an interesting view

[grimm]

on the current crisis and its timeline


IIRC The Department of Homeland Security is responsible. The Secretary was
chosen by the President and he also agreed on who the head of FEMA should
be. Therefore they should be in charge and responsible for any screw ups.

Rudy did a great job of handling a tiny crisis in New York relative to what
is going on in LA, MS and AL. He is so good at what he did, he probably
should also have been sent to Iraq to lead our troops to victory and then
use his "crisis manager" skills there.

I heard FEMA actually did some practice disaster releif exercises in NO so
they should have had a plan and a knowledge of the nuances of the
governmental structure, the location of supplies, the transportation system,
the levies etc. However, as Bush plays war hero president, the ability of
FEMA to respond was weakened. It may have been due to stupidity or not
caring or robbing Peter to pay paul the Iraq fiasco or a simple desire to
reduce the domestic budget.

This piece from the Washington Journal gives an interesting look at the
management and the funding of FEMA:

"CHRONOLOGY....Here's a timeline that outlines the fate of both FEMA and
flood control projects in New Orleans under the Bush administration. Read it
and weep:


a.. January 2001: Bush appoints Joe Allbaugh, a crony from Texas, as head
of FEMA. Allbaugh has no previous experience in disaster management.


b.. April 2001: Budget Director Mitch Daniels announces the Bush
administration's goal of privatizing much of FEMA's work. In May, Allbaugh
confirms that FEMA will be downsized: "Many are concerned that federal
disaster assistance may have evolved into both an oversized entitlement
program...." he said. "Expectations of when the federal government should be
involved and the degree of involvement may have ballooned beyond what is an
appropriate level."


c.. 2001: FEMA designates a major hurricane hitting New Orleans as one of
the three "likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country."


d.. December 2002: After less than two years at FEMA, Allbaugh announces
he is leaving to start up a consulting firm that advises companies seeking
to do business in Iraq. He is succeeded by his deputy, Michael Brown, who,
like Allbaugh, has no previous experience in disaster management.


e.. March 2003: FEMA is downgraded from a cabinet level position and
folded into the Department of Homeland Security. Its mission is refocused on
fighting acts of terrorism.


f.. 2003: Under its new organization chart within DHS, FEMA's preparation
and planning functions are reassigned to a new Office of Preparedness and
Response. FEMA will henceforth focus only on response and recovery.


g.. Summer 2004: FEMA denies Louisiana's pre-disaster mitigation funding
requests. Says Jefferson Parish flood zone manager Tom Rodrigue: "You would
think we would get maximum consideration....This is what the grant program
called for. We were more than qualified for it."


h.. June 2004: The Army Corps of Engineers budget for levee construction
in New Orleans is slashed. Jefferson Parish emergency management chiefs
Walter Maestri comments: "It appears that the money has been moved in the
president's budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq, and I
suppose that's the price we pay."


i.. June 2005: Funding for the New Orleans district of the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers is cut by a record $71.2 million. One of the hardest-hit areas
is the Southeast Louisiana Urban Flood Control Project, which was created
after the May 1995 flood to improve drainage in Jefferson, Orleans and St.
Tammany parishes.


j.. August 2005: While New Orleans is undergoing a slow motion
catastrophe, Bush mugs for the cameras, cuts a cake for John McCain, plays
the guitar for Mark Wills, delivers an address about V-J day, and continues
with his vacation. When he finally gets around to acknowledging the scope of
the unfolding disaster, he delivers only a photo op on Air Force One and a
flat, defensive, laundry list speech in the Rose Garden.


So: A crony with no relevant experience was installed as head of FEMA.
Mitigation budgets for New Orleans were slashed even though it was known to
be one of the top three risks in the country. FEMA was deliberately
downsized as part of the Bush administration's conservative agenda to reduce
the role of government. After DHS was created, FEMA's preparation and
planning functions were taken away.

Actions have consequences. No one could predict that a hurricane the size of
Katrina would hit this year, but the slow federal response when it did
happen was no accident. It was the result of four years of deliberate
Republican policy and budget choices that favor ideology and partisan
loyalty at the expense of operational competence. It's the Bush
administration in a nutshell."