Katrina Response Mismanagement

[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.