Any reporter: ask DOD when was Task Force Katrina initiated? when

[caligirl]

was Task Force Katrina ordered to stand up?

Did the civilian leadership issue the orders to the military and order the funding to start Task Force Katrina in time to save lives?


If you want to keep asking why they are so late and where are they, your answer is in this question.

[Shipwack]

1. I actually almost know this one...

Yesterday the base CO for NSA Bahrain sent everyone a Power Point slide with a bunch of info... who was doing what, what ships were enroute with ETA's etc. They actually had the news about the Haliburton contracts in there. All the slides are marked "Unclassified".

The presentation is dated 1930z, 31 Aug 05, so that is the latest it would have been set.

Quote -
"FFC reports 28 surface combatants could be deployed within 24 hours.
Received NORTHCOM EXORD MOD 6
Establishes JTF Katrina, establishes JOA, directs JFMCC North to deploy assets in RFF plus USNS COMFORT/JFMCC LNO Cell. "

I'm too tired to decipher all the jargon (I don't know all of it, actually; I'm a deckplate guy, and don't usually need to decipher task group orders.)

[caligirl]

3. Thanks for that here is an interpretation from a former Marine pilot

Task Force Katrina established 11:30PM EDT WEDNESDAY, August 31. Essentially, did not authorize DOD response until shortly before midnight on Wednesday. Then forces start getting ready to move, starting Thursday if possible.




Midnight Wednesday was the first order.

[Birthmark]

5. Excuse me, please

But wasn't 31AUG05 actually Wednesday, less than 48 hrs ago?

[caligirl]

YHoly shit your Right, I got my dates confused. Thank you

They didn't order this until Wednesday night!!!!!!!!!

[gizmo1979]

2. Anderson cooper asked

Trent Lott.Lott said the teams were in place before hurricane hit,but couldn't get through because of debris.

[caligirl]

4. Trent is a racist liar.

[Old and In the Way]

6. Here's a link to Blanco's official request for federal assistance.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=4596637&mesg_id=4597275

[caligirl]

7. I tried Coopers hurricane story mail box, full now.

When they offer these excuses for failing to assist in a timely manner, this should be thrown at them. They failed to put out the initial order until Wednesday night.
So every soldier who gets to the citizens needing aid feels he did his job if he got there Thursday, lkthe helos etc. Massive failure of civilian leadership.

[Shipwack]

8. Slightly more awake now... let me post some more of that ppt

Here's most of it... I left out a lot of stuff dealing with how many personel are missing and where (it's way out of date by now, I'm sure...). I cut and pasted from the slides, with my comments in "[]". Some things were already enroute when they formalized the task force, and others I wonder why they still aren't there, since this says they're waiting on stdby... Others, please correct anything I say... Also, does anyone know if the original would be of use to anyone? I'm not going host it myself, and I don't want to make the offer to email it to one and all, but I would send it out to a few that wanted it. My feeling is that if the Navy didn't want it distributed, they would have marked it "FOUO" (For Official Use Only).

-Received NORTHCOM EXORD MOD 6
Establishes JTF Katrina, establishes JOA, directs JFMCC North to deploy assets in RFF plus USNS COMFORT/JFMCC LNO Cell.


-MSC has chopped 5xUSNS ships to C2F (BELLATRIX, ALTAIR, PILLILAU, BOB HOPE, ARGOL)... these ships are in the Gulf of Mexico already.


- Port Hueneme SEABEE Air Det/arrive Gulfport 31Aug-2 Sep/125 pax + disaster recovery kit First 90 personnel are schedules for NALO lift AM 1 Sep. Second group of 35 awaiting transport coordination. FFC working to accelerate transportation.
HSL assets from Mayport/arrive P'cola 31 Aug/7xSH-60B ETA 1500
HS assets from JAX arrive P'cola 01 SEP 3x SH-60F
Norfolk SEABEE Det/24 hour PTDO/75 pax + DRK
Jacksonville SEABEE Det/24 hour PTDO/75 pax + DRK
NAS North Island HS/in planning/8xSH-60F
NAS North Island HSL/in planning/5xMH-60S


-NAVREG South CAT reported a group of 116 civilians who wanted transport to the West Bank at the East Bank front gate of NSA New Orleans.
NSA Security and NOLA police calmed the crowd, which included women and children, and the Installation Commanding Officer coordinated with USCG to provide the desired transportation.


- BATAAN Medical Bed Capability:
Limited by number of doctors to 10-15 in-patients, 50-70 out-patients.
With Medical Augment Team (due to arrive as early as 31 Aug), 300+ patients depending on the severity of injuries. 85 Medical staff coming from NAVHOSP JAX. Entire medical augmentation team will depart JAX via bus en route Pensacola 01 Sep. Onward lift to BATAAN TBD.


- FFC preparing USNS COMFORT for deployment.
Phase 1 plan is to leave Baltimore on Friday, 02 Sep w/ 270 MTF staff with 1 OR & 2 - 4 ICU beds.
Core 270 Medical staff coming from NNMC Bethesda
Underway time delayed to 3 September due to CIVMAR manning issues.
USNS COMFORT expected to arrive Mayport PM 4 Sep to load supplies and additional medical personnel. On station 10 Sep.


- NORTHCOM Request For Forces (RFF) to CJCS Released (DTG 301745Z Aug 05). FFC / C2F leaning forward to deploy forces to meet all arrival dates. FFC is marshalling far more assets, well beyond scope of RFF, which are presented in following slides


-COMFLTFORCOM deploying assets
BATAAN positioned in vicinity New Orleans
SWIFT onloading stores at Ingleside, TX for transit to position near New Orleans
IWO JIMA ARG expected to sail 1300 today
SEABEES expected to travel today/tomorrow

-$35,000 worth of bottled water will be loaded on the IWO JIMA, TORTUGA, and SHREVEPORT for delivery to JOA general population needs. On-load anticipated NLT 1 Sep
Additional shipments will be delivered to Pensacola for on-load onto USNS ARTIC for further transfer to fleet units.
Ships loaded 70 pallets with 2000 bottles each for approx 18K GAL water.

-USS WHIDBEY ISLAND (LSD-41) will sail tomorrow.

-Project Hope has offered to incorporate their volunteer medical personnel into our proposed manning package for COMFORT. Liability and licensure matters must be addressed in a Memorandum of Understanding. BUMED has for action.
USAF SG has offered joint sourcing on COMFORT


-Navy's Preventive Medicine Unit on stand-by for deployment in support of FEMA for disease vector control.

Construction Capabilities Contract (CONCAP) Status
Funding has been provided to get CONCAP (Kellogg Brown & Root) mobilized and started with restoration efforts.
Primary CONCAP effort will be debris removal, utility restoration, and drying out facilities to prevent the spread of mold.

Seabee status
Port Hueneme Ready Air Det. 125 PAX, 4 x Disaster Relief Kits (DRK). NALO Pri 1 request submitted. EAD 31 Aug, LAD 2 Sep.
Jacksonville Det of 55 PAX and Norfolk Det of 75 PAX, 4 x DRK each, under 24-hour Prepare to Deploy Order. NALO TBD.
Gulfport. 140 PAX active. All equipment operational.
Atlanta, GA. 100 Seabees on ground Hartsfield Airport. Enroute Gulfport via ground transportation.

-Naval Support Activity New Orleans
66 essential personnel (including Installation CO) in Emergency Ops Centers (EOC) (22 East Bank and 44 West Bank.)
Facility damage includes roof, sheet metal and fascia damage. All utilities down with key facilities on generator power.
3 feet of water between buildings on East Bank due to levee failure. Concern for West Bank levee as well.
COMNAVRESCOM Alternate Headquarters is being established in Millington with some staff personnel evacuating to Fort Worth, TX to conduct essential force business.
Significant damage reported to power infrastructure including damaged and down power poles.
Mayor of New Orleans is ordering a mandatory civilian evacuation of the East Bank due to rising flood waters. 22 essential DoD personnel on East Bank in 6 story concrete facility with 54 firefighters and 134 police officers. Currently no plans to evacuate DoD and civil response personnel. Flag barges available for evacuation if necessary.
Helo lift will be requested from CFFC to get supplies from NAS to NSA.
Received call from CO 1045 EDT requesting security support. Command has only 22 security personnel available. FFC / JFMCC North coordinating for support.
Evacuation plan for East Bank started, but on hold due to coordination with 8th Coast Guard District to utilize site as evacuation point for NOLA citizens.
CO has requested replenishment of diminishing supplies water, food, hygiene products and fuel, and increased comms support.

Construction Capabilities Contract (CONCAP) Status
Funding has been provided to get CONCAP (Kellogg Brown & Root) mobilized and started with restoration efforts.
Primary CONCAP effort will be debris removal, utility restoration, and drying out facilities to prevent the spread of mold.


Seabee status
Port Hueneme Ready Air Det. 125 PAX, 4 x Disaster Relief Kits (DRK). NALO Pri 1 request submitted. EAD 31 Aug, LAD 2 Sep.
Jacksonville Det of 55 PAX and Norfolk Det of 75 PAX, 4 x DRK each, under 24-hour Prepare to Deploy Order. NALO TBD.
Gulfport. 140 PAX active. All equipment operational.
Atlanta, GA. 100 Seabees on ground Hartsfield Airport. Enroute Gulfport via ground transportation.

CNBC Gulfport
1277 personnel (civilian, military and dependent) in emergency shelters. No casualties reported.
CNBC Gulfport reports Not Mission Capable.
Major structural damage including extensive roof damage. All utilities down hard with key facilities on generator power.
Seabee Damage Assessment Teams deployed.
USMC Amtracks rescued 130 personnel in Biloxi on Monday. Deployed again Tuesday to assist the Armed Forces Retirement Home and the local community.
Seabees clearing roads of trees, power poles, and debris. Substantially complete.
Removing debris from community roads to support emergency vehicles and supplying water to the Armed Forces Retirement Home and county EOC.
Mississippi Power is planning to bring 4000 personnel to repair power distribution in area. Rough estimate of months to fully restore. Anticipate request (via FEMA) to berth 1000 of their personnel.

CNBC Gulfport
Two Mobile Utility Support Equipment (MUSE) 750 KW generator units to arrive Wednesday. Barracks will re-open when MUSE on line.
Galley is serving meals.
Showers units have been erected in 3 locations and port-a-potties located around base. Field laundry establishment in progress.
Community sewage system is down with estimated 1 week repair so leach fields are being constructed to serve temporary facilities.
Working on establishing a disaster assistance center (legal claims, USAA, Navy and Marine Corps Relief, Red Cross, FFSC, counseling, etc.) with goal of opening in a warehouse today.

Naval Air Station JRB New Orleans
22 essential personnel in Emergency Ops Center.
Significant damage to some flight line hangars.
Minor damage to Admin and Housing areas. Roads and Airfield ramp/runways clear. Airfield lighting capability unknown. All utilities down with EOC / Control tower on generator power.
Airlift of 2 C-130’s from NAS Fort Worth to arrive this afternoon. Airlift personnel include five Air Traffic controllers and five Firemen in order to stand-up airfield. Other airlift personnel include a detachment of 6 Seabees (for hangar structural assessment.)
Current focus is restoring airfield capability. Work in progress includes drying out tower and powering up equipment for aircraft control and comms, and restoring aircraft fueling capability.
C-130 with Air Traffic Controllers and Firemen arrived safely. C-130 with Seabees delayed with engine trouble. Expect Seabees to arrive today.
Anticipate daily C-130 flights between NAS Fort Worth and NAS JRB New Orleans for re-supply. Airfield is currently VFR with no comms. Will request helo support to ferry supplies to NSA.
After airfield, priority is restoring a BQ and Galley.
Full VFR operations restored
Limited JP-5 available

BUMED sourcing from Navy Medicine East to provide 85 person medical augment for USS BATAAN.
12 MDs
4 Surgeons
3 Anesthesiologists
32 Nurses
35 Corpsman
Expected to arrive Pensacola today via commercial air or bus.

BUMED sourcing the same contingent for the USS IWO JIMA.
Time estimate currently no later than 2 September to be in Mayport, FL – per FFC request.

Awaiting RFF for USNS COMFORT, staffed for 250 beds.

Army: Preparing to provide helicopter support (heavy lift and rescue) and bridging equipment. 5-man CRC stood up this AM with O-6 in charge.

USAF: Preparing to provide Mobile hospitals, setting up Maxwell AFB and Barksdale AFB as FEMA staging areas, 5 helos for SAR/Dmg assessment, aerial surveillance with streaming video. Also standing by for Airlift, Civil Engineering, and Communication Unit support. 20-man CAT stood up this AM with O-7 in charge

USMC: No tasking at this time - no specific preparations (no CAT stood up)

C2F preparations:
USS BATAAN loaded with 4 MH-53Es, 2 MH-60s from NAS Corpus Christi. 1 LCU and Medical personnel also embarked. Stores for 10 days (self sustaining) or to feed 5k people for 2-3 days. 130 NM off Louisiana.
Medical Capability: Today ltd by # Docs – 10-15 inpatients/50-70 outpatients

HSV SWIFT arrived Ingleside 291200Z AUG. Loading provisions for USS BATAAN. Will proceed to USS BATAAN’s position. Loading will complete afternoon 30 AUG. No sail order issued.

USNS ARCTIC departed Norfolk 291800Z and is proceeding to GOMEX IVO New Orleans. ETA 01 Sep. To be used as FEMA support ship and LOGSVC support ship for BATAAN or any other ship assigned for DR mission.

USS IWO JIMA, USS TORTUGA and USS SHREVEPORT placed on 24 PTDO if additional support requested to shuttle 5 Disaster Relief Teams to New Orleans. Underway today for initial engineering assessment. Once ordered 4 days to transit.

FFC making preps to sail USNS COMFORT

[Shipwack]

9. A little more... tail end wouldn't fit...

FFC response to NORTHCOM regarding suitability of SSN for emergency power/water indicated that an SSN is capable of providing power but there are issues:
No authorized Nuclear Powered Warship (NPW) berths in New Orleans.
NPW berths in Pascagoula and Mobile Bay would require survey of pier and channel.
Brackish water unsuitable for distillation into reactor plant make-up water, requiring outside provision of several thousand gallons of pure water per day.
Additional potable water would be required for ship’s operation.
As alternative, FFC drafting a proposal to provide NAVFAC diesel generators via airlift
.

[snippy]

10. Compare what Bush did in advance of Katrina with what he did

in advance of two of the hurricanes which hit Florida last year.

Hurricane Charley hit Florida on August 13 last year.

Department of Homeland Security Prepares Response to Hurricane Charley

FEMA Public Affairs
Contact: 202-646-4600
August 13, 2004

With Hurricane Charley's 145 mile-per-hour winds impacting the Florida coast, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has pre-positioned personnel and supplies for rapid response to areas that will need emergency assistance from this Category 4 strength storm.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is coordinating activities along with other federal departments and respective state agencies. FEMA met its goal to have necessary emergency response teams and disaster relief supplies positioned throughout the southeast region earlier today in preparation for the anticipated response operations. More equipment and resources are being deployed from stockpiles nationwide.

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and FEMA Director Michael Brown are maximizing readiness and response efforts for Hurricane Charley and have been in contact with Florida Governor Jeb Bush and other governors in southeast states that could be impacted by this dangerous storm.

FEMA's Mobile Emergency Response Services’ communication units from as far away as FEMA’s Denver, CO, regional office were mobilized to be in place prior to Hurricane Charley's landfall. These units are able to provide telephone, radio and video links in support of response and recovery efforts.

FEMA has activated and deployed Medical Management Support Teams such as MASH-type Disaster Medical Assistance Teams and Veterinary Medical Teams and has mobilized and pre-positioned first-responder urban search and rescue teams for possible service. Disaster medical teams have also brought extra supplies to ensure that the region's large elderly population’s needs are met.

Twenty semi-trailers containing cots and blankets, emergency meals, portable toilets, personal wash kits, sleeping bags, 6-8 person tents, plastic sheeting and roofing, bottled water and mid-range generators are being staged in Georgia for rapid deployment to Florida. FEMA has also deployed large sea containers with building materials for immediate home repairs.

. . .

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, at FEMA's request, has coordinated the deployment of ten truckloads of water and seven truckloads of ice to the Tampa area and has deployed sandbag teams and portable flood control levees to central and northern Florida.

. . .

The Department of Defense (DoD) is supporting FEMA's response effort with four military bases being used for mobilization and staging sites for response teams and supplies. DoD is also analyzing national aircraft assets from military and civilian agencies if additional aircraft are needed to transport response and recovery supplies.

. . .

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=3942 (emphasis added)



And hurricane Frances hit Florida on Sunday, September 5 last year. This is from a September 6 2004 White House press release:

. . .

As of noon Monday, in response to Hurricane Frances, FEMA and other Federal response agencies have taken the following actions:

About one hundred trucks of water and 280 trucks of ice are present or will arrive in the Jacksonville staging area today.

900,000 Meals-Ready-to-Eat are on site in Jacksonville, ready to be distributed.

Over 7,000 cases of food (e.g., vegetables, fruits, cheese, ham, and turkey) are scheduled to arrive in Winter Haven today.

Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMAT) are on the ground and setting up comfort stations. FEMA community relations personnel will coordinate with DMATs to assist victims.

Urban Search and Rescue Teams are completing reconnaissance missions in coordination with state officials.

FEMA is coordinating with the Department of Energy and the state to ensure that necessary fuel supplies can be distributed throughout the state, with a special focus on hospitals and other emergency facilities that are running on generators.

The Army Corps of Engineers will soon begin its efforts to provide tarps to tens of thousands of owners of homes and buildings that have seen damage to their roofs.

The National Guard has called up 4,100 troops in Florida, as well as thousands in other nearby states to assist in the distribution of supplies and in preparation for any flooding.

The Departments of Health and Human Services, Veterans Affairs, and Defense together have organized 300 medical personnel to be on standby. Medical personnel will begin deployment to Florida tomorrow.

. . .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040906-1.html(emphasis added)


And there was this:
Michael Brown, director of FEMA, told CNN: . . .

"We have poised right now to move into this state literally thousands of personnel, literally hundreds and hundreds of trucks, emergency rescue workers, urban search and rescue, medical teams."

FEMA spokesman James McIntyre said about 4,500 federal personnel are staged at various locations in Florida, Georgia and other states in Frances' path. More people are on call. FEMA deployed about 1,500 people in response to Charley, which hit southern and central Florida Aug. 13, McIntyre said.

. . .

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/09/04/hurricane.frances /

Before Katrina hit Bush declared parts of the gulf coast a federal disaster area to streamline claims for financial assistance from the government after the hurricane passed, he attended a fund raiser, he played a guitar, and he shortened one of his many annual vacations by a few hours. I have been unable to find any information on the White House, DHS, or FEMA web sites concerning any other actions taken in advance of Katrina.

[caligirl]

11. kick