Posted on 09/11/2005 2:16:27 PM PDT by motorola7
"The federal government pretty much met its standard time lines, but the volume of support provided during the 72-96 hour was unprecedented. The federal response here was faster than Hugo, faster than Andrew, faster than Iniki, faster than Francine and Jeanne."
For instance, it took five days for National Guard troops to arrive in strength on the scene in Homestead, Fla. after Hurricane Andrew hit in 2002. But after Katrina, there was a significant National Guard presence in the afflicted region in three.
Journalists who are long on opinions and short on knowledge have no idea what is involved in moving hundreds of tons of relief supplies into an area the size of England in which power lines are down, telecommunications are out, no gasoline is available, bridges are damaged, roads and airports are covered with debris, and apparently have little interest in finding out.
(Excerpt) Read more at post-gazette.com ...
Great phrase.
Also something of an oxymoron these days.
Well, actually the next time a white area is hit watch for them to complain about the speed in which FEMA acts even if it takes twice as long as usual. When it comes to playing the race card, what's truth got to do with it?
Surprisingly enough, this time somebody did beat Schmuckie to the cameras and microphones - Bobby Kennedy, first out of the box and blaming George Bush for global warming which "nobody" doubts caused Katrina - so there is a new speed record in place which needs to be broken!
Rest assured Schmuckie will be on alert for the next disaster - unless he is otherwise completely distracted with smearing the characters of honest judges.
ping
Kelly told it the way it was, but it almost doesn't matter because you could throw all the facts in the world at the phony leftist media and ratblamers and it wouldn't change their mind.. and that's because their minds have been made us since pre-2000 election.
I don't believe the Katrina death toll is going to be anywhere near what the Media said it would be, and thank God for that, but here again they repeatedly said this would be "the worst disaster ever", Tens of thousand dead, because they WANTED a horrific tradgedy, because they couldn't wait to 'blame it on Bush'.
"Factual Basis" doesn't belong in the same sentance as "Local" or "Reporters". You must not understand the meening of those words.
I just sent this article to Brian Williams saying this is what a REAL knowledgeable Journalist writes.
Excellent. FEMA has a full-time staff of just under 2600 people. When you consider that FEMA was still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Dennis...and Katrina's first strike in S. Florida just days before hitting New Orleans (not to mention the other 90,000 square miles of damage), I find these expectations ludicrous.
"SOME THINGS FEMA DOES NOT DO":
- Physically rescue people or serve as "first-responders" in a disaster – that is the responsibility of local and state police, fire and emergency personnel. (This is exactly why FEMA notes that they won't arrive for 72-96 hours after a natural disaster passes).
- Building dams or levees or activating sand-bagging activities – generally the responsibility of local/state officials and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
- Taking "charge" of recovery effort -- FEMA works jointly with state and local officials.
- Running temporary shelters or disaster feeding stations...generally the responsibility of such organizations at the American Red Cross or the Salvation Army.
- Making weather predictions, fly into hurricanes or predict when rivers will surpass flood stage – generally the responsibility of the National Weather Service.
- Ordering evacuations of communities due to natural disaster – generally the responsibility of state and local officials.
- Setting building standards or setting zoning regulations – generally the responsibility of local and state official, with suggestions from FEMA.
- Calling out the National Guard – generally a state responsibility.
Even with these basic facts known, not one person in the media is asking how it is that a state...and a city the size of New Orleans, was completely unprepared to handle a "fore-warned" crisis. A city, by the way, that is one of the few that has its own Homeland Security Department run by Terry Ebbert under the appointment and direction of Mayor Nagin.
Terry Ebbert "has responsibility for coordinating with all the federal and state agencies on behalf of the city in all areas of homeland security". He has, "operational control of the police department, fire department, and the office of emergency preparedness, and reports directly to the mayor." In other words, Terry Ebbert performs a similar function to that of Mike Brown, only with broader power and authority within his own state.
In fact from as early as 2003, the division chief of operations for Louisiana's homeland security (Col. Jadwin Mayeaux-LOEP) claimed that the city of New Orleans was prepared for any crisis that might arise. "One initiative is the Rapid Response Force, a group of more than 1,200 National Guard soldiers in 11 teams in nine metropolitan areas, including New Orleans. This on-call force can respond immediately to a crisis and reinforce on-site personnel."
"Another initiative is the Special Reaction Team (SRT), three groups of National Guard soldiers (most of whom work for civilian law enforcement agencies) who help train and work as a cadre for the Rapid Reaction Force. They can assist and augment civilian authorities and train soldiers in MP tasks. Both groups have been called in to assist New Orleans several times (most recently during college basketball's Final Four weekend) to help the city beef up its law enforcement efforts."
This is a quote from 2003: "The city's experiences with hurricanes have helped foster partnerships that make Ebbert's job easier. 'We had already established good working relationships for hurricane evacuation planning, even down to hospitals and nursing homes, those types of agencies where we have to evacuate people...and we're now piggybacking on those relationships." (Yeah...and that's why much of the city and some of their employees stranded patients in their own rooms). "We've gone to a regional concept, versus individual parishes being out there by themselves," he says. This means formalized mutual-aid agreements,
It is so obvious that the failures in New Orleans are a result of local and state officials not even implimenting their own emergency plans. The very "mutual agreements" they speak of were absent as no plans were made for refugees and were they would go in other cities (or states, if necessary). From pre-storm evacuations to coordination with other state and federal agencies...including FEMA, the public officials in Louisiana have been a disgrace.
Where was this Rapid Reaction Force and the state's 1200 National Guard reserves when it came to conducting simple law-enforcement within the city of New Orleans. Again, had these "mutual agreements" been implimented earlier, Governor Blanco would have already had the National Guard from neighboring states to immediately help out. From Blanco's own press-conference we learned that she was only using 300 NG troops for law enforcement by Thursday, September 1st: "Last night, Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco said 300 Iraq-hardened Arkansas National Guard members were inside New Orleans with shoot-to-kill orders. These troops are...'under my orders to restore order in the streets.'
What's sadly ironic in this pathetic plan, is how we are now learning not only how ineffective Louisiana's own department of Homeland Security is, but how they are directly responsible for the delay in bringing aid to those in the city. Not only couldn't they get the job down before this crisis, they are the one's responsible for preventing both the Red Cross and Salvation Army from entering the city immediately after Katrina passed.
bump
Honore's command was a federal response.
Great line.
Thank you for the voice of truth and common sense.
Kelly must have meant Brian no nothing Williams.
Jessie Jackson and the so-called Rev Al did not want to be in Mississippi or Alabama, because they knew that people down there would lynch them. They went to New Orleans, because they knew that all of the TV crews would be in that area and the television crews would hang on every word that they uttered. They just wanted fan the flames of fires of the communists running the countries in Old Europe and Asia. I’ll bet that if Ophelia strikes the coast of the Carolinas and causes major damage, hide nor hair of these race baiters will not be seen. They tried to pull the same shit down in Florida last year and Jeb Bush gave them the ole heave ho.
..retractions are usually found buried on page 17, below the fold.
IMHO the Federal responsw was MAGNIFICENT and the MSM and leftists of the nation can KMA!!!
Bush, "Now why would I want to do that Senator?"
It still stands until we get all of the facts. The first fact Pelosi carressed is "I want what I want, and I want it now!!"
We shall see in the days and weeks ahead. I hope conservative will dispose of political correctness and, for once, try to expose the truth without predjustice. Lord knows the democrats are vested by definition in a string of lies..
Old military axiom: "Amateurs talk tactics, Professionals talk logistics."
Journalists complain that it took a whole week to do this. A former Air Force logistics officer had some words of advice for us in the Fourth Estate on his blog, Moltenthought:
"We do not yet have teleporter or replicator technology like you saw on 'Star Trek' in college between hookah hits and waiting to pick up your worthless communications degree while the grown-ups actually engaged in the recovery effort were studying engineering.
BTTT!
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