CREW's Hurricane Katrina Report Exposes How the Government Ignored Its Own Gulf Coast Hurricane Plan

[helderheid]

27 Jun 2007 // Washington, DC – Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a new report, The Best Laid Plans: The Story of How the Government Ignored Its Own Gulf Coast Hurricane Plans, detailing the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) plan to respond to a hurricane of Katrina’s magnitude and its subsequent failure to implement that plan.

On September 7, 2005, CREW sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), of which FEMA is a component, seeking records related to the federal government’s long-term planning for a hurricane on the Gulf Coast as well as its immediate preparations for and response to Hurricane Katrina. In January 2006, CREW sued to force DHS to comply with the FOIA. The Best Laid Plans is based on the 7,500 records DHS provided in response to CREW’s lawsuit.

Critically, CREW found that FEMA had created a “Southeast Louisiana Catastrophic Hurricane Plan” (SLCHP), which forecast a range of specific consequences, including:

* New Orleans would be flooded with 14-17 feet of water, the levee system inundated with at least 10 feet of water and the hurricane would move into Mississippi;
* One million people would evacuate, but flooding would trap at least 250-350,000; and
* Each hurricane victim would require a minimum of two Meals Ready to Eat, one gallon of water and eight pounds of ice per day.

The SLCHP included plans to:

* Evacuate residents and position resources pre-hurricane;
* Provide power, water and ice to hurricane victims; and
* Provide short-term shelter and longer-term temporary housing.


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http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/29201

[EFerrari]

1. And when Greg Palast reported on this story, he got arrested by DHS.

These bastards.

[helderheid]

2. yep. I'd forgotten about that!

[EFerrari]

3. Kick

[helderheid]

4. ty :)

[PDJane]

5. Not to mention the Army Corps of Engineers and

The White House knew that the levees had breached by midnight on Monday. The state Emergency Operations centre did NOT know. No one in the corps of engineers or the white house told them. The whistle-blower was Dr. Ivor van Heerden, deputy director of the Louisianna State University Hurricane Center, and the chief technician advising the state on saving lives during Hurricane Katrina. (from Greg Palast)

Now, go back over that and re-read it carefully and think about the implications.

I had to.

It's not a pretty picture.

If the levees breached, and the storm didn't hit them (which it didn't), then the levees were at fault. That means that the federal government owes every single homeowner in the city reparations.

[autorank]

6. Huge K*R. This is the great disgrace we allow to continue... Thanks Helderheid!!!

200,000 disenfranchised citizens of New Orleans, still living away, without any hope of returning,
and blocked from voting. Great post, great report.

[Richard Steele]

7. What more proof is needed? They deliberatly ABANDONED those people.

And they deliberately HINDERED everyone else who was trying to help.
There's just no other way to look at it.

"Incompetence" doesn't even begin to cover it, but
that's the excuse they got away with. All of that
"heck of a job Brownie" hooplah, and the following
Brownie finger-pointing testimony....all bullshit.

All just smoke and mirrors to get people focused on "incompetence",
to cover the fact that they were carrying out a deliberate
plan to maximize the devastation.

I recommended this thread.

[DemReadingDU]

8. afternoon kick

[helderheid]

9. ty :)