.

"This is a 'no event' for today," Simkovich said.

Failure to Effectively Manage Anything.