The NRP establishes policies, procedures, and mechanisms for proactive Federal response to catastrophic events.

For me this says it all. Any excuse the Administration makes about not getting "asked' for help has just been negated. Total dereliction of duty.

The Catastrophic Incident Annex (CIA) is damning and a must read.



Perhaps the dog ate Chertoff's copy.



From the NPR-CIA:

Upon recognition that a catastrophic incident condition (e.g., involving mass casualties and/or mass evacuation) exists, the Secretary of Homeland Security immediately designates the event an Incident of National Significance and begins, potentially in advance of a formal Presidential disaster declaration, implementation of the NRP-CIA.

I would suggest that this was clearly designed to be used by the feds in a terrorist event to seize power. They were essentially trying to wrap the terrorism angle into the natrual disaster angle and hope people wouldn't notice. I doubt they ever really thought about using this in natural disasters: natural disasters aren't very sexy, tend to be very messy, and don't lend themselves to cod piece posturing on aircraft carriers.

Another reason why they SHOULD have been prepared to execute the National Response Plan but WEREN'T is that the plan explicitly was built around a number of baseline scenarios - the National Planning Scenarios.  These are intended to be the baseline upon which various preparedness activities are to be organized and planned.

One of the scenarios deals with a major hurricane - full text on it at the link below:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/report/2004/hsc-pl anning-scenarios-jul04_10.htm

 This adds an extra dimension to the original post - they CAN'T argue that the plan was intended for this kind of scenario - because it was built with it in mind, alongside terrorism scenarios.

Larry, after reading your post I started wondering just what does George Bush care about anyway? I think the answer is not a whole lot.

Why would a person who is not interested in national or international news, who does not like to read reports, want to be president in the first place?

 One might assume it would be abundantly clear to everyone just what kind of person Bush is as we witness his reaction to a national disaster. But I am not going to hold my breath because many people believe what they want to believe.

  More than once I thought events at home and abroad would put an end to Bush’s love fest with the American people but I was completely wrong every time. There was the torture issue, the Plame issue, the Iraq issue and others. Each time I thought surely America will rise with one voice in outrage against Bush’s policies but it simply did not happen. Sure, some people spoke out, but the hard core Bushies remain hard core Bushies.

 Probably we will listen to all kinds of fanciful justifications and some of us will gag when some idiot calls the flooding an act of God but Bush will remain president and quite probably Democrats will lose again in 2006 allowing the Republicans to tighten their strangle hold on congress.

 Some heads may roll but I will be greatly surprised if those heads will belong to people who are responsible for the poor response in aiding flood victims.

Why did the Bush Administration fail to act

Simple answer --- they did not care. 

Has anyone compared the FEMA response in the Gulf to that in NYC and elsewhere on Sept 11th?

A good start can be found here in FEMA's testimony before congress in 2002. In it, FEMA's acting director brags that FEMA's response at the World Trade Center occurred within hours....

<span>Within hours of the terrorist attacks, President Bush had mobilized the Federal government and declared disasters, making Federal support and assistance immediately available to the City and State of New York as well as to the Commonwealth of Virginia.   As you know, FEMA helps the nation prepare for, respond to, and reduce the impact of, man-made, natural, and technological hazards including catastrophic events, such as the Alfred P. Murrah Building bombing, the Northridge <span class="msoDel">and Nisqually </span&gtEarthquake<span class="msoDel">s,</span&gt and preparing for Y2K and the Winter Olympics.  <span class="msoDel">These disasters, however,  pale in comparison to </span&gtSeptember 11<sup>th</sup&gt was a “wake up” call for our nation and the entire world.  In the war on terrorism, FEMA has a clear mission: <span class="msoDel">which is </span&gtto make certain that the United States of America becomes “A Nation Prepared”.</span&gt

<span></span&gt

http://www.house.gov/science/hearings/full02/mar06/shea.htm

Isn't bureaucratic murder just plan murder when you come down to it?  Should not someone be prosecuted for it?  Isn't the bureaucratic murder of infants at the Superdome, for example, somewhat inconsistent with the "Culture of Life"?

I'm not sure "negligence" is the right word, considering all the stories about FEMA's efforts to stop relief from getting to people who desperately needed it. The Red Cross wasn't allowed into New Orleans, no portajohns for upwards of 50,000 people until Saturday, and the three instances listed by Aaron Broussard on MTP this morning.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/09/04.html#a4783

Why lock thousands of people in a stadium with no power or water and raw sewage flowing all around, preventing water and food from being delivered in the name of "security", unless you want to start a riot? With lots of military types armed and ready, it would have been a bloodbath.

It's hard to express how much I hate these people. 

Yes, it's criminal negligence.  Incompetence is much too kind a word. Check out this amazing column by Marjorie Cohn.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/090305Y.shtml

I quote the opening sentence:

  Last September, a Category 5 hurricane battered the small island of Cuba with 160-mile-per-hour winds. More than 1.5 million Cubans were evacuated to higher ground ahead of the storm. Although the hurricane destroyed 20,000 houses, no one died.

and further below:

"Merely sticking people in a stadium is unthinkable" in Cuba, Valdes said. "Shelters all have medical personnel, from the neighborhood. They have family doctors in Cuba, who evacuate together with the neighborhood, and already know, for example, who needs insulin."

Tsk, tsk.
You asked me to read the DHS document, and I did. Not all of it, but enough to find serious problems with your angle, and the angle of many commenters to the topic.

Quoting from the NRP, page 8:

<blockquote>When State resources and capabilities are overwhelmed, Governors may request Federal assistance under a Presidential disaster or emergency declaration.</blockquote>

The responsibilities and duties of the governor?
<blockquote>As a State’s chief executive, the Governor is responsible
for the public safety and welfare of the people of that
State or territory. The Governor:
<ul><li>Is responsible for coordinating State resources to address the full spectrum of actions to prevent,
prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents in
an all-hazards context to include terrorism, natural
disasters, accidents, and other contingencies;</li>
<li>Under certain emergency conditions, typically has police powers to make, amend, and rescind orders
and regulations;</li>
<li>Provides leadership and plays a key role in communicating to the public and in helping people,
businesses, and organizations cope with the
consequences of any type of declared emergency
within State jurisdiction;</li>
<li>Encourages participation in mutual aid and implements authorities for the State to enter into
mutual aid agreements with other States, tribes, and
territories to facilitate resource-sharing;</li>
<li>Is the Commander-in-Chief of State military forces (National Guard when in State Active Duty or Title 32
Status and the authorized State militias); and</li>
<li>Requests Federal assistance when it becomes clear that State or tribal capabilities will be insufficient or
have been exceeded or exhausted.</li></ul></blockquote>

The mayor of a city has the following responsibilities:

Re-doing my post since the HTML screwed up....

Tsk, tsk. You asked me to read the DHS document, and I did. Not all of it, but enough to find serious problems with your angle, and the angle of many commenters to the topic. Quoting from the NRP, page 8:

When State resources and capabilities are overwhelmed, Governors may request Federal assistance under a Presidential disaster or emergency declaration.

As a State’s chief executive, the Governor is responsible for the public safety and welfare of the people of that State or territory. The Governor:

• Is responsible for coordinating State resources to address the full spectrum of actions to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents in an all-hazards context to include terrorism, natural disasters, accidents, and other contingencies;
• Under certain emergency conditions, typically has police powers to make, amend, and rescind orders and regulations;
• Provides leadership and plays a key role in communicating to the public and in helping people, businesses, and organizations cope with the consequences of any type of declared emergency within State jurisdiction;
• Encourages participation in mutual aid and implements authorities for the State to enter into mutual aid agreements with other States, tribes, and territories to facilitate resource-sharing;
• Is the Commander-in-Chief of State military forces (National Guard when in State Active Duty or Title 32 Status and the authorized State militias); and
• Requests Federal assistance when it becomes clear that State or tribal capabilities will be insufficient or have been exceeded or exhausted.

A mayor or city or county manager, as a jurisdiction’s chief executive, is responsible for the public safety and welfare of the people of that jurisdiction. The Local Chief Executive Officer:

• Is responsible for coordinating local resources to address the full spectrum of actions to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents involving all hazards including terrorism, natural disasters, accidents, and other contingencies;
• Dependent upon State and local law, has extraordinary powers to suspend local laws and ordinances, such as to establish a curfew, direct evacuations, and, in coordination with the local health authority, to order a quarantine;
• Provides leadership and plays a key role in communicating to the public, and in helping people, businesses, and organizations cope with the consequences of any type of domestic incident within the jurisdiction;
• Negotiates and enters into mutual aid agreements with other jurisdictions to facilitate resource-sharing; and
• Requests State and, if necessary, Federal assistance through the Governor of the State when the jurisdiction’s capabilities have been exceeded or exhausted.

Read p. 43.  That supersedes the Governor's responsibilities, who just happened to ask for Federal assistance on August 28.  What is it about this you don't understand?

This portion of an e-mail I just received from the person who first alerted me and others to the shoot-to-kill order (applies now to humans as well as dogs) is just too gutwrenching to die quietly in the ether. If anyone here can get this to the major print or television media, you might just be saving many more lives.

You are not alone, and even the order against the pets are affecting the local police and firefighters.  Our police superintendent's house was broken into and someone killed his dog.  This wasn't in retaliation to the order to shoot to kill, it was a malicious attack because of who he is and represents.  He was surrounded by a very angry crowd at the river, and nearly met his end.  PTS, stress, little sleep, not knowing about your loved ones, are taking a huge toll. My first campaign was for the city to provide an email or satellite connection for our families left behind.  I went to several stations, local and national, and they are still sharing the same phone that isn't of the 504 area code.  I have broken down so many times watching just an hour of the news stations, and another suicide by a police officer.

I don't really care about any privacy right now so here is my e-mail address:  heirlair@fone.net

If you want more details on just how high up on the ladder this person is (which explains the continued presence in NO) for the media, we are both glad to share it. Hint: think Chief of FDNY only not. Please share across the blogosphere.

ds 

While I suspect many of the NGO's that normally engage in disaster relief did read the document -- and I am rather certain the Red Cross read it -- we need to comprehend that the "push" in the Bush Administration is toward the Militarization of all this -- but the tradition in the NGO community for more than a century (Remember the Red Cross has a legacy that weaves back to the womens' sanitary committees during the Civil War -- and only after it was de-feminitized was it granted a Congressional Charter.  In fact it is the only NGO with a Congressional Charter that promises independence of operation and management.) 

Red Cross sets standards for where it will set up and deliver services.  That Dome was NOT within Red Cross standards -- ever.  It did not have an emergency power supply -- water supply -- and sewage system.  The Superdome people were unwilling to grant Red Cross storage capacity -- communications capacity.  It is in fact the Red Cross's independence -- ability to say to shelter planners that arrangements are inadequate and that they will not participate -- that makes that organization valuable.  I also suggest that the Superdome Shelter Planners may quite well have wanted to "isolate and control" a problematic part of the community -- that Red Cross understood that, and refused to participate. 

We need to "read" the particular geography of New Orleans.  There are two large bridges across the Mississippi -- both go into Jefferson Parish that is nearly All White David Duke territory.  If you properly "parse" what the Mayor said on Thursday about a March over the Cresant Bridge Link -- what he was saying in effect that the March would be out of the Dome and the Convention Center -- and into Duke Territory.  And then the usual and experiended March Leaders -- Jackson and Sharpton showed up in New Orleans.  Next Step -- all those busses suddenly showed up, supplies showed up, and both shelter areas were cleared.  You have to read the racial text carefully in all this, for it is the back story for all that went down.  The whole plan was a Black Containment Game -- and it almost succeeded.

The Gov. and Mayor have NO AUTHORITY to bus people across state lines. No place in Louisiana was not part of the storm warnings and projected path that could adequately house these people.

This was a massive scope undertaking to be handled by Federal Authorities.

Bush did not see to it that enough authority emergency presence was there to maintain order.

In most instances a cop's presence is an influential presence. Communities most often bond together in times of crisis when given an authority with which to work in concert with towards order and evacuation.

See also 9-11 where NYC citizens helped report/apprehend a group of 6 people filmed celebrating the Tower's falling. New York city did not fall into anarchy. Why so? The presence of our emergency personnel, respect for the badge, the firefighters, the EMTs.

The need for authority is at its greatest in times of emergencies and good people in communities will police selves given opportunity of some endorsed authoritative presence.

New York City has such a high concetration of responders, of course. The difference was to be covered by the requests submitted to FEMA from the various Gulf Shores authorities across a multi state spectrum of bipartisan affiliations.

To do so requires strong Executive leadership. Their focus was on a series of 'pass the buck' back and forths about parsed terminology as an exit loopholes.

I don't think your title needs a qualifier, think it's quite logical and sane, and have been thinking along the same lines for days. You have more of the facts, I would just like to add one citizen's thoughts.

Format note: Used caps, on purpose, below, because, yes, I am screaming where I use them.

I am hoping that some of those "ambulance chasers" that we all love to hate from time to time are in those Texas shelters scouring for clients right now. I'm serious. I think it's important for some lawsuits to get filed.

Forget my anger and tears about so many things I've seen and read the last week. Fae it, the consequences of class and poverty (and bad choices as well) will not disappear tomorrow. Its fine to use this instance for good propaganda on that front, it may affect some hearts and minds, and that would be a good thing.

BUT we can get down to real specifics here, aside from that, specifics of government negligence.

As a resident of New York City who had acquaintances lost 9/11 and who followed 9/11, 9/11 commission and all related avidly (to the point of addiction and detriment of personal life) there are two main points I see:

1. WHERE THE HELL IS THE FIRST RESPONDERS' COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM that everyone has been yammering about since 9/11/01? Ya know, the one that is essential for "homeland security"? So that they can talk to one another and actually do something when there is an attack or disaster? So that people don't die like they did on 9/11?

2. We will not solve the problems of class and poverty in this country tomorrow. People can use what happened to the poor in this instance for good propaganda effect, and there's nothing wrong with doing that, might help change some minds.

After 9/11 why am I reading shit like this, over and over and over:

They waited, and they waited, and then they waited some more in the 90-degree heat, as many as 5,000 people huddled at a highway underpass on Interstate 10, waiting for buses that never arrived to take them away from the storm they could not escape.  Babies cried. The sick huddled in the shade in wheelchairs or rested on cots. Dawn Ray, 40, was in tears, looking after an autistic niece who had soiled herself and her son who is blind and has cerebral palsy.

This is the way we evacuate a city hit by a dirty bomb? Leave the disabled to fend for themselves? People begging in crowds: "anyone got any spare insulin?"  They are not registered and do not have emergency evacuation plans for each and every one of them in case of crisis?  When you get on an airplane, handicapped and disabled first! Get them safe, secure, and out of the way of the able bodied who can help. Do not have people stopping on the highway out of admirable goodness causing a traffic jam.

And what kind of homeland security is this? This is criminal negligence; if not, it's the mark of a society on the way to total reorganization of the meaning of "civilization", sort of on the eugenics model:

There was a 380-pound man stranded on the seventh floor of a New Orleans hospital. Unable to get him down five flights of stairs to the second-floor exit, through which other patients were being evacuated onto rescue boats to escape the rising floodwater, a female manager took a shocking decision. She ordered that he be given euthanasia.  A bearded, middle-aged doctor, who is still wearing his green hospital garb, tells me the sad story as he and his colleagues sit at the muddy, squalid refugee-receiving post on New Orleans' I10 Highway. He does not want to give me his name and will not identify the patient out of respect.

Another wonderful instance of the eugenics model of evacuation: nursing homes last:

And I want to give you one last story and I'll shut up and let you tell me whatever you want to tell me.  The guy who runs this building I'm in, emergency management, he's responsible for everything.  His mother was trapped in St. Bernard nursing home and every day she called him and said, "Are you coming, son?  Is somebody coming?"  And he said, "Yeah, Mama, somebody's coming to get you.  Somebody's coming to get you on Tuesday. Somebody's coming to get you on Wednesday.  Somebody's coming to get you on Thursday.  Somebody's coming to get you on Friday."  And she drowned Friday night.  She drowned Friday night.

These are things that should have been handled by 9/11/02. Completed. Who the hell has been doing all those terrorism drills and what the hell have they been doing in them?

There's a chance that we may have an reoccurrence of the 1918 influenza epidemic on the way, and this is the state of our emergency health system? Or is it that if it's a bug sent by Islamo-fascists, it's covered by homeland security, but if it's sent by the intelligent designer Allah, it's not?

It's so bad that nothing's been done that I don't think getting rid of the Bush administration and Congressional incumbents is even the total answer. Some lawsuits are part of the answer at this point--that will put the total fear into local and state governments and legislatures, and they in turn will finally light real fire under the bureaucracy's ass. No more pork for make work jobs for supposed "security" that is really just nonsense. They'll come up with some real systems to avoid lawsuits, they'll demand them from the Feds. When it gets this bad, sometimes that's the only thing that can break through it.

I just did a check on the only polling site that seems to be asking hard questions. The results are dismaying, to say the least. I would have thought more Americans would have taken the blinders off in the wake of Katrina.

That Rove spin machine is earning all those under the table bucks today...

ds 

I glanced at this plan, but I still have trouble answering specific questions and filling in a timeline as I've been trying to quantify below. Anybody been organizing data in this way? Links, anyone?

PROBLEM: People not evacuated from NOLA in time, left stranded
CAUSE: Called for evacuation too late? RESPONSIBLE: Mayor of NOLA. Anyone else? Gov?
CAUSE: Not enough help for those who couldn't evacuate on own. RESPONSIBLE: Local officials. Buses that could have been used seen sitting around Superdome and other areas, flooded, empty. Not enough volunteer bus drivers???? Not enough planning to set up structure for buses to get people out of town? How do you get people who don't want to leave to leave? How do you get the word out on where people should go to catch these buses, and where do you take them?

PROBLEM: People in Superdome not provided security, provisions, evacuation after hurricane.
CAUSE:? Nobody came. RESPONSIBLE: ? Why wasn't the Red Cross in there from the start, from before the hurricane? Who made that decision? Were they asked to be there? Mayor announced use of Superdome as facility at noon on Sunday. What was the expectation of the Mayor for how long people would have to be there? What was the expectation for who was responsible for providing resources for provisions and evacuation? Coast Guard was Johnny on the Spot. Who called them? Who coordinated that? Clearly it was never possible for local resources to handle the scope of the needs even just at the Superdome without local assistance (or at least clear to me. Is that self-evident or not?) Local police were considerably overwhelmed: 1,000 police officers on the force, with approximately 100,000 people left in city, NOT counting the Superdome and Convention Center. EACH AND EVERY ONE of those people needed either rescue, medical help, evacuation, or to be handcuffed and put in jail, WWAY beyond the scope of local officials. Some of those officials were initially stranded as well, and then later some deserted. How many STATE Natl Guard went to NOLA, as opposed to other areas of Louisiana, other counties? Sheriffs Dept also needed to secure jails and make sure there weren't jail breaks. (Where are THEY now, by the way? They were camping on that overpass in handcuffs for days. Now what? Presumably the jail is in the same condition is was before.)

CONVENTION CENTER filled up after flooding began, I presume. Local officials had knowledge, presumably, that it was being used. Were they expected to communicate this need to Fed officials? Press was reporting on existence of need there starting when? Tuesday?

Where was central search and rescue command post and who was in charge of that? Honore? When did Honore arrive? What exactly is the scope of his responsibility? Just NOLA? Does he command Coast Guard too? Does he command STATE National Guard as well asWho was he reporting to? Was HE responsible for reporting on existence of and needs at the Convention Center as well, since presumably he was Fed Man in Charge in NOLA? Did he? Did it go unheeded?

FEMA is not in charge of security, I presume, but is in charge of provisions, along with Red Cross, but can't go where it's not secure. Who tells Red Cross where to go and when?

PROBLEM: NOLA not secured after hurricane
CAUSE: Not enough security personnel to handle it. No leadership?
RESPONSIBLE: Louisiana Gov called in STATE Natl Guard. How many were there? Clearly not enough. FED NATL GUARD - many offers came in, apparently paper didn't go through. When did it finally come? Friday with the President's press junket, or where there more before that? How many STATE National Guard w/ equip, if any, are in Iraq? Did that have an effect? Clearly (to me) there was no leadership in NOPD. Can you imagine desertions of police officers under William Bratton? Doubtful, but still only my opinion and assumption. However, presumably personal issues with family members missing and security as well as communications breakdowns were factors. Stories of abuse and negligence and disregard for the emotional state of evacuees on the part of police officers around the Superdome and Convention Center were also evident.

What are examples of timelines for other national guard deployments? How fast?

Were there different people responsible for rescue and evacuation? Coast Guard and others left people who had been evacuated from rooftops and homes on overpasses and piers, and then nobody came to get them causing possibly hundreds of fatalities as they waited. Was the Coast Guard responsible for communicating need for evacuation and specific info about urgency based on medical conditions of specific groups of people? To whom? Who then was responsible for further evacuation?

PROBLEM: Hospitals not evacuated in timely manner
CAUSE: ? Not enough help came
RESPONSIBLE:? Clearly above the capabilities of local resources. Coast Guard?

Excuse the MULTIPLE typos in here. i.e.

Clearly it was never possible for local resources to handle the scope of the needs even just at the Superdome without OUTSIDE assistance

Should have proofed better...

I'm new here, so pardon me if this should go somewhere else, but I'm experiencing navigation acclimation. It's not wholly relevant to the topic, but I think we are going to see it become a key issue that the administration will use to deflect attention from their failings.



I awoke this morning to controversy in the news about the administration wanting to federalize the National Guard and Governor Blanco's refusal. I don't have a good picture of the entire controversy at this point.



I think this issue is important and I expect a lot of bullcrap from the administration about it in the coming hours.



Over the weekend, I came across a transcript from a DOD press conference on Wednesday, August 31. In it, the head of the National Guard, General Blum, had this to say:

The National Guard is right now presently under the command and control of the governors and is expected to remain so. We don't see any real change in that. That does not present a seam. It does not present an issue or a problem. There is absolutely nothing wrong with state active duty National Guard DoD elements fulfilling their dual mission responsibility, being called up by their governor as state militia in state active duty status working side by side in a joint interagency multi-intergovernmental response -- when I say intergovernmental I mean local, state and federal level response -- to the issues at hand. We think it's the right way to do it. It actually is following the National Response Plan. This is the way it's supposed to work. So this is not unusual, it's not out of the box. It's exactly the way the plan was intended to unfold. What was not intended was the size and intensity of this particular catastrophe. This is an extraordinary event in its scope and in its damage that it's created and the suffering that it's created.

Formatting tweak of a post by Metaphoria that contains some good questions.



I glanced at this plan, but I still have trouble answering specific questions and filling in a timeline as I've been trying to quantify below. Anybody been organizing data in this way? Links, anyone?
PROBLEM: People not evacuated from NOLA in time, left stranded

CAUSE: Called for evacuation too late?

RESPONSIBLE: Mayor of NOLA. Anyone else? Gov?

CAUSE: Not enough help for those who couldn't evacuate on own.

RESPONSIBLE: Local officials. Buses that could have been used seen sitting around Superdome and other areas, flooded, empty. Not enough volunteer bus drivers???? Not enough planning to set up structure for buses to get people out of town? How do you get people who don't want to leave to leave? How do you get the word out on where people should go to catch these buses, and where do you take them?

PROBLEM: People in Superdome not provided security, provisions, evacuation after hurricane.

CAUSE:? Nobody came.

RESPONSIBLE: ? Why wasn't the Red Cross in there from the start, from before the hurricane? Who made that decision? Were they asked to be there? Mayor announced use of Superdome as facility at noon on Sunday. What was the expectation of the Mayor for how long people would have to be there? What was the expectation for who was responsible for providing resources for provisions and evacuation? Coast Guard was Johnny on the Spot. Who called them? Who coordinated that? Clearly it was never possible for local resources to handle the scope of the needs even just at the Superdome without local assistance (or at least clear to me. Is that self-evident or not?) Local police were considerably overwhelmed: 1,000 police officers on the force, with approximately 100,000 people left in city, NOT counting the Superdome and Convention Center. EACH AND EVERY ONE of those people needed either rescue, medical help, evacuation, or to be handcuffed and put in jail, WWAY beyond the scope of local officials. Some of those officials were initially stranded as well, and then later some deserted. How many STATE Natl Guard went to NOLA, as opposed to other areas of Louisiana, other counties? Sheriffs Dept also needed to secure jails and make sure there weren't jail breaks. (Where are THEY now, by the way? They were camping on that overpass in handcuffs for days. Now what? Presumably the jail is in the same condition is was before.) CONVENTION CENTER filled up after flooding began, I presume. Local officials had knowledge, presumably, that it was being used. Were they expected to communicate this need to Fed officials? Press was reporting on existence of need there starting when? Tuesday? Where was central search and rescue command post and who was in charge of that? Honore? When did Honore arrive? What exactly is the scope of his responsibility? Just NOLA? Does he command Coast Guard too? Does he command STATE National Guard as well asWho was he reporting to? Was HE responsible for reporting on existence of and needs at the Convention Center as well, since presumably he was Fed Man in Charge in NOLA? Did he? Did it go unheeded? FEMA is not in charge of security, I presume, but is in charge of provisions, along with Red Cross, but can't go where it's not secure. Who tells Red Cross where to go and when?

PROBLEM: NOLA not secured after hurricane

CAUSE: Not enough security personnel to handle it. No leadership?

RESPONSIBLE: Louisiana Gov called in STATE Natl Guard. How many were there? Clearly not enough. FED NATL GUARD - many offers came in, apparently paper didn't go through. When did it finally come? Friday with the President's press junket, or where there more before that? How many STATE National Guard w/ equip, if any, are in Iraq? Did that have an effect? Clearly (to me) there was no leadership in NOPD. Can you imagine desertions of police officers under William Bratton? Doubtful, but still only my opinion and assumption. However, presumably personal issues with family members missing and security as well as communications breakdowns were factors. Stories of abuse and negligence and disregard for the emotional state of evacuees on the part of police officers around the Superdome and Convention Center were also evident. What are examples of timelines for other national guard deployments? How fast? Were there different people responsible for rescue and evacuation? Coast Guard and others left people who had been evacuated from rooftops and homes on overpasses and piers, and then nobody came to get them causing possibly hundreds of fatalities as they waited. Was the Coast Guard responsible for communicating need for evacuation and specific info about urgency based on medical conditions of specific groups of people? To whom? Who then was responsible for further evacuation?

PROBLEM: Hospitals not evacuated in timely manner

CAUSE: ? Not enough help came

RESPONSIBLE:? Clearly above the capabilities of local resources. Coast Guard?

And nowhere in the plan does it say, Keep those who could accomplish a great deal because it is ALL they do, away from those most in need.

Why are people even starting to question the mayor of No or the gov. of La?  Both are Democrats, so their first priority would be the poor residents of southern Louisiana.  Obviously, only the willful ignoring of the situation by Bush was to blame.  As more information comes out from New Orleans, it should be even clearer that this was all intentionally done by Bush to shut up the anti-Iraq crowd.  Why has there NEVER, even once, been any proof of armed gangs?  Never one picture, never one NO police officer shot (They said there was one, but there's no evidence of that lie... i mean story), no evidence whatsoever.  Could it be because they all were just a political spin?  Perhaps a reason for Bush to immediately order all "looters" shot ON SIGHT?  Easy way to shut up witnesses to the goverment's slaughter in NO.  Also, it gives a "reason" choppers couldn't rescue people from the hospitals and the rooftops.  Never mind these choppers weren't even down in New Orleans until Wed or Thurs.  So how were they getting shot at TuesdaY?  How come no one else is even starting to see the pattern?

This is a very interesting post.  When day after day went by without any food or water and other suppies being dropped to the people who were dying, I said to my husband that it looked like bushco figured that nobody would care if he left all these poor and black people to die. Well, he sure got fooled.  I think it's unconscionable that they're now trying to shift the blame onto state and local La, officials instead of taking responsibility for their own gross negligence.

Please consider what it minimally would have cost a few years ago to have planned so as to meet Red Cross requirements.  That's where you want to begin the inquiry. 

They wanted pissers and shitters above ground level that were independent of the water and sewer system that predictably would be out of commission in a Hurricane. 

They wanted an adequate drinking water supply in plastic bottles stored securely on site.  And food too -- they get by with high energy cookie things.

They wanted back up lighting and communications gear.  They wanted the generators and fuel for same to be stored where a flood would not compromise it. 

If we should have learned anything from 911 it is that putting NYCity's Emergency Response headquarters in a building next to the WTC where zillions of gallons of fuel is on site --- well that is not exactly a good idea. 

I wonder if someone will pop a cap in Brown's ass?  I don't think anyone would be surprised.  Or very sad to hear it either.  I wonder if he is going to get some protection.  If he'd killed my family with his incompetence I might be out for a little payback, and the low rent district of New Orleans is not the place to be making casual enemies.