GOI: Mark it down on your calendars. I am in total agreement with something U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today:
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Friday that local and state officials shouldn’t have to share in the blame for the poor response because they “were in fact victims and not able to respond.”
I hope that this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Heh.
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15 comments:
Wow, I hope you don't start agreeing with him on a regular basis...
Me am not Bizarro, worst DoD Secretary in U.S. History.
or should that be best? I never can figure that out...
aughra & crimnos:
yeah, maybe a rock fell on his head and he is now going to act compassionately. No? Yeah, You're probably right. :/
James,
Very interesting.
I think, though, that you and Rummy may agree that warranted blame may come down on the heads of New Orleans and Louisiana officials for being ill prepared for the world's most anticipated disaster.
For one thing, school busses should have been used to help in the evacuation. Thousands of MREs and potable water could have been stored at the Superdome in anticipation of this likely emergency.
Harping on the bus issue is a right wing talking point. Rummy would be proud, ZU.
Being trapped in the open in a Cat 5 hurricane in a bus is not preferable to being in the Superdome. Many of the evacuation routes are elevated above water. The waves can, and did, destroy sections of those highways. The winds of a Cat 5 can and will flip a bus over. People in them would have died. If Katrina had stayed Cat 5 and gone over evacuation routes, thousands could have died.
FEMA had the capability to do a mass evacuation of those unable to leave the city after it was hit, should the need arise. And that was the information that Nagin and Blanca and the Parish presidents had ("the cavalry is coming"). The local plan tried to get people to places where they could ride out the storm, and wait for help afterwards. There seem to have been major holes in the plan to get all of those helpless to the last refuges, and those holes should be investigated. But it is not the case that the evacuation plan was run by a bunch of incompetents.
Given that FEMA has a legally mandated responsibility to aid in the aftermath, it seems sensible to wait it out in tough structures, for those who could not leave in time.
It seems like a tough choice to make, and one that people made hoping it was the best. It wouldn't have been so bad if FEMA had actually came through with its legally mandated role.
As for food and water, I do believe there was enough food and water at the Superdome to last through the Hurricane (2 days). I will check on that. They just didn't have resources to withstand the levees breaking.
The levees were federally built, federally funded (and cut), and federally maintained. The breaking of those levees and the aftermath of that scenario belonged to FEMA and was beyond the scope of the city or the state to handle it.
I'll say it again, did the City peform perfectly during the hurricane? No, but they seemed to have done what they could to weather it. It was the breaking of the levees that they were not nor could have they been prepared for.
Also, Gov. Blanco knew ahead of time that this massive hurricane would require more resources then her state had access to. She did this on friday August 26. Well, before the storm hit.
At a 9/1 press conference, Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré, commander, Joint Task Force Katrina, said that the Gulf States began the process of requesting additional forces on Friday, 8/26.
Saturday August 27: Katrina upgraded to a Cat 3 hurricane.
GOV. BLANCO ASKS BUSH TO DECLARE FEDERAL STATE OF EMERGENCY IN LOUISIANA: “I have determined that this incident is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and affected local governments, and that supplementary Federal assistance is necessary to save lives, protect property, public health, and safety, or to lessen or avert the threat of a disaster.”
FEDERAL EMERGENCY DECLARED, DHS AND FEMA GIVEN FULL AUTHORITY TO RESPOND TO KATRINA: “Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency.”
Sunday August 28: 2AM CDT – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE
7AM CDT – KATRINA UPGRADED TO CATEGORY 5 HURRICANE
MORNING — LOUISIANA NEWSPAPER SIGNALS LEVEES MAY GIVE: “Forecasters Fear Levees Won’t Hold Katrina”: “Forecasters feared Sunday afternoon that storm driven waters will lap over the New Orleans levees when monster Hurricane Katrina pushes past the Crescent City tomorrow.”
9:30 AM CDT — MAYOR NAGIN ISSUES FIRST EVER MANDATORY EVACUATION OF NEW ORLEANS: “We’re facing the storm most of us have feared,” said Nagin. “This is going to be an unprecedented event.”
4PM CDT – NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ISSUES SPECIAL HURRICANE WARNING: In the event of a category 4 or 5 hit, “Most of the area will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer. … At least one-half of well-constructed homes will have roof and wall failure. All gabled roofs will fail, leaving those homes severely damaged or destroyed. … Power outages will last for weeks. … Water shortages will make human suffering incredible by modern standards.”
AFTERNOON — BUSH, BROWN, CHERTOFF WARNED OF LEVEE FAILURE BY NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER DIRECTOR: Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center: “‘We were briefing them way before landfall. … It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped.’”
APPROXIMATELY 30,000 EVACUEES GATHER AT SUPERDOME WITH ROUGHLY 36 HOURS WORTH OF FOOD.
Monday, August 29
7AM CDT – KATRINA MAKES LANDFALL AS A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE
MORNING — BUSH CALLS SECRETARY CHERTOFF TO DISCUSS IMMIGRATION: “I spoke to Mike Chertoff today — he’s the head of the Department of Homeland Security. I knew people would want me to discuss this issue [immigration], so we got us an airplane on — a telephone on Air Force One, so I called him. I said, are you working with the governor? He said, you bet we are.”
MORNING – BUSH SHARES BIRTHDAY CAKE PHOTO-OP WITH SEN. JOHN MCCAIN
10:30AM CDT — MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE: “Brown’s memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ‘this near catastrophic event’ but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ‘Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities.’”
10:30AM CDT — MICHAEL BROWN FINALLY REQUESTS THAT DHS DISPATCH 1,000 EMPLOYEES TO REGION, GIVES THEM TWO DAYS TO ARRIVE: “Brown’s memo to Chertoff described Katrina as ‘this near catastrophic event’ but otherwise lacked any urgent language. The memo politely ended, ‘Thank you for your consideration in helping us to meet our responsibilities.’”
LATE MORNING – LEVEE BREACHED: “A large section of the vital 17th Street Canal levee, where it connects to the brand new ‘hurricane proof’ Old Hammond Highway bridge, gave way late Monday morning in Bucktown after Katrina’s fiercest winds were well north.”
11AM CDT — BUSH VISITS ARIZONA RESORT TO PROMOTE MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “This new bill I signed says, if you’re a senior and you like the way things are today, you’re in good shape, don’t change. But, by the way, there’s a lot of different options for you. And we’re here to talk about what that means to our seniors.”
4PM CDT — BUSH TRAVELS TO CALIFORNIA SENIOR CENTER TO DISCUSS MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT: “We’ve got some folks up here who are concerned about their Social Security or Medicare. Joan Geist is with us. … I could tell — she was looking at me when I first walked in the room to meet her, she was wondering whether or not old George W. is going to take away her Social Security check.”
Tuesday, August 30
11AM CDT – BUSH SPEAKS ON IRAQ AT NAVAL BASE CORON
MIDDAY – CHERTOFF FINALLY BECOMES AWARE THAT LEVEE HAS FAILED: “It was on Tuesday that the levee–may have been overnight Monday to Tuesday–that the levee started to break. And it was midday Tuesday that I became aware of the fact that there was no possibility of plugging the gap and that essentially the lake was going to start to drain into the city.”
PENTAGON CLAIMS THERE ARE ENOUGH NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS IN REGION: “Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita said the states have adequate National Guard units to handle the hurricane needs.” (James: Speaking of which a large segment of the LA Nat'l Guard just barely arrived in LA a few days ago in response to low levels of troops due to Iraq).
MASS LOOTING REPORTED, SECURITY SHORTAGE CITED: “The looting is out of control. The French Quarter has been attacked,” Councilwoman Jackie Clarkson said. “We’re using exhausted, scarce police to control looting when they should be used for search and rescue while we still have people on rooftops.”
U.S.S. BATAAN SITS OFF SHORE, VIRTUALLY UNUSED: “The USS Bataan, a 844-foot ship designed to dispatch Marines in amphibious assaults, has helicopters, doctors, hospital beds, food and water. It also can make its own water, up to 100,000 gallons a day. And it just happened to be in the Gulf of Mexico when Katrina came roaring ashore. The Bataan rode out the storm and then followed it toward shore, awaiting relief orders. Helicopter pilots flying from its deck were some of the first to begin plucking stranded New Orleans residents. But now the Bataan’s hospital facilities, including six operating rooms and beds for 600 patients, are empty.”
2PM CDT – PRESIDENT BUSH PLAYS GUITAR WITH COUNTRY SINGER MARK WILLIS
BUSH RETURNS TO CRAWFORD FOR FINAL NIGHT OF VACATION
Wednesday, August 31
TENS OF THOUSANDS TRAPPED IN SUPERDOME; CONDITIONS DETERIORATE: “A 2-year-old girl slept in a pool of urine. Crack vials littered a restroom. Blood stained the walls next to vending machines smashed by teenagers. ‘We pee on the floor. We are like animals,’ said Taffany Smith, 25, as she cradled her 3-week-old son, Terry. … By Wednesday, it had degenerated into horror. … At least two people, including a child, have been raped. At least three people have died, including one man who jumped 50 feet to his death, saying he had nothing left to live for. There is no sanitation. The stench is overwhelming.”"
PRESIDENT BUSH FINALLY ORGANIZES TASK FORCE TO COORDINATE FEDERAL RESPONSE: Bush says on Tuesday he will “fly to Washington to begin work…with a task force that will coordinate the work of 14 federal agencies involved in the relief effort.
4PM CDT — BUSH GIVES FIRST MAJOR ADDRESS ON KATRINA: “Nothing about the president’s demeanor… — which seemed casual to the point of carelessness — suggested that he understood the depth of the current crisis.”
7PM CDT – CONDOLEEZZA RICE TAKES IN A BROADWAY SHOW: “On Wednesday night, Secretary Rice was booed by some audience members at ‘Spamalot!, the Monty Python musical at the Shubert, when the lights went up after the performance.”
8PM CDT — FEMA DIRECTOR BROWN CLAIMS SURPRISE OVER SIZE OF STORM: “I must say, this storm is much much bigger than anyone expected.”
Thursday, September 1
7AM CDT — BUSH CLAIMS NO ONE EXPECTED LEVEES TO BREAK: “I don’t think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees.”
James: I don't think I need to go any further on this timeline to prove that the local and state officials did all that they could and asked for federal assistance well in advance of the storm knowing that they did not have the resources adequate enough to respond to a storm of this magnatude.
Therefore, I belive that the full weight of the slow and terrible response to this disaster falls on the federal govt.
But guys, there were totally school buses underwater. I know, because I saw it at Free Republic....
...guys?
(not much more to add. Great rebuttal!)
paolo,
I am not harping. And I know nothing about what the conservatives are saying.
It is now Sunday. Nagin was on Meet the Press and he said to moderator Tim Russert, with respect to using the busses: "You know, Tim, that's one of the things that will be debated. There has never been a catastrophe in the history of New Orleans like this. There has never been any Category 5 storm of this magnitude that has hit New Orleans directly. We did the things that we thought were best based upon the information that we had."
I think Mayor Nagin looked confident, but gave some disappointing answers. As I have said from the beginning, I think an independent commission is necessary. I tend to think there is culpability everywhere, but, yes, most especially with the federal response. And certainly I cannot imagine a president performing as reprehensively as Bush seems to have. But I think that you and James are overlooking the responsibilities for preparedness that Blanco and Nagin had.
-- Tom
he really said that?
I can't say I'm surprised. They seem to differ on their opinions all the time. One person says one thing...than someone else totally contricts him...
Tom: I also heard Mayor Nagin say something different regarding the buses.
This is not an exact quote but it is very close:
"Yes, there were lots of buses but there were not enough drivers willing to stay behind with a cat 4-5 hurricane coming. There were barely enough drivers to evacuate people just to the superdome."
I would be very narrow minded and blindingly partisan if I did not think that local officials shared some of the blame for Katrina.
Mistakes such as Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin being late on the evacuation notices (however, some people will always stay).
I think though that the local officials did the best that they could given their limited resources. I do not think, however, that the same can be said for the feds.
Senators and Rep's from Louisiana have been lobbying Presidents about the low levee funding from President Carter to GWB. I think that Clinton shares in this failure of the federal government as GWB.
I will say though that the feds seem to have finally gotten their "shit together" and are doing a good job with the clean up and recovery.
James,
I think that focus should be given such that the poor government response in the wake of Katrina is not forgotten. A highly capable, well-funded independent investigation must be conducted and everything must be done to correct the errors going forward. Also, we must look into how our government is neglecting the downtroddened.
If Democrat officials are culpable, then they must not escape blame. If Republican officials are culpable, then they, also, must not escape blame. A commission of inquiry must not politicize its investigation and arbitrarily make it seem that blame is equaly shared between the political parties.
If Bush is as culpable as he seems, then the independent commission must damn him mightily without restraint.
Let us hope the truth will be told such that a better future is likely, protecting citizens better against natural disaster, terrorism and other misfortunes.
-- Tom
Politics..I am to chicken to comment..LOL
:~)
If Bush is as culpable as he seems, then the independent commission must damn him mightily without restraint.
That's going to be difficult road.
At the most, Bush is guilty of putting people in charge of FEMA that were not qualified to run it, amass on the ground intelligence ("there were people at the convention center?") nor to execute a basic contingent action plan when the primary plan failed.
To make matters worse, the Bush of demoted FEMA from the cabinet level and put political cronies at the top levels of the agency. This created a demoralizing and highly politicized environment that resulted in many of the experienced emergency managers taking early retirement or quitting more or less en masse over the past four years.
He should be held accountable for that, but I'm not sure (sadly) that the rises to the level of an impeachable offense. It's merely administrative ineptitude, and we've seen PLENTY of that the past five years.
As for the political cost of this, his administration should definitely be held accountable for the fact that, four years after 9/11, the emasculated FEMA and the moribund DHS showed a woefully inadequte and slow response to a large urban disaster.
Otherwise, on a personal level, he's guilty of what we've known him to be all along. A poor leader who cannot think creatively when his underlings are failing him, and a person callously indifferent to the suffering of every day people.
When the situation called for his immediate and strong response, he again flew the other direction. On 9/11 is was to Nebraska, and after the Hurricane it was to San Diego.
Not that he should have flown to NOLA, but in the interest of symbolism only ("I'm on it!") he should have dropped his daily calendar and come back to DC where he could command the troops. This is not impeachable, but it is unforgivable and certainly terrifying. What happens next time if a dirty bomb goes off in Chicago, or Denver, or Atlanta, or New York? More of the same?
~Stephanie~:
yeah, we blow a lot of hot air up each other's asses on this blog. Hah, but you're more then safe and welcome to add to the convo.
Paolo:
"What happens next time if a dirty bomb goes off in Chicago, or Denver, or Atlanta, or New York? More of the same?"
Well said. I have thought about that quite a bit and lost a lot of sleep over those questions since Hurricane Katrina hit.
Tom:
You are exactly right about a commission. Let me share with you something that my senator (Salazar) sent me regarding the hurricane debacle.
"Finally, it is important to emphasize that this is not about blame or partisanship. We must determine exactly where the gaps are in our readiness and response, and fix them. And we don't have time to wait; next week or next month, we could be dealing with another terrorist attack, hurricane or other disaster. Katrina showed how unprepared we are. We owe it to the victims and the rescuers to act quickly to fix what ails our emergency preparedness."
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