Perhaps the biggest pile of bullshit coming out of FEMA is that they had to defer to local officials. They don’t–and the National Response Plan points that out, but that isn’t even the worst of it. If they had simply not acted that would be bad.
If FEMA had only done exactly what the State of Louisiana had asked, that’s a bit bizarre and strange, but at least fits some sort of bureaucratic model of how things might work.
But FEMA did get involved when the State didn’t want FEMA to act
Far from deferring to state or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse, Mr. Broussard complained on “Meet the Press.”
When Wal-Mart sent three trailer trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away, he said. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish’s emergency communications line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA, Mr. Broussard said.
It appears that the State and Feds were fighting over basic issues and both bear a lot of blame over that, but to try and claim that they didn’t have authority when they were actively blocking particular efforts is just stunning.
There’s a lot of blame to go around–Nagin dilly dallying about ordering a mandatory evacuation because of legal technicalities regarding whether he could allow some exceptions (people who had cancelled flights, etc–even with that there was the highest percent ever evacuated and the first ever mandatory evac), Blanco and the late push for National Guard in the City, but FEMA keeps making absurd claims about what it knew and what it could do that are so demonstratively false that one wonders not why such liars are allowed to continue in employment, but how did such bad liars ever seem credible to anyone?
That example is great; I hadn’t thought of it in that way. Also, how do the defenders of this delayed Federal response explain what would have been different in say a terrorist attack in which both the Mayor and or Governor had been killed…woulld BushCo still be waiting for the necessary paperwork to be signed?
I like that example too. It’s the epitomy of an arrogant incompetent bureaucracy. FEMA used to just contract out things such as having water brought in by Wal-Mart or Miller. Now, that it is part of a larger bureaucracy, it’s acting like one.
Maybe it should be carved out and given its independence back?
Has the government been hiding under a rock?
I don’t know the protocol in cases like this, but I thought the federal government would have leaped into action within hours of the hurricane hit.
They should have had all this worked out ahead of time, but it appears that there were too many people in State and Federal positions that didn’t know what they were doing.
What is really frightening is that a human being – not a federal agency actually turned back the aid.
===Maybe it should be carved out and given its independence back?
I don’t know–that’s a tougher question. It does appear Chertoff has somewhat improved stuff by moving Brown out of the chain of command. Still problems, but perhaps not as extreme of problems.
I can’t criticize anyone for the institutional choice because I thought it made sense. We’ll have to see if it did or not.
Here are two good articles from TPMCafe that should answer any questions about why the Feds didn’t respond:
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/6/15341/87746
http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/9/6/134519/9788
From the Department of Homeland Security’s web site http://www.dhs.gov:
Preparing America
In the event of a terrorist attack, natural disaster or other large-scale emergency, the Department of Homeland Security will assume primary responsibility on March 1st for ensuring that emergency response professionals are prepared for any situation. This will entail providing a coordinated, comprehensive federal response to any large-scale crisis and mounting a swift and effective recovery effort. The new Department will also prioritize the important issue of citizen preparedness. Educating America’s families on how best to prepare their homes for a disaster and tips for citizens on how to respond in a crisis will be given special attention at DHS.