New Orleans mayor calm after talk with Bush

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The cursing had stopped. The tears were gone. Mayor Ray Nagin returned from his meeting with President Bush a picture of calm.

He leaned back against a railing in a hotel lobby that for the first time in nearly five days was devoid of stranded, sweating, and generally miserable tourists.

"I feel much better. I feel like we've gotten everyone's attention and hopefully they'll continue to do what they're doing," Nagin said Friday night in the damaged downtown Hyatt hotel, where his temporary lodgings and command post have been set up since Hurricane Katrina made life in the Big Easy insufferable.

"I'm cautiously optimistic. I want to see it happen (Saturday). I want to see it happen next week. Then, when I see consistency of delivery, I'll feel like there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

His comments came a day after he was heard on a radio interview erupting in tears and telling the government to "get off your asses and let's do something." By nightfall Friday, his tone had changed.

"Today was a turning point, I think," he said. "My philosophy is never get too high, never get too low. ... I always try to keep my emotions in check and yesterday I kind of went off a little bit. I was worried about that, but it maybe worked out.'"'

Nagin said Bush gave him a hearty greeting and did not seem at all offended by Nagin's earlier outburst. Bush spent Friday on a daylong tour of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.

"I do think the pleas for help basically got the nation's attention, and the nation's attention got everybody to stop and re-evaluate what was going on, including the president. ... He basically said, 'Look, our response was not what it should have been and we're going to fix it right now.'"

The mayor asked Bush to focus on helping New Orleans with law enforcement, finishing the evacuation and draining the flooded city. He said New Orleans also needs a fleet of crop dusters to spray the city for mosquitos that could spread disease after hatching from the stagnant water that has swamped most of the city since Monday.

I do not think the mayor prepared his city for a national emergency. He's acting like he was a mayor of a small city but New Orleans is a major city. He's blaming everyone except himself. I'm sure they had enough police, fire and other emergency personnel. If he didn't have enough first responders he should of called the Governor's office. I think the mayor allowed his city to go into choas because he did not act quickly enough. He did not follow the National Emergency Plan.

We won't know the truth until they pump out all water from the city. New Orleans has a history of graft and corruption. Maybe funds were diverted to pet projects like casinos.

Planning & Prevention

National Response Plan: Local/Federal Response Strategies & Coordination Structures

National Response Plan Main Page >> Local/Federal Response Strategies & Coordination Structures

Emphasis on Local Response

All incidents are handled at the lowest possible organizational and jurisdictional level. Police, fire, public health and medical, emergency management, and other personnel are responsible for incident management at the local level. For those events that rise to the level of an Incident of National Significance, the Department of Homeland Security provides operational and/or resource coordination for Federal support to on-scene incident command structures.

Proactive Federal Response to Catastrophic Events

The National Response Plan provides mechanisms for expedited and proactive Federal support to ensure critical life-saving assistance and incident containment capabilities are in place to respond quickly and efficiently to catastrophic incidents. These are high-impact, low-probability incidents, including natural disasters and terrorist attacks that result in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, national morale, and/or government functions.

Multi-Agency Coordination Structures

The National Response Plan establishes multi-agency coordinating structures at the field, regional and headquarters levels. These structures:

Enable the execution of the responsibilities of the President through the appropriate Federal department and agencies;

Integrate Federal, State, local, tribal, nongovernmental Organization, and private-sector efforts; and

Provide a national capability that addresses both site-specific incident management activities and broader regional or national issues, such as impacts to the rest of the country, immediate regional or national actions required to avert or prepare for potential subsequent events, and the management of multiple incidents.

New Coordinating Mechanisms Include

Homeland Security Operations Center (HSOC)

The HSOC serves as the primary national-level multi-agency situational awareness and operational coordination center. The HSOC includes elements of the Department of Homeland Security and other Federal departments and agencies.

National Response Coordination Center (NRCC)

The NRCC, a functional component of the HSOC, is a multi-agency center that provides overall Federal response coordination.

Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC)

At the regional level, the RRCC coordinates regional response efforts and implements local Federal program support until a Joint Field Office is established.

Interagency Incident Management Group (IIMG)

A tailored group of senior level Federal interagency representatives who provide strategic advice to the Secretary of Homeland Security during an actual or potential Incident of National Significance.

Joint Field Office (JFO)

A temporary Federal facility established locally to provide a central point for Federal, State, local, and tribal representatives with responsibility for incident support and coordination.

Principal Federal Official (PFO)

A PFO may be designated by the Secretary of Homeland Security during a potential or actual Incident of National Significance. While individual Federal officials retain their authorities pertaining to specific aspects of incident management, the PFO works in conjunction with these officials to coordinate overall Federal incident management efforts

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/interapp/editorial/editorial_0569.xml

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