Democratic Underground : : 'Catapulting' Katrina.
Part of an exhaustive series of links and documents posted by one 'reprehensor' today:
The flooding in New Orleans was foretold over and over again:
'Drowning New Orleans'
October, 2001
'Keeping Its Head Above Water'
New Orleans Faces Doomsday Scenario
December 1, 2001
'Washing Away'
2002
The Bush administration crippled FEMA:
Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response
The Chicago Tribune
Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top
The Washington Post
FEMA takes brunt of hurricane relief criticism
The San Jose Mercury News
See also this chronology of FEMA and flood control screwups under the current administration, courtesy of the Washington Monthly.
A failure of 'privitization':
FEMA contracted Innovative Emergency Management to 'lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans'. In July, 2004, they held the 'Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning Workshop':
Driven by a predetermined scenario, entitled Hurricane Pam, the participants developed 15 functional plans over the course of the week, including: pre-landfall activities; unwatering of levee enclosed areas; hazardous materials; billeting of response personnel; distribution of power, water, and ice; transport from water to shelter; volunteer and donations management; external affairs; access control and re-entry; debris; schools; search and rescue; sheltering; temporary housing; and temporary medical care...
...The outcome of these workshops is a series of functional plans that may be implemented immediately. Along with these plans, resource shortfalls were identified early, saving valuable time in the event an actual response is warranted. It is because of the dedication of every workshop participant that Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.
IEM is now scurrying to cover up its failure.
Firing people who counter your agenda - could be a bad idea! Who knew?
As levees burst and floods continued to spread across areas hit by Hurricane Katrina yesterday, a former chief of the Army Corps of Engineers disparaged senior White House officials for "not understanding" that key elements of the region's infrastructure needed repair and rebuilding.
Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced to resign in 2002 over budget disagreements with the White House. He clashed with Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, which sets the administration's annual budget goals.
Inaction in action:
Where's FEMA?
The Mississippi Press
An open letter from the Times-Picayune to the President:
Despite the city’s multiple points of entry, our nation’s bureaucrats spent days after last week’s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city’s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.
The flooding in New Orleans was foretold over and over again:
'Drowning New Orleans'
October, 2001
'Keeping Its Head Above Water'
New Orleans Faces Doomsday Scenario
December 1, 2001
'Washing Away'
2002
The Bush administration crippled FEMA:
Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response
The Chicago Tribune
Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top
The Washington Post
FEMA takes brunt of hurricane relief criticism
The San Jose Mercury News
See also this chronology of FEMA and flood control screwups under the current administration, courtesy of the Washington Monthly.
A failure of 'privitization':
FEMA contracted Innovative Emergency Management to 'lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans'. In July, 2004, they held the 'Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning Workshop':
Driven by a predetermined scenario, entitled Hurricane Pam, the participants developed 15 functional plans over the course of the week, including: pre-landfall activities; unwatering of levee enclosed areas; hazardous materials; billeting of response personnel; distribution of power, water, and ice; transport from water to shelter; volunteer and donations management; external affairs; access control and re-entry; debris; schools; search and rescue; sheltering; temporary housing; and temporary medical care...
...The outcome of these workshops is a series of functional plans that may be implemented immediately. Along with these plans, resource shortfalls were identified early, saving valuable time in the event an actual response is warranted. It is because of the dedication of every workshop participant that Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.
IEM is now scurrying to cover up its failure.
Firing people who counter your agenda - could be a bad idea! Who knew?
As levees burst and floods continued to spread across areas hit by Hurricane Katrina yesterday, a former chief of the Army Corps of Engineers disparaged senior White House officials for "not understanding" that key elements of the region's infrastructure needed repair and rebuilding.
Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced to resign in 2002 over budget disagreements with the White House. He clashed with Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, which sets the administration's annual budget goals.
Inaction in action:
Where's FEMA?
The Mississippi Press
An open letter from the Times-Picayune to the President:
Despite the city’s multiple points of entry, our nation’s bureaucrats spent days after last week’s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city’s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.
posted by Management at 2:32 PM
4 Comments:
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda."
- President George Walker Bush, May 24th, 2005.
The flooding in New Orleans was foretold over and over again.
'Drowning New Orleans'
October, 2001
'Keeping Its Head Above Water'
New Orleans Faces Doomsday Scenario
December 1, 2001
'Washing Away'
2002
'City in a Bowl'
September 20, 2002
'Disaster in the Making'
September 22, 2004
A Way Out' ( Despite advances, the subject of evacuation has been a widely overlooked issue within the transportation field.)
April, 2004
'A Disaster Waiting to Happen'
September 28, 2004
Gone With the Water'
October, 2004
What if Hurricane Ivan Had Not Missed New Orleans?
November, 2004
The Bush administration crippled FEMA.
Ex-officials say weakened FEMA botched response
By Frank James and Andrew Martin
Washington Bureau
Published September 3, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Government disaster officials had an action plan if a major hurricane hit New Orleans. They simply didn't execute it when Hurricane Katrina struck.
Thirteen months before Katrina hit New Orleans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill that Ronald Castleman, then the regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, called "a very good exercise."
More than a million residents were "evacuated" in the table-top scenario as 120 m.p.h. winds and 20 inches of rain caused widespread flooding that supposedly trapped 300,000 people in the city.
"It was very much an eye-opener," said Castleman, a Republican appointee of President Bush who left FEMA in December for the private sector. "A number of things were identified that we had to deal with, not all of them were solved."
James Lee Witt to the Rescue - Again.
I‘ve talked to emergency managers across this country, and firefighters across this country, and they told me … “You know what,” they said, “what done to FEMA is like driving heart in emergency management in this country.”
cannot expect a federal agency, like FEMA, to be able to fulfill its role and its responsibility to the American people you take away the resources and … a lot of the funding. have to work every day, every month, every week, to be able to make sure you partner with state and local emergency management, firefighters, to be able to respond together.
And if you don‘t plan, prepare, and exercise together, then you - it‘s difficult to respond together.
The mitigation prevention program in FEMA was a strong program. When we reorganized FEMA, we put in a division for mitigation prevention, working with state and local government, to minimize risk. It is almost null and void now…
FEMA contracted Innovative Emergency Management to 'lead the development of a catastrophic hurricane disaster plan for Southeast Louisiana and the City of New Orleans'.
In July, 2004, they held the 'Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Planning Workshop' it went like this:
Driven by a predetermined scenario, entitled Hurricane Pam, the participants developed 15 functional plans over the course of the week, including: pre-landfall activities; unwatering of levee enclosed areas; hazardous materials; billeting of response personnel; distribution of power, water, and ice; transport from water to shelter; volunteer and donations management; external affairs; access control and re-entry; debris; schools; search and rescue; sheltering; temporary housing; and temporary medical care.
The scenario involved a slow-moving Category 3 storm making landfall near Grand Isle in the early morning. In the scenario, the storm, sustaining winds of 120 mph at landfall, spawned tornados, destroyed over 75% of the structures in its path, and left the majority of New Orleans under 15–20 feet of water. The workshop was sponsored by FEMA and LOHSEP, with a weather scenario designed by the National Weather Service and damage and consequences developed by IEM, Inc. of Baton Rouge. IEM, Inc. also facilitated the workshop sessions.
From November 29–December 3, over 90 participants met in New Orleans to continue planning for three topics: sheltering, temporary housing, and temporary medical care. These three topics were chosen by the workshop’s Unified Command as areas that needed continued group planning.
The outcome of these workshops is a series of functional plans that may be implemented immediately. Along with these plans, resource shortfalls were identified early, saving valuable time in the event an actual response is warranted. It is because of the dedication of every workshop participant that Louisiana is much better prepared for a catastrophic hurricane.
More here.
A clear case of 'privatization' as failure has rarely been seen.
Storm Exposed Disarray at the Top
By Susan B. Glasser and Josh White
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 4, 2005; Page A01
...Despite four years and tens of billions of dollars spent preparing for the worst, the federal government was not ready when it came at daybreak on Monday, according to interviews with more than a dozen current and former senior officials and outside experts.
Among the flaws they cited: Failure to take the storm seriously before it hit and trigger the government's highest level of response. Rebuffed offers of aid from the military, states and cities. An unfinished new plan meant to guide disaster response. And a slow bureaucracy that waited until late Tuesday to declare the catastrophe "an incident of national significance," the new federal term meant to set off the broadest possible relief effort.
Born out of the confused and uncertain response to 9/11, the massive new Department of Homeland Security was charged with being ready the next time, whether the disaster was wrought by nature or terrorists. The department commanded huge resources as it prepared for deadly scenarios from an airborne anthrax attack to a biological attack with plague to a chlorine-tank explosion.
But Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday that his department had failed to find an adequate model for addressing the "ultra-catastrophe" that resulted when Hurricane Katrina's floodwater breached New Orleans's levees and drowned the city, "as if an atomic bomb had been dropped."
FEMA takes brunt of hurricane relief criticism
BY MICHELLE MITTELSTADT
The Dallas Morning News
Though disaster planners have long ranked a direct hurricane strike on New Orleans as one of the top three catastrophic scenarios facing the United States, authorities have lagged badly in evacuating the sick and vulnerable, passing out food and water, deploying military assets and quelling rampant lawlessness. And while the Superdome has long factored in disaster preparedness plans as the city's main hurricane refuge, no supplies were stocked there before the storm hit Monday.
Dr. Michael Lindell, a senior scholar at Texas A&M's Hazard Reduction and Recovery Center, said he cannot comprehend why federal officials had not deployed equipment and relief supplies before Katrina struck - or mobilized to relieve clearly outflanked state and local resources.
"If it's a Category 5 hurricane, then frankly it doesn't take an Einstein to figure out that it's going to overwhelm local capacity and that they are going to be in a world of hurt," he said, referring to the storm that fell to Category 4 by the time it hit shore. "You don't have to wait until there are bodies floating around in the water to start activating the National Guard."
Many disaster relief specialists blame FEMA's stumble on its diminished standing within the government and a relentless focus on terrorism prevention by the agency's new overseers.
In a post-Sept. 11 reorganization, FEMA joined 21 other agencies in a new Homeland Security Department, stripped of the Cabinet rank that had allowed it to report directly to the president. And, in a further department shuffle in July, FEMA lost its historic mission of working with state and local governments on preparedness plans before disaster strikes.
The administration has been trotting out representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers to say that they didn't see the 'break' in the levee coming. But nearly in the same sentence they admit that the flooding was foreseen.
But there was a change in leadership at the Corps in 2002.
Ex-Army Corps officials say budget cuts imperiled flood mitigation efforts
As levees burst and floods continued to spread across areas hit by Hurricane Katrina yesterday, a former chief of the Army Corps of Engineers disparaged senior White House officials for "not understanding" that key elements of the region's infrastructure needed repair and rebuilding.
Mike Parker, the former head of the Army Corps of Engineers, was forced to resign in 2002 over budget disagreements with the White House. He clashed with Mitch Daniels, former director of the Office of Management and Budget, which sets the administration's annual budget goals.
"One time I took two pieces of steel into Mitch Daniels' office," Parker recalled. "They were exactly the same pieces of steel, except one had been under water in a Mississippi lock for 30 years, and the other was new. The first piece was completely corroded and falling apart because of a lack of funding. I said, 'Mitch, it doesn't matter if a terrorist blows the lock up or if it falls down because it disintegrates -- either way it's the same effect, and if we let it fall down, we have only ourselves to blame.' It made no impact on him whatsoever."
Daniels, now governor of Indiana, did not respond to a request for comment.
Fire the employees that counter your agenda. Just another day in Bushworld. Damn the consequences.
On the front cover of the Mississippi Press, the boldest headline was 'Where's FEMA?' They were still waiting as of Sunday:
Where's FEMA?
by Natalie Chambers
THE MISSISSIPPI PRESS
September 4, 2005
PASCAGOULA — County and municipal officials are asking aloud ‘Where’s FEMA?’
As word spread of temporary housing needs beginning to be met in neighboring Harrison County, more questions are being asked in Jackson County.
Leaders here can only hope that they are next on the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s list.
An estimated 100,000 of 135,000 Jackson County residents are in need of housing assistance following Monday’s landfall of devastating Hurricane Katrina, county officials were told by a Red Cross’ national representative. They also need a dependable supply of water, ice, food and other necessities.
As the reality of Katrina’s magnitude was realized, Blanco moved as required under the Stafford Act:
Blanco’s letter requesting Emergency aid under the Stafford Act, August 27th
President Bush legally puts the ball in Chertoff and Howard’s court, August 27th
FEMA issues press release, August 27th
Katrina goes Category V, Blanco requests expedited response, August 28th
{sound of ball dropping}
The Times-Picayune was at the new ground zero and watched inaction in action;
Despite the city’s multiple points of entry, our nation’s bureaucrats spent days after last week’s hurricane wringing their hands, lamenting the fact that they could neither rescue the city’s stranded victims nor bring them food, water and medical supplies.
Meanwhile there were journalists, including some who work for The Times-Picayune, going in and out of the city via the Crescent City Connection. On Thursday morning, that crew saw a caravan of 13 Wal-Mart tractor trailers headed into town to bring food, water and supplies to a dying city.
Television reporters were doing live reports from downtown New Orleans streets. Harry Connick Jr. brought in some aid Thursday, and his efforts were the focus of a "Today" show story Friday morning.
Yet, the people trained to protect our nation, the people whose job it is to quickly bring in aid were absent. Those who should have been deploying troops were singing a sad song about how our city was impossible to reach.
The National Hurricane Center warned Chertoff and Brown about the magnitude of damage Katrina could inflict;
Dr. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, told the Times-Picayune Sunday afternoon that officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, including FEMA Director Mike Brown and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, listened in on electronic briefings given by his staff in advance of Hurricane Katrina slamming Louisiana and Mississippi—and were advised of the storm’s potential deadly effects.
"Mayfield said the strength of the storm and the potential disaster it could bring were made clear during both the briefings and in formal advisories, which warned of a storm surge capable of overtopping levees in New Orleans and winds strong enough to blow out windows of high-rise buildings," the paper reported. "He said the briefings included information on expected wind speed, storm surge, rainfall and the potential for tornados to accompany the storm as it came ashore.
"We were briefing them way before landfall," Mayfield said. "It’s not like this was a surprise. We had in the advisories that the levee could be topped."
Chertoff told reporters Saturday that government officials had not expected the damaging combination of a powerful hurricane levee breaches that flooded New Orleans.
-
What we saw last week was the result of incompetence at the Federal Level, a blind faith in ‘privatization’ and ‘downsizing’ to ‘fix’ problems with big government, and when the chips were down, instead of accepting responsibility for the turtle-paced response, Brown and others chose to blame the victims for ‘choosing not to leave’.
By contrast, Vancouver Rescue, from Canada, was on the ground in Kenner on September 1, operational in St. Bernard Parish on September 2.
In Mayor Negin’s famous radio SOS, he said FEMA had not even set up a command center in NOLA on September 1.
CRONYISM KILLS
FEMA Chief Sent Help Only After Storm Hit
By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press WriterWed Sep 7,11:48 AM ET
The top U.S. disaster official waited hours after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast before he proposed to his boss sending at least 1,000 Homeland Security workers into the region to support rescuers, internal documents show.
Part of the mission, according to the documents obtained by The Associated Press, was to "convey a positive image" about the government's response for victims.
Acknowledging that such a move would take two days, Michael Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sought the approval from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff roughly five hours after Katrina made landfall on Aug. 29.
Before then, FEMA had positioned smaller rescue and communications teams across the Gulf Coast. But officials acknowledged the first department-wide appeal for help came only as the storm raged.
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."
The initial responses of the government and Brown came under escalating criticism as the breadth of destruction and death grew. President Bush and Congress on Tuesday pledged separate investigations into the federal response to Katrina. "Governments at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins (news, bio, voting record), R-Maine.
Aid from Canada — three warships and a coast guard ship — departed for the Gulf Coast on Thursday, more than one week after Canada first offered to send military support. Ottawa has been careful not to criticize the slow U.S. response and simply repeated their willingness to help when Washington finally accepted its offer of assistance.
Several Sea King helicopters and about 1,000 personnel were aboard the Canadian ships, which will take several days to arrive off Louisiana. The ships were loaded with medical supplies, 1,200 cots, body bags, assault boats, lumber, pollution cleanup equipment — even diapers, baby wipes and teddy bears.
Navy divers were also dispatched to New Orleans from Halifax and British Columbia to inspect damaged levees and help U.S. officials clear navigational hazards.
In the U.S., Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said Brown had positioned front-line rescue teams and Coast Guard helicopters before the storm. Brown's memo on Aug. 29 aimed to assemble the necessary federal work force to support the rescues, establish communications, and coordinate with victims and community groups, Knocke said.
Instead of rescuing people or recovering bodies, these employees would focus on helping victims find the help they needed, he said.
"There will be plenty of time to assess what worked and what didn't work," Knocke said. "Clearly there will be time for blame to be assigned and to learn from some of the successful efforts."
Brown's memo told employees that among their duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public."
"FEMA response and recovery operations are a top priority of the department and as we know, one of yours," Brown wrote Chertoff. He proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours and 2,000 within seven days.
Knocke said the 48-hour period indicated for the Homeland employees was to ensure they had adequate training. "They were training to help the lifesavers," Knocke said.
Employees required a supervisor's approval and at least 24 hours of disaster training in Maryland, Florida or Georgia. "You must be physically able to work in a disaster area without refrigeration for medications and have the ability to work in the outdoors all day," Brown wrote.
The same day Brown wrote Chertoff, Brown also urged local fire and rescue departments outside Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi not to send trucks or emergency workers into disaster areas without an explicit request for help from state or local governments. Brown said it was vital to coordinate fire and rescue efforts.
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (news, bio, voting record), D-Md., said Tuesday that Brown should resign.
___
On the Net:
Federal Emergency Management Agency: http://www.fema.gov
Homeland Security Department: http://www.dhs.gov
The memo from FEMA Director Mike Brown to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is available at: http://wid.ap.org/documents/dhskatrina.pdf
White House Press Briefing: Angry Reporters Hit McClellan Hard on Hurricane, Ask if Heads Will Roll
By E&P Staff
Published: September 06, 2005 5:35 PM ET
NEW YORK White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan had not had a full-length press briefing in Washington, D.C. for weeks, and after today, may have wished he had postponed this one. With almost unprecedented vigor, the press corps attacked and probe the federal response to the hurricane disaster, the president's personal responsibility and failure to fire anyone who failed in his or her mission.
Here is a transcript of the relevant portions.
*
Q Scott, the reality at hand right now is that the President said that we still live in an unsettled world. This is an administration that has told us since 9/11 that it's not a matter of "if," but "when" that we could be struck by a terror attack and, obviously, other disasters that are the result of Mother Nature. So at this point, where is the accountability? Is the President prepared to say where this White House, where this administration went wrong in its response to Katrina?
MR. McCLELLAN: You know, David, there are some that are interested in playing the blame game. The President is interested in solving problems and getting help to the people who need it. There will be a time --
Q Wait a minute. Is it a blame game when the President, himself, says that we remain at risk for either another catastrophe of this dimension, that's not manmade, or a terrorist attack? Isn't it incumbent upon this administration to immediately have accountability to find out what went wrong, when at any time this could happen again?
MR. McCLELLAN: This is a massive federal response effort that we have underway. We've got to stay focused on helping those who are in need right now and help them rebuild their lives and get back up on their feet. It's a time of many challenges, enormous challenges. We've got to stay focused on the task at hand. That is what the President is doing.
Now, in terms of addressing threats, we've made a lot of progress since the attacks of September 11th. And one of the most important things we're doing is staying on the offensive abroad. There are important priorities that we have to continue to address and we are working to address those priorities, too. But we have a major disaster that has occurred over a 90,000 square mile [sic] here in the United States. There are people --
Q Right. And there are people who want to know why this government couldn't respond --
MR. McCLELLAN: Hang on. There are people who are suffering, and we've got to respond to their needs, and that's what we're going to keep our focus.
Q So no one is prepared to say what went wrong?
MR. McCLELLAN: We will look at back at the facts and we will get to the bottom of the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right. But right now --
Q Will the President support an outside investigation, or does he want to do it himself?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- but, David, right now, we've got to continue helping the people in the region.
Q Will he support an outside investigation --
Q But, Scott, more concretely, an officer of the Northern Command is quoted as saying that as early as the time Hurricane Katrina went through Florida and worked its way up to the Gulf, there was a massive military response ready to go, but that the President did not order it. It could have been ordered on Sunday, on Monday, on Tuesday -- the call didn't come. Why not?
MR. McCLELLAN: Bill, let's point out a couple of things. There were a lot of assets that were deployed and pre-positioned prior to the hurricane hitting. And you have to look back --
Q These assets were deployed, but the order to use them never came. The Bataan was sitting off behind the hurricane.
MR. McCLELLAN: I know these are all facts that you want to look at and want to determine what went wrong and what went right. I'm not prepared to agree with your assessment just there. There is a much larger picture here that we have to take a look at, and --
Q It's not mine, it's an officer in the Northern Command.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- in terms of the President, the President issued disaster declarations ahead of time so that we could make sure we're fully mobilizing resources and pre-positioning them. But this was a hurricane of unprecedented magnitude.
Q Right, but the military can't go into action without his order.
MR. McCLELLAN: I'll be glad to talk to you about it, but I've got to have a chance to respond to --
*
Q In view of the national crisis, will the President withdraw his proposal for this tax cut for the richest people in the country? And, also, my second question is, why did we turn down foreign help?
MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I'm glad you brought that up. We have not. We have made very clear -- I made clear last week, the State Department made clear last week that we are going to take people up on their offers of assistance from foreign countries. There are some 94 nations and international organizations that have made offers of assistance -- whether that is cash support or I think water pumps from places like Germany or other areas. We said that if this can help alleviate things on the ground, we're going to take them up on their offers of assistance and we appreciate the compassion from the international community and their offers of assistance.
Q And how about my first question?
MR. McCLELLAN: Your first question?
Q Biggest tax cut, permanent tax cut for the richest people in the country -- in view of the national crisis, in view of the deficit --
MR. McCLELLAN: The highest priority for this administration right now is the ongoing response and recovery efforts --
Q No, no, I'm asking you a question.
MR. McCLELLAN: And I'm responding to your question. The highest priority right now for this government is the ongoing Katrina response and recovery efforts and helping the people who need the help. There are other priorities, too, and we'll be working to address those, as well.
Q I just want to follow up on David's questions on accountability. First, just to get you on the record, where does the buck stop in this administration?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President.
Q All right. So he will be held accountable as the head of the government for the federal response that he's already acknowledged was inadequate and unacceptable?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President's most important responsibility is the safety and security of the American people. He talks about that often. That is his most important responsibility. Again, there's going to be plenty of time to look at the facts and determine what went wrong and what went right and how the coordination was between the state and federal and local authorities. Right now we've got to continue doing everything we can in support of the ongoing operational activities on the ground in the region to help people.
Q Well, the President has said that this government can do many things at once: It can fight the war on terror, it can do operations in Iraq, and aid and comfort people in Louisiana. Can it not also find time to begin to hold people accountable? It sounds, Scott, as if the line that you're giving us -- which is, you don't want to answer questions about accountability because there's too much busy work going on --
MR. McCLELLAN: Wrong. No, wrong.
Q -- is a way of ducking accountability.
MR. McCLELLAN: You don't want to take away from the efforts that are going on right now. And if you start getting into that now, you're pulling people out that are helping with the ongoing response, Terry. Not at all. The President made it very clear, I'm going to lead this effort and we're going to make sure we find out what the facts were and what went wrong and what went right. But you don't want to divert resources away from an ongoing response to a major catastrophe. And this is a major catastrophe that we -- and we must remain focused on saving lives and sustaining lives and planning for the long-term. And that's what we're doing.
Q And there are people in Louisiana and Mississippi who are doing that job very well. Your job is to answer the questions.
MR. McCLELLAN: And I have.
Q By saying you won't answer.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, by saying that there's a time to look at those issues, but now is not the time, Terry.
***
Q Scott, a question about the "plenty of time" assertion that you make -- would it not behoove the efforts to, in fact, save lives and secure property if the people and procedures that are responsible for the inadequacy before are excised as quickly as possible? That is to say, should the accountability be determined immediately and that part be removed?
MR. McCLELLAN: Look, what should be done immediately is that we get help to the people who need it, and we continue to do that. We have been doing that; we're continuing to do that. I know some just want to engage in the blame game. There will be a time to talk about all these issues. We've got problems to solve, Bob --
Q But --
MR. McCLELLAN: Bob, we've got problems to solve and we're going to stay focused on solving those problems and helping those who need it.
Q But don't you -- the question would be, don't you want to have your best resources available and best people in place to solve those problems?
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, you're speculating about things at this point. I'm not going to engage it that. There will be a time to look at all those issues.
Q But the President, himself, said that the response was not adequate. It was run by certain --
MR. McCLELLAN: For those who were waiting on assistance and didn't have it, absolutely, it wasn't adequate. We made that clear last week. There were some people who needed help yesterday and they were still waiting on assistance. That's why we -- when we identified those problems, we made sure they were getting fixed. That's why we've moved quickly to resolve the issue at the Convention Center in New Orleans. And now you have -- a tremendous amount of progress has been made on the evacuation of people. You have some 700 shelters that have been set up -- maybe a little bit less -- with some 230,000 people who are in those shelters, and that includes states around the country. We appreciate all those who are responding and meeting those needs.
Q One last question. The person who says that he found out about the Convention Center seeing it on the media -- that is to say the FEMA director -- is still in place. Is that satisfactory that somebody would have responded like that?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, this is getting into -- we're somewhat engaged in a blame game. We've got to --
Q It's not a blame game. That's accountability --
MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, we've got to --
Q It's accountability.
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes.
Q Is "Brownie" still doing a "heck of a job," according to the President?
MR. McCLELLAN: We've got to continue to do everything we can in support of those who are involved in the operational aspects of this response effort. And that's what we're going to do. There will be plenty of time --
Q If he fails at it, he's not going to be good at it going forward. That's what Bob is saying.
MR. McCLELLAN: There are people working round-the-clock with FEMA. The Secretary, the FEMA Director and many others who are working round-the-clock. And we've got to do everything we can in support of their efforts to make sure people are getting what they need.
Q Does the President really believe we could respond to a terrorist attack with any -- amount of weeks, months?
MR. McCLELLAN: We've actually done a lot of exercises, David, to prepare for possible attacks, but --
Q Do you think most Americans agree, based on --
MR. McCLELLAN: But the most important thing we've got to do is focus on --
Q You mean exercises for Hurricane Katrina.
MR. McCLELLAN: We've got to focus on prevention, and that's what we're doing by staying on the offensive.
Q Well, let's talk about it. Are you saying the President is -- are you saying that the President is confident that his administration is prepared to adequately, confidently secure the American people in the event of a terrorist attack of a level that we have not seen? And based on what does he have that confidence?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, and that's what he made clear earlier today, that obviously we want to look and learn lessons from a major catastrophe of this nature.
Q Yes, but you're telling us today there will be time for that somewhere down the road. Well, what if it happens tomorrow?
MR. McCLELLAN: We can engage in this blame-gaming going on and I think that's what you're getting --
Q No, no. That's a talking point, Scott, and I think most people who are watching this --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact. I mean, some are wanting to engage in that, and we're going to remain focused --
Q I'm asking a direct question. Is he confident --
MR. McCLELLAN: We're going to remain focused on the people.
Q -- that he can secure the American people in the event of a major terrorist attack?
MR. McCLELLAN: We are securing the American people by staying on the offensive abroad and working to spread freedom and democracy in the Middle East.
Q That's a talking point. That's a talking point.
MR. McCLELLAN: No, that's a fact.
Go ahead.
Q No, it's not. And you think people who are watching this think that's -- from what does he derive that confidence, based on the response --
MR. McCLELLAN: David, I'm interested in the people in the region that have been affected and getting them help. We can sit here and engage in this back and forth --
Q The whole country is watching and wondering about some --
MR. McCLELLAN: The time for bickering and blame-gaming is later. The time for helping people in the region is now.
***
Q There have been suggestions that the initial White House response was delayed somewhat because a number of key people were on vacation last week. During that critical 24-hour period after the levees were breached Monday, who in the White House was in charge of crisis management?
MR. McCLELLAN: Andy Card is the chief of staff, and he was in close contact with everyone. And the President is the one who's in charge at the White House.
Q Scott, the President on Saturday referred to the problems of bureaucracy. It's now Tuesday. The Vice President heads down there on Thursday to deal with it. Can you cite for us a specific bureaucratic impediment that has been identified and corrected today?
MR. McCLELLAN: I think that in terms of the specifics, that the Secretary -- Secretary Chertoff, or FEMA Director Mike Brown can provide you the operational aspects of the specifics of what have occurred on the ground today. They'll be doing a briefing later today. But there continues to be good progress made when it comes to evacuating people.
Like I said, most of the people have been evacuated. I think there's a relatively small number. All those that were sent to places where people were evacuated, I think have been evacuated out of New Orleans. The levees, those are getting repaired.
Q Were those bureaucratic impediments that have been corrected? Or was that a --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, the bureaucratic impediments that the President is referring to is about getting assistance to the people who need it. Yes, there are a number of agencies that are acting, but they have issued waivers to rules and regulations. The President wants to cut through the red tape in the bureaucracy and make sure that the assistance is getting to the people. One thing that he talked about in the Cabinet meeting today at length was, look, we've got to make sure that there aren't rules in place that are preventing assistance from getting to those who have been displaced, or have been evacuated, who are no longer in a home of their own, they're in a shelter. And we've got to take that assistance to them.
So, yes, that is part of -- all that is part of cutting through the bureaucracy and red tape.
Go ahead.
Q Scott, there's words that James Lee Witt had said, that -- people who had been there within three hours after everything broke loose. Why was Mr. Brown not on the ground?
MR. McCLELLAN: He was, prior to the hurricane.
Q Well, why didn't he bring in the troops? Why didn't he deploy all the necessary assistance that was needed?
MR. McCLELLAN: There were -- disaster medical assistance teams were deployed. Search and rescue teams were deployed ahead of the hurricane.
Q But why didn't he -- but why weren't teams deployed to the Convention Center? Why weren't teams deployed to the Superdome? Why were people without water, without food? Why was there looting in New Orleans for survival? And you're talking about zero tolerance. Why did these things happen over a period of days, and you start seeing Mr. Brown on the air talking about he didn't know about the Convention Center and other things. Why?
MR. McCLELLAN: Look, you're getting into all the after-action analysis, and I can't tell you all the --
Q And you're saying there is not a blame game, but you open the door to the response --
MR. McCLELLAN: I can't tell you that everything you said is factually correct, and they've got -- we've got to look at all the facts. We've got to determine what worked, what didn't work, and apply --
Q Well, what's not working? What's not working in your view right now?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and apply lessons from that.
Q What do you see that's not working right now? What is not working? Because these people are dying from dysentery now --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, last week --
Q -- infection now; they're displaced, homes are gone. Does anyone in this administration know anyone that's down there --
MR. McCLELLAN: Well, I think you need to talk to people on the ground --
Q -- beyond Trent Lott?
MR. McCLELLAN: -- people on the ground who have --
Q Does anyone in this White House know anyone that's there, beyond Trent Lott, that's lost a home, that has lost family, that's displaced?
MR. McCLELLAN: The President visited with a number of those who have been affected by the hurricane. We went down to Mississippi and Louisiana on Friday. The President visited with a number of people in the Biloxi area who have lost everything they had. The President saw firsthand --
Q Does anyone in this administration know anyone personally who's been affected by the devastation?
MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, the President has talked about those, and the President has visited with people who have lost everything they have. I know people that have been displaced, friends of mine. And it's terrible when you go and see the devastation on the ground. We've seen the devastation on the ground. We've seen the homes that are no longer there. We've seen the flooding that has covered a large portion of New Orleans and that has taken lives. There are people who continue to suffer and we need to get them help. And that's why our focus is on getting them help.
*
Q But even with the -- just to be clear, though, you're saying that Katrina, if you need to spend the money on Katrina, that comes first, and tax cuts would have to wait?
MR. McCLELLAN: No, Mark, I'm saying that there are a number of important priorities. First and foremost is helping the people who have been affected by Katrina. And there are other priorities, too, and we're going to address those priorities. And you can do -- you can do those -- all of those priorities.
Q So they'll have to wait?
Q So there will be --
MR. McCLELLAN: No, in terms of the -- you're asking about the congressional timetable. Congress -- the Senate has come back into session, the House has come back into session this week. The Senate has put out what their schedule is for this week. Right now they're focused first and foremost on Hurricane Katrina, and also on addressing some of the appropriations needs. And they've already put out their schedule, and so you ought to look at that schedule.
Q Scott, given the failure of leadership in the first days of this crisis, and given your reticence to get rid of any of the people associated with that leadership --
MR. McCLELLAN: Those are your words, not mine.
Q -- wouldn't it be more appropriate to follow the suggestion of appointing somebody as the coordinator, overall coordinator for the relief effort who is not associated with that failed leadership? Probably a former retired military person who could more easily coordinate the logistics and the coordination between the military...
MR. McCLELLAN: No, we're going to continue to work in support of those who are overseeing the operational activities, and we appreciate the job that the Department of Homeland Security and Secretary Chertoff and all those at FEMA are doing to address the ongoing problems.
Again, this is getting into trying to finger-point and play the blame game. This is not the time for that. There are people who are really in need. Terry was down there in the region. He saw what has happened to the people on the ground and how they have lost everything --
Q I think they might want some answers, too.
MR. McCLELLAN: -- and how they have lost everything they had.
Q In addition to help, they might want some answers, too.
MR. McCLELLAN: And they're going to get them. But now is not the time, Terry.
Q No, it is the time, Scott.
Q Scott, a follow up.
MR. McCLELLAN: Go ahead --
Q Did the Mayor or the Governor turn down any requests made by the administration?
MR. McCLELLAN: Again, I think from this podium that we want to stay focused on ways we can work together, so I don't think it helps any situation to get into all those internal discussions that are going on, on issues of that nature. This isn't a time when people are trying to look at who's to blame, or try to shift responsibility. This is a time when we're all trying to work together to get things done.
Q But that hasn't stopped you from suggesting pretty subtly that the local and state officials bear some responsibility.
MR. McCLELLAN: Thank you for your comment. I'm trying to get to other questions here.
FEMA Was Unprepared for Katrina Relief Effort, Insiders Say
FEMA Was Unprepared for Katrina Relief Effort, Insiders Say
Bureaucracy, Budget Cuts Said to Contribute to Slow Response
Sep. 8, 2005 - The Federal Emergency Management Agency has received much of the blame for the government's slow response to victims of Hurricane Katrina.
In a post-9/11 era, some say, the government let preparedness for natural disasters take a back seat to terrorism.
FEMA was an independent agency, answering directly to the president, until it was folded into the Department of Homeland Security two years ago.
However, the latest government figures show that 75 cents out of every $1 spent on emergency preparedness goes to anti-terrorism programs. Well before Katrina, FEMA insiders were sounding the alarm.
A timeline of events leading up to the hurricane illustrates what went wrong.
On Saturday, Aug. 27 at 8:30 p.m. -- about 35 hours before Katrina hit the Gulf Coast -- Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, was so concerned about the storm, he personally called the governors of Mississippi and Louisiana as well as the mayor of New Orleans to make sure they understood the severity of the situation.
"The thing I remember telling all three of them," Mayfield said, "is that when I walked out of the hurricane center that night, I wanted to be able to, you know, sleep at night, knowing that I'd done everything I could do."
FEMA Warned About Storm Surge
The next day, President Bush listened in on a FEMA conference call during which Mayfield warned of a storm surge of more than 20 feet of water rolling over levees.
FEMA had 1,300 disaster assistance workers pre-positioned, and FEMA Director Michael Brown assured Bush they were ready for the storm.
"FEMA is not going to hesitate at all in this storm," Brown said. "We are not going to sit back and make this a bureaucratic process. We are going to move fast, we are going to move quickly and we are going to do whatever it takes to help disaster victims."
FEMA Insiders Uncertain About Preparedness
But inside FEMA, longtime emergency managers were convinced the agency was not ready for Katrina.
"All of us were just shaking our heads and saying, 'This isn't going to be enough, and the director has to know this isn't going to be enough.' But nothing more seemed to be happening," said Leo Bosner, president of the FEMA Headquarters Employees Union.
Bosner has been with FEMA since it began 26 years ago. He says the agency has been systematically dismantled since it became part of the massive Department of Homeland Security.
"One of the big differences I see," said Bosner, "besides taking away our staff and our budget and our training, is that Homeland Security now, in my view, slows down the process."
The union warned Congress in a detailed letter about FEMA's decline a year ago. State emergency managers also warned Capitol Hill and Homeland Security just weeks ago that DHS was too focused on one thing -- terrorism.
"We've had almost zero support for a natural disaster and an all-hazards approach," said Eric Holdeman, director of the King County Office of Emergency Management in Washington state. "It's been terrorism only."
The Department of Homeland Security insists FEMA has been enhanced by being part of a large department with vast resources, but critics say that was not evident in the response to this disaster.
ABC News' Lisa Stark filed this report for "World New Tonight."
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