Can anyone tell me anything Blanco or Nagin actually did wrong?

[snot]

I have to admit, I've been getting most of my news through DU. My impression is that the failures all occurred on the part of the Feds. I'd like to know what's the worst the truth has for us.

[Frances]

1. Well, I don't know anything they actually did wrong

Nagin says that he should have yelled louder for help from the Feds.

Blanco was accused of not declaring an emergency (and the Wash Post printed this as fact) but later recanted when Blanco's office produced the document.

The Repubs I talked to concentrated on the looting and the accusation that people fired at a helicopter trying to rescue people at a hospital (I think that accusation was found to be false). It seems that the focus on looting is dying down.

I'm sure that Rove is concocting excuses as I type this, though.

[proud2BlibKansan]

2. They chose careers in politics.

I would understand if either one feels this was the wrong choice after this nightmare.

[linazelle]

3. Believed George W. Bush when he promised help. nt

[Maiden England]

4. Assumed the Feds would send the help they were supposed to?

:shrug:

[Spazito]

5. They were the democratic Mayor and the democratic Governor

in Louisiana when bush was shown to be lethally incompetent.

[Quixote1818]

6. Nagin didn't do anything wrong. Blanco perhaps could have

sent in more state help I suppose however FEMA is supposed to be set up for major disasters like this.

When your city is covered with 20 foot of water what on earth could the city Gov. have done???? Nagin is in the clear as far as I am concerned.

[ourbluenation]

8. It's those damn buses, sitting there unused....

if I have to hear it again I'm gunna pop.

[Kali]

12. I heard some minister on Democracy Now! railing against

just about EVERYBODY - he pointed out they had several day's notice and that the city could have tried to stock some water and food and such in the Superdome and convention centers if that was where they were going to shelter people... other criticism was not placing busses on higher ground, etc

[DoYouEverWonder]

35. FEMA didn't designate the Superdome a shelter until SUNDAY

Before that there was no certified safe shelter for a big hurricane anywhere in New Orleans according to the Red Cross.

Nagin begged FEMA to tell him where to send people. Finally around midday Sunday FEMA approved the Superdome as a safe shelter.

This is why there was no food or water at the site.

FEMA made one delivery BEFORE the storm and it was obvious then that it would be inadequate.

[Laelth]

7. No.

Just no. Everybody knew that this thing was going to be too big for the city or the state to handle alone. Managing the disaster was a federal responsibility that Bush authorized and accepted.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

The feds just dropped the ball (not to mention cutting the funding that could have prevented the severity of the disaster).

-Laelth

[WeRQ4U]

44. This may be one fo the MOST important rebuttal documents out there.

Thanks for that.

[Xtreme]

9. 200 school buses

Should have started moving people out as fast as possible.

Nagins outbursts hurt the effort.

Bush told him to get the people out.

They were warned.

All statements from the bush rim job crowd over at faux!

[Lindacooks]

21. 200 school buses could maybe get out 6000 people.

NOT INCLUDING THE DISABLED. Do those fucking wingnuts know how much room a wheelchair takes up? There is NO WAY the city of NO could have evacuated even a proportion of those left behind with those school buses. If they could get the gas for them. And where would they have gone?????? There was nowhere to be evacuated TO!!!

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[scarlett1]

47. And were the buses owned by private companies,

the School District, the City? There is a limit of what a Mayor can order be done or taken from a private company.

[peacemon]

24. Rebutal against the bus theroy

Repost from another thread....

The local officials are supposed to handle the evacuation... it says so in the evacuation manual. The most common Freeper claim that the Feds can't be responsible.

I've looked into this and found the official evacuation plan for Southeast Louisiana on their state homeland security web site. Very interesting read...

It does indicate that the local authorities should use any transportation available to move residents in the mandatory evacuation phase.. Ahhh, The kernel of truth they use to build the lie. But further read and two bullet points later it indicates that the local governments will be unable to carry out the evacuation and will require outside assistance.

Now review the the letter Gov Blanco sent on Saturday the 27th requesting federal assistance and declaration of national emergency. The letter clearly identifies the need to assist state and local agencies with evacuation.

Obviously the assistance never came or there would have been evacuations from the Super Dome which was designated as a last resort shelter. The last resort shelters according the the evac plan are suppose to provide a staging point for further evacuations until conditions deteriorate.

All they have is spin, keep the facts in their face.

[DoYouEverWonder]

36. FEMA didn't allow him to send the buses anywhere

Nagin kept asking them where to send the people and finally on Sunday they told him that the Superdome should be used and that it was a safe shelter. He had no other choice but to send the people there.

Since the Superdome was never supposed to be used for a shelter during a big cane it was not set up or equiped prior to the storm.

Plus Nagin - Did send buses with people out of the city before the storm. Remember School Buses have no AC or bathrooms and traffic was backed up for hours. Three people died on one bus as a result and Nagin probably decided that he couldn't take that risk anymore. He asked FEMA to send buses with AC and of course they ignored him.

[Roy]

41. 200 school busses WERE MOVING, but OPPOSITE DIRECTION

[Mutley]

46. Meh.

This one's already gone. http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=user_profiles&u_id=174046 Don't worry yourselves about him.

[snot]

10. Thanks! Just heard rpt on BBC w/ some * drone stating vaguely that

there was a breakdown of communication and insinuating that it was somehow local officials' fault.

I think it's v. impt. that we URGE the media to make them GET SPECIFIC.

[aikoaiko]

11. its debatable, but Nagin and Blanco could have gotten more people out

Theres lots of blame for lots of things (especially at the federal level), but Nagin and Blanco could have called for every bus (school and municipal) to go to NOLA and pick up the poor, elderly, and infirmed especially if they started early enough. BY the time they actually called for a mandatory evac, there was even enough time to get buses from Atlanta down to NOLA and out before Katrina hit. Blanco had at her disposal every bus and LEO in the state to make it happen and it didn't. The poor were left to weather the storm.

Dr. Masters, a hurricane expert, wrote an article saying such a effort might have failed anyway but he limited his analysis to just NOLA buses and after the mandatory evac had been called.

It would have been difficult, and there still would have been those who refused to leave, but more could have been done. I think, they thought the FED would come save the day after Katrina hit. And they were dead wrong.

But Bush and his appointed FEMA are to blame for hugely poor response after Katrina hit when it was clear that the people of NOLA were dying.

[Gloria]

14. The NO plan was "faith-based" --based on volunteer drivers

A CD was circulated around the city's churches. Planned pickup points.
When the time came there weren't enough volunteers to man the busses, that's why they were sitting.

I read this in the city emergency plan, online. This was the plan for getting people to the shelters of last resort, like the SuperDome.

It also stated that as soon as the plan is implemented, if more help is indicated, it becomes FEMA's responsiblity at that point.

[aikoaiko]

15. as you say, their plan failed and they can be blamed for it.

Having buses commandeered statewide and manned with LEO was still an option.

I agree, though, that once it was clear the mayor and governor couldn't handle the situation the fed should have come in faster and more effectively. I dont know if it was possible before the hurricane hit.

[libertypirate]

16. Fema was on board two days before

He wanted to get it done so he wouldn't miss a nap...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/08/20050827-1.html

This whole big pile of shit belongs to FEMA, and the boy-king playing president on TV.

The date is two days before the storm landed.

FEMA, Bush, failed to evaluate this problem from anything but a PR campaign. They failed the fundamental test of humanity, they failed to see the dire need of others and respond appropriately.

[aikoaiko]

17. True, but Blanco could have done more.

Some of this whole pile of shit also belongs to the local leaders too unless you think that local governement has no part in protecting its residents.

Everyone (local, state and federal officials) knew the levees would likely fail with a category 3 hurricane, but left the poor, elderly, and infirmed in the city. I;m not giving anyone a pass just because of party affiliation.

Read the request for aid from Blanco. All she asks for is money for cleanup and housing afterwards. Nothing about emergency evacuations.

http://gov.louisiana.gov/Disaster%20Relief%20Request.pdf


Listen, I;m not saying that FEMA didn't fail in numerous ways far greater than the state or municipality, but I cannot give them a pass either because the fed didn't do what they could have done.

[libertypirate]

19. I don't see why additional blame at this time has to be smeared around

the law which is all we have left worth a damn in this country was correctly followed by Blanco. No matter what when Bush aka. Fucktard calls a state of emergency it is a FEMA organized event. If you read the law it says Blanco can make requests to FEMA which she did two days prior to the storm reaching land.

FEMA didn't fulfill their part of the law so it is on there ass.

I would like to know if she attempted to follow up? If she had a conversation with fucktard what that was about? Did he deny her request? He didn't offer her his 24hr offer to take over the entire deal with 0 state oversight until friday; after the shit was being smeared already. I think the lady did great in the very best interest of the people of her state. Not letting the fucktard presnut control the privatization of the recovery.

[aikoaiko]

29. I'm not interested in smearing blame around,

but I'm also not interested in giving anyone a pass just because they met the "letter of the law" or because of party affiliation when they could have done more. Even a direct request from Blanco to get her people out of NOLA before the storm hit would have been nice. Her request for aid via her letter to Shrub asks for money for cleanup and housing.

I too wish I knew more about what was said by whom and to whom, but I suppose I will never know.

And I agree that the majority of the responsibility lies with Bush, the fed, and FEMA. After all, they too could have asked why the hell are people being evacuated from NOLA when a cat three storm was approaching.

[libertypirate]

40. They must pay for only dealing with past problems and not looking ahead

[peacemon]

23. The Money figures in there are not cash requests

The dollar amounts in that letter requesting aid are estimates so FEMA would know how much to expect the efforts to cost.

Sure some of it is cash to pay folks but that is after the fact. The intenet of the letter is to provide cost estimates so FEMA understands the Scope of the request. However after the thief in chief signs the order it's up to FEMA to fill the gaps and own the response.

[aikoaiko]

30. ok, I'll have to think about that.... but I still have to ask why Blanco

didn't say to Bush that she didn't have the resources to get the poor, elderly, and infirmed out of NOLA and they are in danger as she, FEMA, and just about everyone else was aware of the reports that said the levees and seawalls would likely fail of a category three storm hit.

That might have indicated the scope of the request a little better.

True, though, FEMA could have shook their heads in amazement at her requst for cleanup money and housing and sent in the troops immediately.

And they should have.

[Spazito]

42. Look at the National Response Plan

and the proclamation declaring Louisiana a disaster area signed by the President on August 28th. It is ALL in there.

Link to the National Response Plan thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4668155

[aikoaiko]

48. Yes, a thousand times yes, the fed failed too, but .....

.. how does the fed's failing some how absolve the state and local officials?

If they couldn't evac themselves prior to Katrina hitting (which I'm not sure they couldn't), why then, wasn't it at least in their request earlier to the fed? She did specficially ask for money for cleanup and housing.

[Spazito]

59. Because in addition to declaring a state of disaster for Louisiana

which allows her to request a proclamation from the President, making it a federal responsibility proactively, she must also state expenses related to specific areas, it is the bureaucratic process she had to complete, it is really that simple.

[indigo]

37. Can it be done?

<i>Everyone (local, state and federal officials) knew the levees would likely fail with a category 3 hurricane, but left the poor, elderly, and infirmed in the city. </i>

Is a 24-hr evacuation possible in American cities? My conclusion is "no," not without a tremendous investment in infrastructure.

I live in a large city on the east coast. I have looked up the "carless" census data for 2000, and I was shocked to find that many American cities have a much higher percentage of carless than New Orleans. I don't have the data on hand, but I remember that NYC, SF, WashDC, Boston were all higher. In fact, NYC was just over 50% carless.

Let's assume 65% w/ car and 35% w/o car.

CAR EXIT
--------

- then you must assume that car is in good working order (operational)

- it needs a full tank (in my area, gas stations quickly run out of gas when there's even a hint of panic).

- Traffic. OK, the video I saw of slow traffic out of New Orleans is normal, everyday rush hour traffic where I live. I've already calculated that I can bike out faster.

- Road conditions. A lane(s) blocked on a highway for construction is standard fare here.

- No bottlenecks due to accidents/panics.

My evaluation of the car evac out of New Orleans is "EXCELLENT". People were polite, the city appeared to be guiding traffic flow in a manner as efficient as could be expected under the circumstances.

BICYCLE/PEDESTRIAN evac
-----------------------

I recently did a bike tour in the Mid-Atlantic area. The roads in/near urban areas are not in good condition. Rough sledding.

AIRPLANE/FLIGHT
---------------

Well, we know that the airlines jumped ship on Saturday before the hurricane for their various reasons. Also, you need to be able to get a ticket and pay for it.

In NO, some ppl were able to get on a plane, some not. I would expect the same in any urban area as long as the only flight options are private.

TRAIN
-----

Some areas have a regional rail system, but that's what it is -- regional. Amtrak? Aren't they always struggling with funding cuts? Availability of actual trains is probably low in case of emergency. If I were a federal agency planning realistically for disaster, shoring up our rail system would be a priority. Currently, using Amtrak (subject to limitations like obtaining a ticket, etc) is probably an option only in major hubs.

GREYHOUND/BUS
-------------

Hah-ha. Disorganized mess. Recently have cut many stops in outlying areas due to budget cuts.

SCHOOL BUSES
------------

My impression watching video before the hurricane is that the school buses were used to bring people to the Super Bowl. My guess at this time is that somebody decided that more ppl could be saved by using the buses to transport ppl to the shelters within NO rather than busing ppl out 100 miles (?) away.

Also, I just saw an ad in my area for school bus drivers ($13.00/hr). I actually have some respect for the fact that somehow the school bus drivers were around/found on the weekend to shuttle people over when you know that they probably wanted to spend time securing their property and getting the heck out. You really have to have a strong sense of civic duty, if you think about it!

Now, let's use a hurricane as an example to look at outward flow. You don't have an exit toward the sea. And if you go eastbound, you really need to get far away as the storm is predicted to have its greatest impact on the east side. So, you really can't evacuate radially from NO. You would probably find a similar directional bias for many situations requiring evacuation (biohazard - wind, etc).

Finally, in the NE, most big cities have another one of at least medium-size nearby. Phl-Camden. New York - Newark, DC/Baltimore, etc. Guaranteed directional bias.

If I run through the logistics in my head for my area, my conclusions are very negative re: an orderly evacuation given the current state of affairs. I am VERY SURPRISED that there hasn't been a stronger response NATIONWIDE about our need to invest in infrastructure.

And I haven't even thought about the resources/logistics for transporting the elderly and sick.

And without a civic transportation network in times of emergency (read: free and well-organized) the poor are out of luck. Let's not moralize about the specific situation in NO. Explain to me how you would evacuate the poor in Philadelphia-Camden, for example. Have you seen Camden lately? Exactly the same thing would happen. Oh wait, I forgot to mention that it's a tri-state area, so I guess you can throw coordination between PA-NJ-DE into the mix. Note that if you accept the talking points crapola that's out there, the Federal govt would have to sit on its hands to get the 'proper paperwork' from three states for one small region.

[aikoaiko]

51. True, 24 hours was close to too late....

but it could have started earlier and it could have been a huge effort. Its true it would have been difficult and not succeeded completely, but it might have saved a significant amount of lives to have people out of the bowl where the death toll appears to be the greatest.

I agree that much more could be spent on infrastructure.

My area: We'll do ok, I think. When Hurricane Floyd was 24 hours away and heading toward Savannah was bussing the poor, elderly, and infirmed inland. The horrible crisis in NOLA has only reinforced our need to bolster those EVAC (prior to the 'cane hitting) procedures.

[amandabeech]

20. Realistically, I think that Nagin and Blanco would have had to go

with a mandatory evacuation on the 26th, which was the day that Blanco declared an emergency, if there was any shot at getting everyone out. It would also have meant getting the NG in there to roust people from there homes by force, if necessary. Declaring that soon also might have backfired if Katrina had veered more to the right, and they would be in danger of having cried "wolf" one to many times.

Even then, there would have had to have been a very clear plan that would almost force the school bus drivers to cooperate on pain of criminal prosecution. The plan would also have had to secured permissions for rest stops. Every greyhound style bus in LA, AR and TX would have been commandeered. Of course, there would have had to have been preplanned destinations for all those buses. Evac at the airport maybe could have started earlier if * had taken the initiative to get the airlines into emergency transit mode from NO, Baton Rouge and any other airports capable of commercial service. Running planes 24 hours a day would have been necessary. Perhaps * could have got Amtrak into action as well. I read that Amtrak took 650 people out of NO to Dallas in one train.

At the convention center and superdome, arrangements should have been made to bring in just about every portapottie in the area and store them in the parking structures. And more supplies of water and non-perishable food perhaps could have been laid in. All this would have been necessary backup for stragglers.

My brain can't imagine how one would organize the evac of the nursing homes and hospitals. Many of those individuals would not be able to make a long bus trip.

It almost seems as though NO and southern LA would have to practice all of this several times before they got it right. And who would pay for those practices?

[aikoaiko]

26. I agree it would have been a huge effort, costly, and not 100% successful

But still, a mass statewide effort to evacuate NOLA and the low lying areas could have been attempted.

At very least, Blanco could have requested it in her letter to Shrub. but she didn't.

That does not in any way excuse the Fed from doing it themselves because they knew the same things that Blanco and Nagin knew, that the levees and sea walls might very well fail.

[sandnsea]

25. Take them where?

That's the question. Who would have opened up stadiums for this many people? We've got them all over the country as it is. They haven't JUST been taken out by bus either, they've also been taken out by plane. “Operation Air Care” to provide emergency airlift to more than 25,000 New Orleans residents stranded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I think people who are saying buses would have worked just have no clue as to the massive numbers of people that were left in that city. And there are still people in New Orleans, at the airport and other rescue points.

[aikoaiko]

27. I think most people are talking about evac prior to the hurricane hitting

Realistically, all they had to do was get them out of the bowl that is NOLA, but the further inland the better.

Most high school gymanasiums are set up to emergency shelters for this type of thing. It would have been a massive logistical effort.

[sandnsea]

32. So am I

The people are EVERYWHERE. I don't think there's enough high school gymnasiums in the state of Louisiana to handle all the people, let alone the hospitals, nursing homes, mental health facilities, assisted living homes, developmentally disabled homes, etc. Would they have opened their shelters to poor black folks before this disaster? No way. There was nowhere to take these people and that's why "shelters of last resort" was part of the New Orleans Disaster Plan.

[aikoaiko]

33. OR If not enough room in LA, then ask for help from neighboring states

I'm not sure either if their would have been enough room in the exisintg emergency shelters throughout LA. LA is a big state though.

As far as people being willing to accept poor black folks, well, thats a leadership issue again. She commanded the state National Guard.


It wouldn't have been easy and it most certainly would have been costly, but it could have been done. At least, very least, she could have asked for help getting people out of NOLA.

I am not satisfied with leaving the poor, eldely, and infirmed to weather the storm.


I have many, many more criticisms of the fed, but I cannot give Blanco a pass on her performance.

[sandnsea]

34. Listen, pull your damned head out

People are currently spread out ALL OVER THE DAMNED COUNTRY. There was nowhere to take these people and there is no major city in the country that is capable of getting all their citizens out. It's because we don't care because they are poor, and in the cities, that almost always means black or brown. It's just a fact. Why can't you deal with it? It isn't Nagin's fault or Blanco's fault, it's the fault of a political philosophy that far too many Americans have subscribed to and it's called Reaganism. Part and parcel of that is racism, "welfare queens" and "welfare cadillacs". "so very poor, so very black". "they were underprivileged anyway, so this - this is working very well for them “ It is a reality and the ones who choose to blame Nagin or Blanco are doing so because they can't face what their own political choices have wrought.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

52. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[aikoaiko]

53. "Funny none of them are white"

Proof positive that you are no longer in reality and only looking to pick a fight.

[applegrove]

13. They had to make hundreds of decisions in a very short time. Decisions

on the ground. Unlike the federal government, most of the decisions state & municipal governments make hit the pavement right then and there. There were hundreds of decisions to be made.

Of course there were mistakes.

But the feds are the ones with all the planning expertise. A state may go 50 years without one emergency event - and thus has little experience. The feds are the ones who decided not to secure the city. That is the thing that is the problem. They also sent in incompetent leadership. And with a federal emergency to plan for and take care of several times a year..they have the knowledge to plan ahead. And advise. And break through bureaucracy. And not put up roadblocks with purposed incompetence and a vacuum at the top.

Didn't matter what decisions were made if the feds didn't have control of their country after a two days. That is awfully predictable.

You hear all kinds of rumors. The last I heard was that with the jails flooding, someone let the criminals out onto the street. Who knows if that is true. One thing for sure. We all expected more than 300 NG in New Orleans by Wednesday.

[gauguin57]

18. 1 things: Olbermann reported Nagin was a Repug till he ran for mayor

... changed his party so he'd get elected three years ago.

So wrong.

According to Keith:

FEMA's Brown was an Arabian Horse Assoc. employee
Chertoff was a prosecutor
Nagin was the head of a local cable company, and a Repug.

[KamaAina]

54. Also gave money to Bush**

most likely as part of a "bundling" effort by the cable co. where he was an executive, but still wrong.

I don't think the mighty repuke fundraising machine will be seeing any more checks from him, though, not after what's happened.

[political_invader]

28. They both told the truth>>

and called BULLSHIT on the BFEE. Now I know this isn't wrong, but when anyone calls Bullshit on Bush and his cronies seems to me that the BFEE will spin it to make them the heroes.


Peace from a Blue State !!

[Princess Turandot]

31. Hasn't it been said that if NOLA was hit head by a category 5 storm..

that the resulting storm surge would have produced worse consequences than what happened? They thought they had dodged a bullet because she made landfall slightly to the east and the winds had just dropped to Cat 4 status.

What's confused me about this is that Katrina was being called a potential Category 5 up until almost landfall. I think it started gathering steam several days before it landed after it rounded the Keys. Given existing transportation/shelter logistical issues, actions would have have had to have been taken to get people out of town days before the storm actually hit. Everyone in local/state/federal government knew the road issues, also knew that a large number of people did not have cars or places to go.

Personally, I think the entire government structure & many of the residents hoped probabilities would be on their side and it would not be this storm that would go into history. They would have needed to start the evacuation several days if not a week in advance to clear out the city. I don't know if they had the $$ to do that, or a plan for it and I bet that many people would have refused to leave their homes so far in advance.

[Hekate]

38. Refused to kiss Bush's feet; told the unvarnished truth about the crisis

That's the main thing they did "wrong." Rove is shifting the blame -- actually it started a couple of days ago -- and from here on out it will be the usual RW smear-and-fear.

Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin have no doubt made human errors; but on the scale of perfidy they rank very small compared to Bush and the Bush administration's malignant neglect.

When you hear bad things about Blanco and Nagin (both Democrats, btw) ask yourself (1) who is it coming from, and (2) who does it serve? If you trace the so-called information to a right-wing Republican, consider the source and ask yourself when was the last time they told the actual truth about anyone who opposes them, and why you should believe them now.

Hekate

#Why won't the Chickenhawk cross the road?#
#Why won't the Chickenhawk be waitin' on the levee?#

[Zynx]

43. Complete failure to match logistical plans to the known scenario

It's basically a minimum of a COORDINATED 72 hours to evacuate New Orleans.

That means that whatever plans state and city have, they have to be activated long before the hurricane is within a day of landfall, which is when the mandatory evacuation was actually ordered.

You need to act this far in advance because not only is this going to be difficult to coordinate and have to deal with badly jammed roads, the bridges out of New Orleans are such that they become basically unusable in tropical storm-force winds. These radiate out quite far from the center of a hurricane like Katrina. I think it's obvious why these would shut down elevated highway.

Now, evacuating early based on forecasts does have one major risk - you could be wrong.

But it was totally unrealistic to try to implement a mandatory evacuation when they did.

[jobycom]

45. A couple of things, but that's not the important part

Nagin's evacuation order was a bit cavalier. He did say during the storm that those who stayed where responsible for themselves, so he wasn't going to risk lives trying to save them. That was during the hurricane, and his later actions and words said otherwise after the storm.

Blanco may not have filled out the proper request form somewhere down the line, or may have spoken to the wrong person in the wrong office, or something.

None of that is the real issue. Of course mistakes were made--they always are, especially in something like this. The whole point of having an emergency management agency is that experts can help local officials minimize damage from mistakes. The reason you hire a mechanic to fix your car or an electrician to fix your wiring is because you aren't an expert in that. You aren't supposed to be an expert at everything--that's why there are experts you pay to do the job.

FEMA was the expert we all hired for just such a situation. They are the ones with the authority, money, equipment and personnel to handle an emergency. The mayor and the governor are not supposed to know how to do everything. In many cases they, like any good corporate leader, are simply supposed to know who to call.

Nagin and Blanco did know who to call. They called the experts. The experts didn't know what to do. That's the issue. The rest is just CYA obfuscation.

[CitrusLib]

49. Ran as Democrats?

[bklyncowgirl]

50. Listened to our local disaster response expert.

This guy's a city manager, has extensive experience in emergency response and volunteered at the World Trade Center in a logistics position.

He had a few interesting points.

1. You cannot compare New Orleans to 9/11. New York City's command and control structure remained intact throughout the emergency. In New Orleans, communications were shut down. Up to 400 NOPD never reported to work some may have been saving their families--many may be dead. New Orleans authorities were facing an impossible situation.

2. Evacuating a large city in the amount of time they had available is simply not possible. Even if they could get the people out, they needed to have a place to put them. This was an issue that should have been worked out in advance with local, state and Federal authorities.

3. The Superdome should have been stocked with supplies in advance. Failure to do this caused alot of misery.

He also mentioned that in a situation like that, rescue efforts have to be coordinated. Too many volunteers can be as much of a problem as too few people. Giving money is more effective than giving stuff--they can buy supplies faster and more effectively than sorting and distributing donated items because purchased supplies will be delivered in the right format for effective distribution. He didn't say anything about FEMA except to say that it's clear that for the first couple of days of a disaester you're on your own--didn't get whether that was clear before New Orleans or something that became clear after New Orleans.

[BlueStateGirl]

55. I blame one thing on the Mayor and City of New Orleans, and that

is not having the Superdome adequetly stocked with food and water.

However, if the levees hadn't broken, that wouldn't have been an issue.
They had enough for 12 -24 hours.

The mayor and Governor have absolutely nothing to do with the lack of Federal response.
Not one damn thing and the Bush administration is only compounding their shame by blaming them.

[Don Claybrook]

56. the admin cares nothing about shame

They care about culpability. They care about shifting responsibility to someone else. That is all they care about. They are empty vessels, and they have no humanity left to sell.

Here's hoping for a literal hell that I don't believe in.

[One_Life_To_Give]

57. Operational Command

Either Blanco failed to maintain Operational Command or failed to make certain that FEMA took Operational Command.

[One_Life_To_Give]

60. Looking over the National Response Plan

The state emergency management center was the one place that had to/should of known about the deteriorating conditions in New Orleans. Since the La. Nat. Guard and the NO Emergency management center both report to them.

From a practicle point of view. In the period immediatly after a disaster. The State Emergency Center will be the only place that has a picture of what is happening.

So the key question is how well was this information communicated to the Federal Response Center.

[Fleshdancer]

58. The city and state should have had a comprehensive plan YEARS ago.

There's really no way for LA politicians to justify not having a plan for the worst case scenario and a plan to give massive evacuation assistance for those who can't do it on their own. With 30% of NO living below the poverty rate, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that tens of thousands of people will need assistance. For this problem, all LA politicians are to blame, not just Nagin and Blanco.

Does Homeland Security not work with every state on evacuation plans? Why do all the drills and test runs on hypothetical biological/nuclear/chemical warfare WITHOUT working with states on comprehensive evacuation plans?

Every state and city needs a plan and I'm curious as to how I find out what plan (if any) my city/State has. This is something we should all be asking our local and state leaders.

[Spazito]

62. Look up the State Emergency Plan

They had a plan.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

61. They're Democrats.... lol!

therefore they are unpatriotic, incompetent, etc., etc.