LAT: This Time (Rita), Federal Response Is Praised

[DeepModem Mom]

This Time, Federal Response Is Praised
By T. Christian Miller and Edwin Chen, Times Staff Writers


WASHINGTON -- Katrina's deadly rampage had at least one beneficial effect, disaster experts said Sunday: It ensured that government agencies took the next big storm, Hurricane Rita, very seriously.

This time, the federal government dispatched troops sooner, sent supplies earlier and coordinated better with local authorities. The consensus is that the response helped minimize the loss of life from a storm that was damaging, though less powerful, than Katrina.

While complaints continued Sunday about the need for better evacuation planning -- traffic was snarled for hours and 24 seniors were killed on a bus during the frantic exodus from Houston -- even officials who criticized the federal government after Katrina were praising the reaction to Rita.

With lessons learned from both hurricanes, state and local officials stressed the need for better evacuation plans. Military commanders cited the need for tighter coordination. And President Bush raised the possibility of placing the Pentagon in charge of responding to the most serious natural disasters.

In a briefing for the president Sunday in San Antonio, Maj. Gen. John White, overseeing the storm area, called for the development of a national disaster rescue plan to further clarify the roles of the various agencies. Under the current system, it is possible for five helicopters to arrive to rescue one storm victim....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-response26sep26,0,5747980.story?coll=la-home-headlines

[expatriot]

1. Bush has just taken enough rope to hang himself, imho

This proves there were no "systemic" or "legal" problems that would have prevented a much more competent and effective response to Katrina.

[laureloak]

2. Bush bends over backwards for TX and FLA.

But there is nothing he can ever do to atone for the lack of leadership following Katrina.

[Endangered Specie]

3. Translation: White people were in danger this time.

[stevedeshazer]

4. Government Hails Early Response to Rita (major spin)

WASHINGTON - The government's emergency coordinators on Sunday credited better stockpiling of supplies, early evacuations and more military muscle for saving lives during Hurricane Rita as President Bush pushed to give the Pentagon a larger role in future disasters.

American consumers also got good news as early reports indicated little damage to the Gulf Coast's refineries, crude oil prices dropped and the White House economic adviser predicted only a temporary hit from Rita.

From the buzz of Navy helicopters plucking citizens from rooftops to ample truckloads of water and food, the Bush administration sought to contrast its response this weekend to the failed actions in the hours and days after Hurricane Katrina.

"Our response operation is in full swing®," said R. David Paulison, acting director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, "The coordination and smooth preparation for this hurricane has been absolutely phenomenal."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050926/ap_on_go_pr_wh/rita_washington_hk4;_ylt=Av0cyJMjUjD5N6EasU8fUnGyFz4D;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl
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I'm feeling very dizzy right now. :crazy:

[RaleighNCDUer]

5. Well, of course!

The storm was headed for the heart of the US oil empire. Not for a hotbed of decadence and lust and jazz.

This, they had to worry about.

It's like putting troops around the oil ministry, and only the oil ministry. Can't have the wrong place looted now, can we?

[cassiepriam]

6. Bush being called a SECOND LEARNER...

my husband heard it on a talking head program...
bushie always has a learning curve thingy going on...
The sheeple should be happy. They hate brains.

[leesa]

7. Oh really. Is that why there was no gas stored. Is that why there were

no helicopters available for evacuation?