Posted on 09/06/2005 5:35:09 AM PDT by pittsburgh gop guy
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
As one who has received training by FEMA in emergency management and also training by the Department of Defense in consequence management, I believe that the federal response in New Orleans needs clarification.
|
|||
| Craig Martelle, retired as a major in the U.S. Marine Corps, lives in North Huntingdon. He recently launched the Strategic Outlook Institute, a public-policy organization. | |||
|
|||
The key to emergency management starts at the local level and expands to the state level. Emergency planning generally does not include any federal guarantees, as there can only be limited ones from the federal level for any local plan. FEMA provides free training, education, assistance and respond in case of an emergency, but the local and state officials run their own emergency management program.
Prior development of an emergency plan, addressing all foreseeable contingencies, is the absolute requirement of the local government --and then they share that plan with the state emergency managers to ensure that the state authorities can provide necessary assets not available at the local level. Additionally, good planning will include applicable elements of the federal government (those located in the local area). These processes are well established, but are contingent upon the personal drive of both hired and elected officials at the local level.
I've reviewed the New Orleans emergency management plan. Here is an important section in the first paragraph.
"We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to citywide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office. Our authority is defined by the Louisiana Emergency Assistance and Disaster Act of 1993, Chapter 6 Section 709, Paragraph B, 'Each parish shall maintain a Disaster Agency which, except as otherwise provided under this act, has jurisdiction over and serves the entire parish.' "
 |
 |
|
Phil Coale, Associated Press Flooded school buses in a lot, New Orleans, Sept. 1. Click photo for larger image.
|
Check the plan -- the "we" in this case is the office of the mayor, Ray Nagin who was very quick and vocal about blaming everyone but his own office. A telling picture, at left, taken by The Associated Press on Sept. 1 and widely circulated on the Internet shows a school bus park, apparently filled to capacity with buses, under about four feet of water. If a mandatory evacuation was ordered, why weren't all the taxpayer-purchased buses used in the effort?
Who could have predicted the anarchy resulting as a consequence? The individuals who devolved into lawless animals embarrass the entirety of America. (I worked in a U.S. Embassy overseas for a couple years and I can imagine what foreign diplomats are thinking.) What societal factors would ever lead people to believe that this behavior was even remotely acceptable?
The folks in New Orleans who are perpetrating the violence and lawlessness are not that way because of low income or of race, but because they personally do not have any honor or commitment to higher ideals. The civil-rights leaders should be ashamed at playing the blame game.
The blame is on the individuals. The blame is on the society that allowed these individuals to develop the ideal that the individual is greater than the national pride he is destroying. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was very clear in her comments that she was offended at those who suggested the suffering in New Orleans was prolonged because of race.
As a retired Marine, I hang my head in shame to see my fellow Americans degenerate so far. I spent so many years in the Corps helping the citizens of other countries rise to a higher level of personal responsibility to ensure that in case of emergency, anarchy did not necessarily follow. When people are held to a higher standard of personal responsibility and they accept that, then they will do the right thing when the time comes.
It seems that the mayor of New Orleans is leading the effort in not taking responsibility for his actions. The emergency managers for the state of Louisiana do not have much to say either. The failure in the first 48 hours to provide direction for survivors is theirs to live with. When FEMA was able to take over, it started out behind and had to develop its plan on the fly. Now the federal government has established priorities -- rescue the stranded, evacuate the city, flow in resources and fix the levee. It appears that now there is a plan and it is being systematically executed.
Hurricane Katrina was a national tragedy -- not just in the number of lives lost or the amount of physical damage, but also in the failure of people to do what is right when no one is looking.
Nice pic of the flooded buses, clearer and different angle too. Saved for my collection.
only the bad news
Dangerous train of thought, my friend. To hell with the rules?
I don't think so.
Your points should be filed under common sense. Another rule, if you elect idiots, expect your elected officials to be idiots.
That one had to, but he only evacuated himself instead of ordering city and school buses to evacuate people who didn't have transportation like the emergeny evacuation plan said.
As an American, I care VERY much about turf battles. They can make or break the goals they are tasked to achieve.
The Federal government should have taken over as soon as the Red Cross was turned back due to security concerns.
Totally wrong. I want control to remain at the local level as our founding fathers intended. I never want the federal government taking control of anything where locals have responsibility.
In this case, the feds had to take over because of an incompetent mayor and governor. This should never have to happen again and I don't want to see precedent set here. Nagin and Blanco both should be removed from office. But I guess they had the feds and other states remove the people who probably have the greatest reason to replace them.
While I see some communication and coordination problems on the federal level, they were not supposed to be the initial responders. They actually got in there when they were supposed to and did a totally magnificent job. I, for one, am proud to be an American when I see what we did in New Orleans this past week.
She is absolutely correct. The Plan WAS in place. She just never carried it out.
The Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan specifically stated: "5. The primary means of hurricane evacuation will be personal vehicles. School and municipal buses, government-owned vehicles and vehicles provided by volunteer agencies may be used to provide transportation for individuals who lack transportation and require assistance in evacuating."
Why was it so critical to evacuate?
What have I said that disagrees with that statement? I agree with the General.
You might learn the facts before REACTing reflexively as is typical MSM and liberal tendencies. FEMA had supply stations set up BEFORE the storm even hit. Bush begged the state and local officials to evacuate.
I know all that. I am well aware of the facts. My bone to pick is the fact that the Feds didn't react faster once the magnitude of the disaster was known; after first responders were being shot at; and the situations at the Convention Center, Superdome, and overpasses were allowed to fester for days. Bush begging is not a solution.
I agree it took Bush a little long to realize just how incompetence things really were at the state level. Generally he trusts people in leadership to act like leaders. Big mistake in NOLA!!!
Therein lies the problem. Bush was not well-served by Brown and Chertoff who displayed no sense of urgency and lacked forcefulness. Thankfully, Honore filled the leadership vacuum. Chertoff and Brown are both lawyers with little executive experience managing large organizations and major resources. We need professionals in these jobs, not ones with political connections.
We know, and FEMA did make mistakes, though the calls for Chertoff's head on a platter were a BIT PREMATURE given the actual evidence of exactly who made what mistakes.
If the rules don't make sense and are costing people their lives, you bet.
Great article - i have been un-wired for the past week but have had plenty of radio and TV. I have never been so enfuriated as I have been over what I have seen demonstrated by so many in NO as well as the media. Particularly in their rabid attempts to bash President Bush during this tragedy. I know I personally had questions about the lack of response - but it didn't take long for me to figure out that the fault sits directly in the lap of the Mayor of NO and the Governor of LA. Grrr.....
Do you realize the implications of what you are suggesting? What you are calling for is essentially a Peronist model.
It is only *after the fact* that the emotional and uneducated American people are calling for an immediate federal response to a disaster and it is only in this instance.
Would you like to see a President Al Gore or a President Hillary Clinton take over all state, city, and local functions in the case of any "disaster" in *any* state? You can just imagine how loosely "disaster" will be defined by a Gorelick-led Department of Justice.
Cool off and wait for the dust to settle. With a little time, anybody with any degree of intelligence will recognize that George Bush and the feds did a magnificent job. If they came in any earlier, you would have had a lot of dead feds, dead military, a true insurrection and a possible race war.
I am still WAITING for FACTS that show WHY the FEDERAL RESPONSE was inadequate and slow to be published or reported on by someone in the MSM.
FACT ONE: The feds can NOT provide assistance UNTIL ASKED by the State Government. FACT TWO: We have a CONSTITUTION and are a nation of LAWS and thereby DO NOT HAVE an EMPEROR or a DICTATOR.
Leftists everywhere REJOICE because YOU will probably get another layer of government to be RESPONSIBLE for Natural Disasters but what you won't get is what you want. A benevolent KING!!
Good post. Let's never forget what happened when one president DID take the law into his own hands and break the law in order to put an end to a bad situation. A lot of innocent people died in WACO. Sure, a lot of innococent people died in NO too, but that is first and foremost the fault of the local government. The mayor who didn't follow the emergency plan and the governor who refused federal help. They did nothing to help those people, though they had PLENTY of time for TV and radio interviews from a nice, safe distance.
Mayor Numnut Nagin and Governor Bozo Blanco were so frozen and inept that the Federal Government should have seen this and delared the local and state government out of commission. Yes, it is the responsibility of the local and state levels to prepare and manage the crisis. However, when they are so bankrupt of common sense and it endangered the lives of citizens, the Federal Government should have taken over.
I believe the only reason why the Feds did not take over was that they believed it would be seen as a "Republicans versus Democrats" fight.
The bottom line is this--the two idiotic morons at the city and state level are directly responsible for thousdands losing their lives. The Feds are not to blame, but the Feds should have seen the anarchy coming due to the morons running the show and Federalized the management of the crisis at an early stage, IMO.
We'll have to agree to disagree here.
Without defined roles and authorities you have anarchy. The federal government does not have the right to shove to states aside, nor should it.
You see it differently, and that's fine.
Chertoff and Brown's mistake was assuming everything would run like it has in Florida. I have heard nothing but praise for FEMA's efforts in Florida. But then again, Florida has a competent Governor.
You do not even have any facts as to how many lives were lost due to the feds not rushing in to solve the disaster immediately. Would it have comforted you if hundreds or thousands of lives of federal first responders' lives were lost due to gangs, looters, etc.? Do you not value the lives of FEMA officials, rescuers, military, volunteers AT ALL?
You seem so obsessed with placating the left, that you have no interest in the implications of your arguments.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.