Posted on 09/21/2005 1:30:24 PM PDT by Republican Red
Bush Administration Touts Rita Readiness
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Eager to avoid the public pounding he got for his response to Hurricane Katrina, President Bush pledged on Wednesday to be "ready for the worst" as another big hurricane headed for the Gulf Coast.
Across the federal government, officials were advertising the Bush administration's stepped-up response plans for Hurricane Rita as it swept across the Gulf of Mexico toward the Texas coastline.
Bush pleaded with people in the region to comply with mandatory evacuation orders issued in New Orleans and Galveston. And he said that federal, state and local governments were in close coordination.
"I urge the citizens to listen carefully to the instructions provided by state and local authorities and follow them," Bush said in a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition. "We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm but we got to be ready for the worst."
Hundreds of truckloads of water, ice and ready-made meals arrived at locations in Rita's path, and rescue and medical teams were standing by. "I think we're going to be ready when it does hit land," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff promised.
Lt. Gen. Robert Clark, commander of The 5th Army which is based in Texas, was told to be prepared to assume control of a joint military task force for Hurricane Rita, 5th Army spokeswoman Lt. Col. Jane Crichton said Wednesday.
He would command all active duty forces responding to the hurricane, much as Lt. Gen. Russel Honore has done for those involved in Hurricane Katrina.
A military cargo plane evacuated 25 patients from the Florida Keys, and more than 2,000 National Guard troops were put on active-duty alert to assist as Rita slammed into the string of islands and headed west, perhaps toward Texas.
R. David Paulison, the newly appointed director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said if people don't evacuate before the arrival of Rita, which hit Category 4 strength on Wednesday, they could be out of reach of help.
"We know that there is going to be a period of time before help gets to you," Paulison told reporters in Washington. "So you need to make sure you have your family's plan in place, your evacuation plans in place. Make sure you have food, water, medicine, all the things you need to survive for a couple of days on your own."
Appearing on CBS's "The Early Show," Chertoff declared, "Ever since Katrina we've been reloading our resources." He said federal officials are working very closely with their counterparts in Texas.
In an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America," Chertoff said, "The lesson is that when the storm hits, the best place to be is to be out of the path. ... There's plenty of (advance) notice about Rita."
Democratic critics said the preparations for Rita seemed to exceed those for Katrina, and called anew for an independent panel to investigate why.
"It's nice to have the Bush administration recognize the importance of a federal response to Rita, but why weren't they proactively mobilizing and organizing like this for Katrina?" said Rebecca Kirszner, a spokeswoman for Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
"These are the questions that need to be asked by an independent commission," Kirszner said.
The supplies, rescue teams and military support arrived as President Bush declared a state of emergency in Florida.
In his speech, Bush reiterated that "we're going to stay as long as it takes" to help the communities battered by Katrina recover.
"It's an opportunity to bring new life to neighborhoods that were suffering before the storm," he said.
On Wednesday, Bush signed legislation allowing the Education Department to waive requirements for repaying Pell Grant and other federal student grants for students forced to withdraw because of the disaster. He also signed a measure to extend certain welfare programs, expiring at the end of the month, and give states more funds and flexibility in spending money to address the needs of families affected by Katrina.
He promised a big role for the federal government but, with conservatives' alarm growing at the fast pace of disaster spending, promised to "make sure your money is spent wisely." In his speech to the Republican Jews, Bush also pledged to keep focused on fighting terrorists.
"They're the kind of people that look at Katrina and wish they had caused it," Bush said.
The majority of response aid for Katrina was deployed after Bush declared an emergency in Louisiana on Aug. 27, Homeland Security Department officials have said.
Those supplies - meals, water, ice, cots, blankets - began arriving in Gulf Coast states on Aug. 28, the day before Katrina struck, and several days worth of sustenance also was dispatched to the New Orleans Superdome as the storm blew in. But flooding that followed Katrina prevented additional supplies from getting into the city, Homeland Security officials have said.
Pentagon officials also moved to get out front of Rita. An estimated 319,000 National Guard troops nationwide were available to respond to Rita should the need arise, the Defense Department said. About 1,100 National Guard troops from Texas who had been serving in the Katrina-ravaged region returned to their home state. Navy amphibious assault ships were deployed offshore to assist relief efforts.
Nuff Said
Reid...you are a bigger jackass than I ever imagined. You should shut your mouth becuase your ignorance and envy is showing. What a disgrace you are....you are truly a vile individual to even THINK about asking that question.
And the level of fraud is not enough to make Huey Long blush.
Because the "they" with the primary responsibility of organizing evacuations are state and local officials. Texas is lucky to have state and local officials who are not corrupt and are not lazy Democrats looking to blame the Feds.
Obviously there are no poor, black people in Texas.
perfect
My Lord, these Libs are just cretinous!
Rita is still three days from landfall, and already the Dems are politicizing it. What Reid ignores is that Bush and FEMA WERE being proactive about Katrina, WERE making preparations, WERE prepositioning supplies.
I think it's because NOLA has never had to think about this scenerio. They've never been faced with the prospect of a big storm.
Unless you count Ivan, but that was ages ago. No one alive in NO could remember that.
Dear Harry: It is because Texas is not run by socialist democrats and seem not to have their heads firmly up their @$$e$$!!!
I can save you the cost of an independent panel.
Louisiana - democrat governor
Texas - republican governor
For democrat critics to raise questions on why preparations by Texas seem to exceed those by Louisiana is downright comical.
Bwahahahaha Governor of TX vs LA Mayor of Houston vs what's his face of NO...
Texas also has young men and rescue/disaster preparedness training camps like
Ok dem-wits! Let's say we can snap are fingers and make it turn out exactly like the Katrina aftermath. What would you say then? You'd say, "see look at how incompetent the President is!"
It doesn't matter what he does here. He's either too ready or he wasn't ready enough. Please.
You people are pathetic!
Senator Reid, YOU are "stuck on stupid."
Except I'm not laughing because half the nitwits out there believe this stuff...They WANT to believe it.
Also, the governor probably didn't need 24 hours to "think" about it.
What a disgusting vomitus mass Reid is.
Line courtesy of "The Princess Bride."
This is a perfect illustration as to why RATS should not be trusted with power. They are incapable of learning from mistakes.
Look at it this way: it's like when the receiver in football bobbles the catch, and the teammate near him tries to grab the ball before it hits the ground. The teammate expected the receiver to catch the ball, and so was prepared to block for the receiver and not prepared to catch the receiver's bobble.
The Feds were prepared to back up Louisiana and New Orleans during Katrina. They didn't expect Blanco and Nagin to so fumble the emergency so badly, and were not in position to step in to do the state's and city's jobs, as well as their own.
With Rita, Texas is better prepared for the emergency, freeing the Feds to focus on their own job this time. Also notice how Mississippi had things covered, and so the Feds weren't an issue there, either.
-PJ
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