Communications firms cite problems

2theadvocate.com ^ | 02/07/06 | Gerard Shields

[Ellesu]

WASHINGTON — In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Federal Emergency Management Agency workers commandeered gasoline from a company trying to restore telephone service to the hurricane-ravaged New Orleans area, a Senate investigative panel found.

The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Monday released an e-mail obtained from Cox Louisiana Telecom LLC. The company was trying to restore service to 85,000 customers, according to Kay Jackson, director of regulatory affairs.

She complained about FEMA to the Louisiana Public Service Commission.

“Our efforts to get our telecommunications network back up and running is being severely hampered by FEMA,” Jackson wrote. “They are denying our field personnel fuel and taking any surplus we have, including gasoline in technicians’ trucks in the field.”

FEMA officials could not be reached for comment Monday evening.

The gasoline incident was held up by the committee as an example of how communications companies were often hampered by federal, state and local authorities from returning to New Orleans to repair a system vital to recovery efforts.

In another instance, e-mails showed that MCI was denied access to the New Orleans area by Louisiana State Police, who told company officials they needed a letter from Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

A State Police spokeswoman was unavailable for comment Monday evening.

Peter Fonash, deputy manager of the National Communications System with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said such access issues are not unusual because the matter is not outlined in the National Response Plan.

“It’s extraordinary to me that this wasn’t recognized prior to Katrina or any other natural disasters,” said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who chairs the committee.

The panel’s probe also found that Louisiana has not spent $58 million in first-responder grants dating back to 2003, Collins said. The state only uses 16 percent of its funding for communications, half the national average, she said.

State emergency preparedness officials who administer the program could not be reached to comment on the claims.

Interoperability was a chief frustration during and after the storm, said Collins, who called it the “Achilles heel” of emergency response.

“Communications among first responders and with their headquarters were, at best, sporadic, inconsistent and overwhelmed by competing traffic,” she said. “More often, it was non-existent.”

The hearing also focused on law enforcement response, including whether the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice were fighting over the leadership role.

The committee unveiled e-mails that showed the two agencies skirmishing a week after the storm over who would take the lead.

“This lack of coordination slowed federal assistance, which could have avoided the breakdown of law and order that had serious consequences on the ground in the desperate and confusing aftermath of Katrina,” said U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn.

But Michael J. Vanacore of the Department of Homeland Security denied the existence of tensions, saying the departments agreed to work jointly.

“Everybody on the ground was doing their job,” said Vanacore, director of international affairs at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The panel heard what Collins described as “chilling and eloquent” testimony from Warren Riley, superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department.

Riley, who was named police superintendent by Mayor Ray Nagin after Eddie Compass resigned, described a call from a panicked officer trapped in his attic who thought he was going to die and said his goodbyes before shooting out a vent to escape.

Riley also relayed 911 calls from pleading residents who were shouting “my babies can’t swim” and “my husband has drowned.”

[Ellesu]

The panel’s probe also found that Louisiana has not spent $58 million in first-responder grants dating back to 2003, Collins said. The state only uses 16 percent of its funding for communications, half the national average, she said.

WTH did they do with the money?

[LA Woman3]

The panel’s probe also found that Louisiana has not spent $58 million in first-responder grants dating back to 2003, Collins said. The state only uses 16 percent of its funding for communications, half the national average, she said.

WTH did they do with the money?

No telling...Unfortunately, we will probably never know.

[WasDougsLamb]

--True

[PAR35]

MCI was denied access to the New Orleans area by Louisiana State Police, who told company officials they needed a letter from Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

Sounds like the folks at MCI didn't know the proper response to a Lousiana shake down. For the proper payments to the appropriate intermediary, the letter should have been forthcoming.

[Old Professer]

I liked the one about shooting out the attic vent, too bad there's no picture.

[Bogey78O]

Some telecommunication companies are better prepared for emergencies and foolish gov't response then others.

:)

[Roux]

I've heard that the La. administration is hanging on to a lot of money they've recieved post Katrina. We can't figure out why.

The money I know a little about it healthcare related but it wouldn't surprize me if other depts are doing the same. I don't know what the Governor is up to.