More on New Orleans and the Federal Government

I want to rant about this. I want to jump up and down about this (the whole thing, not this snippet).

From the testimony, June 24, 1997, of William M. Gray, Professor of Atmospheric Science, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University:

It now appears that we are returning to a period of hurricane activity more typical of the period of the mid-1940s to late-1960s. But the vulnerability of US coastal areas are now much different from the early periods of enhanced major hurricane activity. The great buildup of population and property values along the US southeast coastline were not present 30 to 50 years ago. Consequently, I view the hurricane threat to now be our country's greatest natural hazard; more than earthquakes (see Appendix D); more than floods, tornadoes, extreme temperatures, global warming, etc. This large threat posed by landfalling major hurricanes has yet to be fully realized by the general public or by most US government officials.
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In 2003, this is what occurred (from 10/7/03, Statement of Eric Tolbert, Director of the Response Division, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security):
Tropical Storm Isabel developed September 6, 2003, some 600 miles west of the Southern Cape Verde Islands. The next day the storm was upgraded to a hurricane and on September 11, 2003, Isabel was upgraded to the first Category 5 Hurricane in the Atlantic basin since Hurricane Mitch in 1998.

Our efforts to place greater emphasis on being more proactive and forward-looking in our preparedness and response operations, with added focus on situational awareness, helped us significantly in preparations for the landfall of Hurricane Isabel. We recognized early on that Isabel would evolve into a significant multi-regional response so we issued an Operations Order on September 15, 2003, four days before landfall, to step up coordination and action planning activities in advance of the predicted landfall. My intent was to make FEMA totally prepared and in the best possible position to rapidly and effectively execute disaster response operations, as directed by the President, in support of State and local jurisdictions.
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I can find no record of such a FEMA 'Operations Order' for this storm, let alone days in advance.

The Director of FEMA

Now I feel better. This is clearly a man with his finger on the pulse of emergency operations.

http://www.fema.gov/about/bios/brown.shtm

Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Emergency Preparedness and Response

Michael D. Brown was nominated by President George W. Bush as the first Under Secretary of Emergency Preparedness and Response in the newly created Department of Homeland Security in January 2003. As the head of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Under Secretary Brown leads federal disaster response and recovery operations and coordinates disaster activities with more than two dozen federal agencies and departments and the American Red Cross. He also oversees the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration, and initiates proactive mitigation activities.

Additionally, Under Secretary Brown helps the Secretary of Homeland Security ensure the effectiveness of emergency responders, and directs the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Integration Center, the National Disaster Medical System and the Nuclear Incident Response Team.

Under Secretary Brown has led Homeland Security’s response to more than 164 presidentially declared disasters and emergencies, including the 2003 Columbia Shuttle disaster and the California wildfires in 2003. In 2004, Mr. Brown led FEMA’s thousands of dedicated disaster workers during the most active hurricane season in over 100 years, as FEMA delivered aid more quickly and more efficiently than ever before.

Previously, Mr. Brown served as FEMA's Deputy Director and the agency's General Counsel. Shortly after the September 11th terrorist attacks, Mr. Brown served on the President's Consequence Management Principal's Committee, which acted as the White House's policy coordination group for the federal domestic response to the attacks. Later, the President asked him to head the Consequence Management Working Group to identify and resolve key issues regarding the federal response plan. In August 2002, President Bush appointed him to the Transition Planning Office for the new Department of Homeland Security, serving as the transition leader for the EP&R Division.

Prior to joining FEMA, Mr. Brown practiced law in Colorado and Oklahoma, where he served as a bar examiner on ethics and professional responsibility for the Oklahoma Supreme Court and as a hearing examiner for the Colorado Supreme Court. He had been appointed as a special prosecutor in police disciplinary matters. While attending law school he was appointed by the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee of the Oklahoma Legislature as the Finance Committee Staff Director, where he oversaw state fiscal issues. His background in state and local government also includes serving as an assistant city manager with emergency services oversight and as a city councilman.

Mr. Brown was also an adjunct professor of law for the Oklahoma City University.

A native of Oklahoma, Mr. Brown holds a bachelor's degree in Public Administration/Political Science from Central State University, Oklahoma. He received his J.D. from Oklahoma City University’s School of Law.

Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans??!!

hobbit_em pointed out to me the following from http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006719.html (bolding is mine)

http://www.redcross.org/faq/0,1096,0_682_4524,00.html#4524
Disaster FAQs

Hurricane Katrina: Why is the Red Cross not in New Orleans?

* Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders.

* The state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

* The Red Cross has been meeting the needs of thousands of New Orleans residents in some 90 shelters throughout the state of Louisiana and elsewhere since before landfall. All told, the Red Cross is today operating 149 shelters for almost 93,000 residents.

* The Red Cross shares the nation’s anguish over the worsening situation inside the city. We will continue to work under the direction of the military, state and local authorities and to focus all our efforts on our lifesaving mission of feeding and sheltering.

* The Red Cross does not conduct search and rescue operations. We are an organization of civilian volunteers and cannot get relief aid into any location until the local authorities say it is safe and provide us with security and access.

* The original plan was to evacuate all the residents of New Orleans to safe places outside the city. With the hurricane bearing down, the city government decided to open a shelter of last resort in the Superdome downtown. We applaud this decision and believe it saved a significant number of lives.

* As the remaining people are evacuated from New Orleans, the most appropriate role for the Red Cross is to provide a safe place for people to stay and to see that their emergency needs are met. We are fully staffed and equipped to handle these individuals once they are evacuated.

More from Michael Brown - Victims bear responsibility

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/01/katrina.fema.brown/index.html

FEMA chief: Victims bear some responsibility
Brown pleased with effort: 'Things are going relatively well'

Thursday, September 1, 2005; Posted: 11:41 p.m. EDT (03:41 GMT)

CNN) -- The director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Thursday those New Orleans residents who chose not to heed warnings to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina bear some responsibility for their fates.

Michael Brown also agreed with other public officials that the death toll in the city could reach into the thousands.

"Unfortunately, that's going to be attributable a lot to people who did not heed the advance warnings," Brown told CNN.

"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans," he said.

"And to find people still there is just heart-wrenching to me because, you know, the mayor did everything he could to get them out of there.

"So, we've got to figure out some way to convince people that whenever warnings go out it's for their own good," Brown said. "Now, I don't want to second guess why they did that. My job now is to get relief to them."
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It goes on. Read the rest at the link, if you can stomach it.

They needed to get relief to them. That is why the National Guard kept the Red Cross out. Now it all makes sense to me!

FEMA on Hurricanes, 2003 - 2005

http://www.fema.gov/library/speech_brown06112003.shtm - Brown Speech at the National Hurricane conference, 2003

http://www.fema.gov/library/speech_brown04082004.shtm - Brown Speech at the National Hurricane conference, 2003

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=17324 - Hurricane Season 2005: Building on Success
FEMA Evolutions for the 2005 Hurricane Season and Beyond, Release Date: April 28, 2005

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=17540 - Hurricane Puppet Show Helps Children Heal, Release Date: May 24, 2005

http://www.fema.gov/emanagers/2005/nat041305.shtm - scroll down to: Louisiana Develops Improved Hurricane Evacuation Plan, April 13, 2005

And, what I went looking for to start with:
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=13051

Hurricane Pam Exercise Concludes

Release Date: July 23, 2004

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Hurricane Pam brought sustained winds of 120 mph, up to 20 inches of rain in parts of southeast Louisiana and storm surge that topped levees in the New Orleans area. More than one million residents evacuated and Hurricane Pam destroyed 500,000-600,000 buildings. Emergency officials from 50 parish, state, federal and volunteer organizations faced this scenario during a five-day exercise held this week at the State Emergency Operations Center in Baton Rouge.

The exercise used realistic weather and damage information developed by the National Weather Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the LSU Hurricane Center and other state and federal agencies to help officials develop joint response plans for a catastrophic hurricane in Louisiana.
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Imagine if they had not trained!