Katrina :: Storm Effects
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Effects of the Storm :: Hurricane Katrina :: Criticisms : Federal and State
Critics of the relief effort have said that the government - at all levels - had not done enough to minimize casualties before the storm, as well as provide relief to victims.
An ABC News Poll with 501 respondents, conducted on September 2, showed slightly more blame is being directed at state and local governments (75 percent) than at the Federal government (67 percent), with 44 percent blaming President Bush's leadership directly. [43]. A later CNN/USATODAY/GALLUP POLL with 609 participants, taken September 5-6, showed a shift to holding the federal government to blame.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
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Criticisms :: Federal and State
Critics of the relief effort have said that the government — at all levels — had not done enough to minimize casualties before the storm, as well as provide relief to victims.
An ABC News Poll with 501 respondents, conducted on September 2, showed slightly more blame is being directed at state and local governments (75 percent) than at the Federal government (67 percent), with 44 percent blaming President Bush's leadership directly. [43]. A later CNN/USATODAY/GALLUP POLL with 609 participants, taken September 5-6, showed a shift to holding the federal government to blame. 13% held President Bush as most responsible, 18% said "federal agencies"; 25% said "state and local officials"; 38% said "no one is to blame"; 6% had no opinion.
Criticisms of federal response
New Orleans' top emergency management official called the effort a "national disgrace" and questioned when reinforcements would actually reach the increasingly desperate city. New Orleans' emergency operations chief Terry Ebbert blamed the inadequate response on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). "This is not a FEMA operation. I haven't seen a single FEMA guy", he said. "FEMA has been here three days, yet there is no command and control. We can send massive amounts of aid to tsunami victims, but we can't bail out the city of New Orleans." [44] At the time, the main staging area was only 6 miles away along the adjoining I-10 at the Causeway intersection, and FEMA had apparently been at the Superdome three days earlier.
Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans, in an interview broadcast on WWL (AM) on the early morning of 2 September, expressed his frustration at what he judged to be insufficient reinforcements provided by the President and federal authorities, even though he admitted rejecting evacuation buses. The interview was picked up by the news media such as CNN later that morning. He ended the interview in tears. Complete Transcript MP3 Audio Windows Media Streaming Audio.
Additionally, many police, fire and EMS organizations from outside the affected areas have reportedly been stymied in their efforts to send help and assistance to the area. Official requests for help through the proper chains of command have not been forthcoming. Local police and other EMS workers are apparently traumatized themselves. At least two officers have apparently committed suicide, and many have apparently deserted and turned in their badges.[45][46]
In contrast to claims that FEMA was not present, have been many reports of FEMA blocking relief efforts. Globalstar reported that a truck carrying more than 1,000 satellite telephones was barred from the disaster area. Aaron Broussard, the President of Jefferson Parish, which neighbors New Orleans, criticized the governments response on the September 4, 2005 edition of NBC's Meet the Press. Broussard described how FEMA blocked water deliveries from Wal-Mart, blocked the shipment of fuel to his area, cut emergency communication lines and described how the local sheriff posted armed guards to protect the lines after they were reconnected;
We had Wal-Mart deliver three trucks of water, trailer trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They said we didn't need them. This was a week ago. FEMA--we had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel docked in my parish. The Coast Guard said, 'Come get the fuel right away.' When we got there with our trucks, they got a word. 'FEMA says don't give you the fuel.' Yesterday--yesterday--FEMA comes in and cuts all of our emergency communication lines. They cut them without notice [47]
Note: "a week ago" sets the Wal-Mart delivery on Sunday, August 28, before Katrina hit.
Broussard broke down and sobbed uncontrollably on live television while telling the story of one of his employees who kept getting cell phone calls from his mother who was trapped by flood waters in a nursing home:
And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me. The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?" And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you. Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday. Somebody's coming to get you on Friday." And she drowned Friday night. She drowned Friday night.
Nobody's coming to get us. Nobody's coming to get us. The secretary has promised. Everybody's promised. They've had press conferences. I'm sick of the press conferences. For God sakes, shut up and send us somebody.
Video of Broussard's Meet The Press interview.
It was later established that Broussard had missunderstood the situation at the nursing home. 'When told of the sequence of phone calls that Broussard described on Meet the Press, [Thomas Rodrigue, the Jefferson Parish emergency services director] said “No, no, that’s not true.” ... Officials believe that the residents of St. Rita’s died on Monday, Aug. 29, not on Friday, Sept. 2, as Broussard had suggested.'[48]
Note: Owners of St. Rita’s Nursing Home, in St. Bernard Parish, were later arrested for negligent homicide after the home refused the parish’s mandatory evacuation order, as well as offers by the parish to send buses to evacuate the facility.[49]
State and federal troops
Another criticism of the federal response comes in the form of the National Guard. Often the first defense for hurricane-hit areas, the Louisiana National Guard would often be the first to respond to a scene. While the National Guard is usually activated through gubernatorial process, the president also has the authority to call national guard into action. President Bush did not do this. Critics also claim that use of National Guard to boost troop numbers in Iraq left them depleted and unready to handle disasters at home.
Additionally, New Mexico's Governor Bill Richardson offered assistance to New Orleans two days before the hurricane hit, but paperwork was held up in Washington, D.C. until after the storm hit. [50] Congress has vowed to investigate the Guard's sluggish response as well as the lack of activation of many government plans such as the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, which could have put commercial and private planes into action to help drop cargo or evacuate civilians.
President Bush, having ordered New Orleans a state of emergency two days before Katrina's strike, stayed on vacation two days after the hurricane made landfall. Bush's ranch has access to all the equipment available at the White House with full communication to cabinet members. Congress, as well, was on recess.
Normally, under the Posse Comitatus Act, prohibits the use of Federal troops or forces other than the Coast Guard and Navy for law enforcement unless the Governor of the state formally requests aid, or in times of emergency. Gov. Blanco did dispatch a letter to the White House asking for a state of emergency to be declared on 27 August [51], but did not specifically request the use of the regular military. The Louisiana National Guard remained under her control.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_of_Hurricane_Katrina_on_New_Orleans
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