Where's the Outrage?

Four years later, New Orleans is still a shadow of its former self. The Ninth Ward and other areas remain sparsely populated if at all. Many residents continue to live somewhere else as they were bused out of the area. I applaud Rachel Maddow for talking about Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans.

Former Secretary Tom Ridge does take some responsibility for the horrific government response and for this he is to be commended. On the other hand, he does fall back onto some of the clichés that we’ve heard over the last four years. No one could’ve anticipated… state and local officials bear some responsibility and blame… while it is clear that Louisiana is a dysfunctional state and New Orleans functions only slightly better, the leadership had to come from the federal government. They had to coordinate the response.

It is a lie to say that no one could have anticipated the breach of the levees. Two years earlier, more than 250 emergency preparedness officials for more than 50 federal, state and local agencies worked on a tabletop exercise called Hurricane Pam. Pam was specifically developed to flood New Orleans. It was a slow moving category three hurricane. The lack of leadership from a federal level can be clearly seen in this tabletop exercise. Two years after the conclusion of the exercise, the final report was incomplete because the federal government had not filled in key sections.

I do not want to belabor the point, but Hurricane Katrina should be remembered. We need to look back and learn from our mistakes. The lesson is not that we cannot trust the federal government. Instead, the lesson is that we have to put competent people in the federal government. We need to look forward and be prepared for the next disaster. We also need to look backward and help those on the Gulf Coast truly recover and heal a wound that is over four years old. What is the Obama administration doing about this? (I know that the president has a lot on his plate but this, like so many other things that are on his agenda, is critical.)

Tags: Environment, FEMA, Obama administration, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Old saying — quit while you’re ahead. (Maybe Bush doesn’t know this saying.)

In what was billed as President Bush‘s last press conference, he said a lot of amazing things. What really jumped out at me was his defense to Hurricane Katrina. I am guessing that Dana Perino and others in the press office got together with President Bush and worked on his answers to many expected questions. I think this response was rehearsed. The fact that the Coast Guard rescued hundreds, if not thousands, of people off of rooftops does not excuse the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was completely inept. (I readily admit that Louisiana is a completely dysfunctional state. Louisiana and Illinois should probably arm-wrestle for the distinction of being the most corrupt state in the union. The local and state response were completely inadequate, but that does not excuse the federal response.)

The New Orleans Times Picayune has more here and here.

The federal report that was written by a Republican lead Congress. Surprise.

Keith Olbermann takes Bush to the wood shed (see clip).

An Editorial from the Times-Picayune really encapsulates my Outrage over Bush’s comments (here’s a portion):

In his last scheduled press conference, the president vigorously dismissed criticism of the government’s performance.

“Don’t tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed,” the president said, pounding the lectern. “That’s a pretty quick response. . . . Could things have been done better? Absolutely, absolutely. But when I hear people say the federal response was slow, what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 who got pulled off the roof?”

The U.S. Coast Guard, indeed, performed thousands of heroic rescues after the storm. But it’s indisputable that the rest of the federal bureaucracy failed miserably in aiding tens of thousands of people who waited days for water, food and evacuation. Even reports by the White House and Congress faulted the federal performance.

So did President Bush a few days after Katrina. “The results are not acceptable,” the president said Sept. 2, 2005, referring to the federal failure to timely deliver food and medicines to survivors. (more… )

Bush glosses over Katrina [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Countdown, FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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Above is a picture of the Bolivar Peninsula. Below is the same place after Ike. The following is a comment from one of my readers. Do you have any suggestions for him? FEMA is suppose to have more than ice and water, aren’t they?

My concern is lost wages as my place of business is out for at least 1-2 weeks if not more. I will not see a paycheck for this time and I have a mortgage to pay.

Also, I lost every piece of food in my fridge/freezer and that will have to be replaced. I paid for a hotel but FEMA is only willing to pay hotel direct and not reimburse people (FEMA told me over the phone). So this has cost me over $500 in hotel/gas/food and NO HELP FROM OUR GOVERNMENT.

It appears FEMA will do nothing to help with this situation thanks to people who took advantage of FEMA during Katrina.

Any suggestions for help??

Also FEMA P.O.D.S has no food in this area. Just ice and water every time I have gone to one.

FEMA is very unorganized. The housing market is bad and it is going to get worse in the Houston area with no financial relief from FEMA to help IKE victims until they can return to work.

Thank you.

Tags: Environment, FEMA by ecthompson md
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Isn’t it February? February is a time for snow and snow storms. Blizzards in the northeast and sub-zero temperatures around the Great Lakes are normal for this time of year but instead, we got Spring-like tornadoes that torn through Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia. 50 people have died. Hundreds injured.

The saddest part of all of this is that we get to the see FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) at work, again. I’m not sure I can stomach, Michael Chertoff lying to us again about how they have everything under control.

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From NYT:

President Bush said Wednesday that he had called the governors of the states affected by the storms and pledged assistance from the federal government. “Loss of life, loss of property — prayers can help and so can the government,” Mr. Bush said in brief remarks before a ceremony at the Department of Agriculture in Washington. “I do want the people in those states to know the American people are standing with them.”

Michael Chertoff, the secretary of Homeland Security, said that a regional emergency center in Thomasville, Ga., had been activated and that officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency were already active in Tennessee and others were on the way to the region. “We are going to keep watch on this,” Mr. Chertoff said. (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, FEMA by ecthompson md
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New Orleans is back in the news. Unfortunately, none of the news is good. First FEMA. FEMA = Disaster. FEMA has been using those great FEMA trailers which as it turns out are releasing toxic levels of formaldehyde. On the other hand, the state of Louisiana turned to James Lee Witt, former FEMA director under Clinton, back when the agency did something besides spend our money. NBC news appears to have uncovered some questionable billing practices by Secretary Witt. The city, the state can’t win for losing.

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From MSNBC.com:

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will keep selling and donating surplus disaster-relief trailers despite concerns that they may have unhealthy levels of formaldehyde, the agency said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Health Affairs plan to test the air quality in the trailers.

“Potential buyers/recipients will be fully advised of the concerns regarding formaldehyde levels in travel trailers,” FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker said Friday in an e-mail message to The Associated Press. (more…)

Fema [ 3:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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From NYT:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin on Thursday urged the Bush administration to speed aid to Hurricane Katrina victims, suggesting the government was not meeting its legal obligations to help the city recover.

At a news briefing, Nagin bemoaned the procedures to get money for housing and to rebuild roads and power systems. ”A bureaucratic maze,” he branded them.

While Congress last year appropriated billions of dollars for Katrina relief, the city has seen a tiny fraction of that amount. more

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My heart goes out to those in New Orleans.  They still need a ton of help.

Tags: FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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From the Center for American Progress:

1,833 lives lost. 270,000 homes destroyed. $55 billion in insured damage. Up to $1.4 billion in American tax dollars wasted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Today, the costs of Hurricane Katrina are still staggering. But even more staggering has been the slow pace of recovery on the Gulf Coast. No one was happy with the federal government’s initial response to the hurricane. Eighty percent of the American public think the federal government’s response could have been “much better,” and in September President Bush stated, “This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina.” But on the eve of Katrina’s one year anniversary, it is clear that the nation is still waiting for the help Bush promised. Yesterday, as part of the White House’s “public relations blitz,” Bush trumpeted in his weekly radio address that the federal government has “committed $110 billion to the recovery effort.” But those billions of dollars have yet “to translate into billions in building.” Perhaps most disappointingly, Bush has forgotten about his promise to the nation to confront poverty “with bold action.” As Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter writes, “The mood in Washington continues to be one of not-so-benign neglect of the problems of the poor.” Lessons haven’t been learned and time has run out for excuses. (The Progress Report has compiled a comprehensive timeline of the past year’s events and American Progress has developed a list of actions America needs to ensure preparedness and recovery capacity for natural disasters.)

more

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Bush has clearly said that he doesn’t care.  When his poll numbers tanked, he tried to pretend that he cared.  Fortunately, America didn’t buy it. 

We have made more progress in Iraq than we have in New Orleans and we haven’t done squat in Iraq.

Tags: Domestic Issues, FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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Are we ready?

Tags: FEMA by ecthompson md
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Why? Why did President Bush get such high marks on Hurricane Rita? What did he do? He did fly around the country. Is flying around the country all you have to do to impress the American people? I guess appearance is everything.

Watch Video:

Watch CBS Videos Online

From NYT:

As he emerged Saturday morning from the “battle cab” deep inside the Northern Command’s headquarters in Colorado Springs, President Bush caught sight of a famous image of himself: with bullhorn in hand at ground zero on Sept. 14, 2001.

At the invitation of a sergeant major in the Marines, he wrote “May God Bless America” on the photo and signed it, before moving on to the next hurricane briefing.

But as the White House has learned several times this week, when a president watches the gears of government mesh during a natural disaster, it is hard to find command moments like that one, four years and 10 days ago, when Mr. Bush told the world he was going after the terrorists. (more… )

Tags: Domestic Issues, FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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So we thought that the local, state and federal agencies would have learned a few things from Katrina. Well, they did but not enough. A bus carrying elderly out of the Houston caught fire and exploded on the highway killing 20. Gas stations have run out of gas. I-45 has been a parking lot for the last 2 days. From Dallas to Houston to Shreveport – there is no gas, no bottled water, no food staples – This is a HUGE area. Unless you have a chartered flight out of the region by now, you are stuck! Bush is going to Austin today to personally look over the shoulder of Governor Rick Perry (someone known for great hair and not great policy) who was hand picked to be Governor by Bush in 2000.

Tags: FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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“Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government and to the extent the federal government didn’t fully do its job right, I take responsibility,” Bush said. What? Is this a new political move? Or a new game To Tell the Truth?

Watch the video:

Watch CBS Videos Online

Tags: FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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I spent a lot of time in Louisiana. I did my training there and I was a junior faculty member at LSU-Shreveport. I have many friends in the New Orleans area. I pray for them and all of those good people affected by the powerful storm. May God give them strength.

Tags: Domestic Issues, FEMA, Katrina by ecthompson md
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