Thread: Democrats blame 'oblivious' Bush on hurricane response

http://insider.washingtontimes.com/arti ... 5306-9784r

Democrats blame 'oblivious' Bush

By Bill Sammon and Stephen Dinan
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
September 8, 2005

Congressional Democrats yesterday laid the blame for the flawed response to Hurricane Katrina squarely on President Bush, saying he was "oblivious" to the crisis immediately after the storm hit.
The Senate's top Democrat asked whether Mr. Bush prepared properly for the disaster while "on vacation," but a Gallup Poll finds that only 13 percent of Americans blame the president.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi lashed out at Mr. Bush, with Mrs. Pelosi taking the unusual action of recounting her private conversation with the president. The California Democrat said she urged Mr. Bush to fire Michael D. Brown, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
"He said, 'Why would I do that?' and I said because of all that went wrong, of all that didn't go right last week. And he said, 'What didn't go right?'
"Oblivious, in denial, dangerous," she said of Mr. Bush.
Mr. Reid, in a letter to the chairman of the Senate committee that will hold hearings on what went wrong in the hurricane response, asked: "How much time did the president spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation?" and "Why didn't President Bush immediately return to Washington from his vacation?"
The White House, which has said repeatedly that it would not engage in what it calls the "blame game" over how and why the delivery of food and supplies was delayed for days after the hurricane struck Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi and left most of New Orleans under water, fired back at Democratic critics yesterday, particularly Mr. Reid.
"The senator must not be aware of all the updates that we were providing you all, because I cannot imagine that he would engage in such personal attacks," Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said. "I'd just assume that he is not informed of everything we were doing."
Asked whether Mrs. Pelosi's version of her conversation with Mr. Bush was an "accurate portrayal," Mr. McClellan replied: "No, it's not." He said, "The president was just wanting to know what she was most concerned about."
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman said: "While countless Americans are pulling together to lend a helping hand, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are pointing fingers in a shameless effort to tear us apart."
The poll conducted by the Gallup organization for CNN and USA Today found that 13 percent of Americans think Mr. Bush is "most responsible for the problems in New Orleans after the hurricane." Eighteen percent said "federal agencies" are most to blame, and 25 percent blamed "state and local officials." Thirty-eight percent said "no one is to blame."
Yesterday, the White House sent Congress a $51.8 billion emergency spending request, with $50 billion slated for FEMA and the rest going to the Defense Department and the Army Corps of Engineers. That is on top of the $10.5 billion Congress passed in an emergency session last week.
Republican leaders said they will enact legislation this week to boost FEMA, which is spending $750 million a day in hurricane and flood relief. House Republicans first held a closed-door meeting last night to tamp down criticism within their own conference.
"I don't trust FEMA any more than the agencies in the state of Louisiana," said Rep. Tom Tancredo, Colorado Republican.
Rep. Jeff Flake, Arizona Republican, said that with about 320,000 storm victims registered with FEMA, the emergency spending accounts for nearly $200,000 per person. He said he would rather Congress pass several $10 billion packages to ensure more accountability.
Congressional leaders yesterday formed a committee of senior members of both houses to investigate the preparations and response to Hurricane Katrina by government officials on local, state and national levels.
"We should not diminish in any way the fact that there were acts of heroism by individuals and victories by our first responders who risked their lives," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, Tennessee Republican. "But we all agree that in many areas the initial relief response to Hurricane Katrina was unacceptable at the local, state and federal levels. Americans deserve answers. We must do all we can to learn from this tragedy, improve the system and protect all of our citizens."
The panel will report its findings to the Congress on Feb. 15. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee will meet behind closed doors today to question FEMA officials on the agency's response, which has been criticized by officials at all levels of government.
Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said the national disaster response plan is itself a disaster and are working on an agreement to start an investigation.
"Government at all levels failed," said Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican and chairman of the committee.
"Obviously, it did not pass the test," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, Connecticut Democrat and ranking committee member.
• Audrey Hudson contributed to this report.


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Gallup poll only found 13 percent that blame Bush for the lack of action after the fact? What kind of crap poll is that? They sure didn't ask me how I felt. Everyone I've talked to about this feels that Bush is to blame for what happened after the fact and they are livid. They feel how I feel about it. If only 13 percent really feel that Bush is to blame then we as a country are in even bigger trouble then I thought.

I just love how Bush is acting like nothing happened and all is well. Yeah thousands of people died because of your incompetence, arrogance, stubbornness and neglect, but hey pat yourself on the back because despite major screw up after major screw up which has cost America thousands of lives, your still in charge. Only in America. You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't fool all of the people all of the time and you sure as hell can't fool me. Sooner or later you will have to answer for your sins and be prepared to reap what you sow and all of the spinning you do won't save you in the end.

IMPEACH BUSH!!!

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1477374/posts


A better question is where was the Governor of Louisiana?
I was wondering the same thing myself.
The whole sequecence of events must be evaluated and the necessary changes made so we can better handle a future event. This was a large scale hurricane that would have caused extensive damage regardless of what was or was not done. No one person is at fault.Why Didn't Louisiana Follow its Required Emergency Plan?
Self | September 4, 2005 | Joseph Ranos


Posted on 09/04/2005 3:48:32 PM PDT by Sonar5


1) Why Didn't Louisiana Follow it's Emergency Plan? Why isn't anyone talking about this?



2) Why hasn't anyone mentioned that a Pre-Requisite for a Federal Response BY LAW is that State Law is Executed and the Emergency Plan is Executed FIRST?



3) Why did the Governor abandon the City of New Orleans for the Safety of Baton Rouge, before the Plan was Executed?



4) Why, when the federal Government was acting in accordance with the Stafford Act, did the State of Louisiana, by its Governors acts, delay making requests when being told this storm was going to hit?



5) Why did Mayor Nagin or Governor Blanco, delay while sleeping on it Saturday night, the Mandatory evacuation spelled out in the Louisiana Emergency Plan? Saturday the Mayor said he may order an evacuation tomorrow. (Sunday)



6) Where were the Parish Presidents who were signatories to the Louisiana Emergency Plan, and why did they fail in its Execution to the plan?



7) In the Parish failure to implement, why didn't the State take over as required by the plan?



Why weren't the Hospitals nursing homes, etc. evacuated since the plan required them to do so?



9) Why did the Mandatory evacuation only occur AFTER President Bush called, and why did Governor Blanco stress that it was only after President Bush Called to urging the Evacuation order? Was she concerned for the Citizens, or was she grandstanding so she could blame the President if the Storm didn't hit?



10) Why were the Action Plan implementations required not done by the Local and State Government?



Links required reading for this information:



Louisiana State Emergency Operations Plan - 2005 :
Louisiana State Emergency Plan



Southeast Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan:
Southeast Louisiana Evac Plan



Southwest Louisiana Hurricane Evacuation and Sheltering Plan:
Southwest Louisiana Evac Plan



Shelter Plan:
Shelter Plan



White House Declarations:



August 27, 2005 Emergency Declaration by President Bush:
Emergency Plan Dec



August 29, 2005 Major Disaster Declaration by President Bush:
Major Disaster Dec



Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended by Public Law 106-390, October 30, 2000
Federal Law



Federal Response Plan:
Fed Response Plan



PARTIAL TIMELINE:



6:22 PM Pacific Friday 8/26/05
Quote:
Blanco declares state of emergency as Katrina shifts west

The governor this evening has declared a state of emergency as a major shift west in the projected track of Hurricane Katrina threatens Southeastern Louisiana.



At 5 p.m. federal forecasters made a significant westward shift in the projected path of Katrina, moving the New Orleans area much nearer the center of the cone of warning, with projected landfall now in the Biloxi area.



Note this Forecast and the declaration is almost 1 1/2 days Prior to the Mandatory Evac being instituted. This statement is reported at 2:29 pm Eastern Saturday. He should have ordered it Sooner than he finally did.



Saturday August 27, 2005 2:29 Eastern.
Mayor Delaying Evacuation along with Governor

Quote:
"This is not a test," New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin said at a news conference. He said he would probably ask people to leave at daybreak Sunday, and said the Superdome could be pressed into use as a shelter of last resort for people who do not have cars.



That is Proof the Mayor was already stating he was going to delay the Evacuation. This is Past the Time when the Emergency declarations were Issued by the Governor which was done on Friday.



She apparently said this on Saturday, according to a post , at Freerepublic:
Free Republic Link



But that post was placed on 08/27/2005 6:58:21 PM PDT, which is Saturday Night.
Quote:
Kathleen Blanco - "Lots of people are not aware of this storm because last night when they went to bed the forecast was for it to go into Florida, but overnight that changed to Louisiana."



So she is stating that last night, Friday. It didn't change overnight, she is trying to say she didn't know, and she did.



Sunday August 28, 2005
President Urges Evac
Quote:
Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blanco said that President Bush had called and urged the state to order the evacuation.



So let's get to the Stafford Act linked to above shall we:



1) § 5191. PROCEDURE FOR DECLARATION {Sec. 501}
a.Request and declaration


All requests for a declaration by the President that an emergency exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State. Such a request shall be based on a finding that the situation is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the State and the affected local governments and that Federal assistance is necessary. As a part of such request, and as a prerequisite to emergency assistance under this Act, the Governor shall take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State's emergency plan. The Governor shall furnish information describing the State and local efforts and resources which have been or will be used to alleviate the emergency, and will define the type and extent of Federal aid required. Based upon such Governor's request, the President may declare that an emergency exists.



NOTE, it says the Following:
A) All requests for a declaration by the President that an emergency exists shall be made by the Governor of the affected State.



B) As a part of such request, and as a prerequisite to emergency assistance under this Act, the Governor shall take appropriate action under State law and direct execution of the State's emergency plan.

Note the word PREREQUISITE. So when the Governor REQUESTED the initial declaration, she was basically lying about the Emergency Plan being implemented.



Now, we take you to the Louisiana Emergency Plan as linked to above.



1) A catastrophic hurricane is defined as a hurricane in Category 3 Slow (5 mph or less forward speed), and categories 4 or 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale of hurricane strength (See Annex A). Hurricanes in Category 1, 2 and 3 Fast, are considered less destructive and can be met through the use of normal emergency preparedness procedures on the part of the Parish and State governments.



The overall strategy for dealing with a catastrophic hurricane is to evacuate as much of the at risk population as possible from the path of the storm and relocate them to a place of relative safety outside the projected high water mark of the storm surge flooding and hurricane force winds. The Southeastern Region is generally defined as those parishes which have all or a large part of their population east of the Atchafalaya River Basin and south of a line drawn along Interstates 10 and 12 from Baton Rouge, through Hammond to Slidell. The Region includes the parishes of Ascension, Assumption, Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Terrebonne



2) When a hurricane enters or takes form in the Gulf of Mexico, it is perceived as a potential catastrophic threat to the Southeast Louisiana Region. As the danger from the hurricane requires the initiation of emergency actions, the State Office of Emergency Preparedness and each parish will activate Emergency Operating Centers (EOCs) and declare a state of emergency. The State and parishes will commence planned emergency operations and coordinate their actions including activating and maintaining all means of communications.



Let's Look at the Responsibility of whom during an Evacuation. This can be found beginning on Page 16 0f 45 of the Louisiana Plan.



Voluntary Evacuation:



State Requirements:



State of Louisiana
1. Activate EOC and prepare for 24-hour operations.
2. Put State Departments and the ARC on standby alert in accordance with OEP Implementing Procedures.
3. Put National Guard units on standby alert.
4. Call all nursing homes and other custodial care organizations in the risk areas to insure that they are prepared to evacuate their residents.
5. Alert FEMA of the situation and advise that the State may need Federal assistance.
6. Establish communications with risk area parish EOCs and test all communications means, including conference call procedures.
7. Prepare a proclamation of emergency for the State so that, when needed, State resources can be mobilized to support risk area evacuation and host area sheltering operations.



Prepare proclamations for the State to intervene in local situations if local governments fail to act, in accordance with RS 29:721-735.


***NOTE IT SAYS So State Resources can be mobilized to support evacuation.***
***NOTE IT SAYS for the State to Intervene if Local Governments fail to act.***



Parish Requirements:



1) Local transportation resources should be marshaled and public transportation plans implemented as needed.



2) Announce the location of staging areas for people who need transportation. Public transportation will concentrate on moving people from the staging areas to safety in host parishes with priority given to people with special needs.



Recommended Evacuation:



State Duties:



Mobilize State transportation resources to aid in the evacuation of people who have mobility and/or health problems. Deploy to support risk area parishes.



Coordinate with neighboring states, Mississippi, Arkansas and Texas, and other states to which evacuees may go, such as Tennessee and Alabama. Advise states of the possible extent of Louisiana's evacuation and recommend appropriate traffic control measures.



Mandatory Evacuation:

NOT ISSUED UNTIL SUNDAY MORNING, so the Governor and Mayor got a good nights sleep Saturday Night, and only after the President urged them to do so, which was publicized in a press conference by Blanco.



a. Risk Area Parishes:


1. Coordinate evacuation orders with State and other risk parishes.
2. Instruct persons living in designated evacuation zones to leave.
3. Impose traffic control to funnel persons to designated evacuation routes.
4. Designate staging areas and other facilities as last resort refuges. People at these locations who cannot be evacuated in time to avoid the storm will remain and take refuge in the designated buildings.
5. Assist persons with mobility limitations to find last resort refuge. Mobilize all transportation resources and request assistance from the state as needed.
6. Continue to update EAS and news media with evacuation information at two-hour intervals.


b. Host Area Parishes:



1. Implement reception and care and traffic control plans.
2. Continue reporting status of shelter spaces and evacuees
accommodated to LOEP every four hours. 3.Continue 24-hour operations.



c.State of Louisiana:



1. Continue 24-hour EOC operations.
2. Consult with risk area parishes to finalize mandatory 01/00 III-6 evacuation orders.
3. Implement mandatory evacuation traffic controls. Convert specified limited access routes to one-way outbound operations. Control main evacuation routes with State resources.
4. Direct the evacuation and shelter of persons having mobility limitations, including persons in nursing homes, hospitals, group homes and non-institutionalized persons.
5. Keep neighboring states informed of status and traffic control decisions.
6. Keep EAS evacuation and shelter information updated on a two-hour basis, or more frequently if information is available on a timelier basis.
7. Keep media informed and updated on evacuation and shelter information.



Now there are several things that were not done according to this plan.



1- Direct the evacuation and shelter of persons having mobility limitations, including persons in nursing homes, hospitals, group homes and non-institutionalized persons.



This was the responsibility of the state, and it DID NOT OCCUR. Evidence Charity Hospital.



NOW, this is very Important to realize, it is the State's plan to implement the Shelter of last Resort. It was not designed for people to stay there:



From Page 29:



PART VI: STAGING AREAS / LAST RESORT REFUGE
A. Staging Areas
The definition of a staging area is a central location, easily accessible to those ambulatory people who are in need of transportation to a shelter.



1. Residents who have no means of transportation will be directed to the staging areas.



2. Transportation vehicles will be pre-positioned to transport residents to shelters.



3. Once the evacuation routes are closed, the staging areas will become Last Resort Refuges.



4. After the storm has passed and the evacuation order is rescinded, transportation will be provided to return people dropped off at shelters to the staging area.



B. Last Resort Refuge
The definition of Last Resort Refuge is a place for persons to be protected from the high winds and heavy rains from the storm. Unlike a shelter, there may be little or no water or food and possibly no utilities. A Last Resort Refuge is intended to provide best available survival protection for the duration of the hurricane only.



1. Once evacuation routes are closed, people who were unable to evacuate the risk area will be directed to last resort refuge and /or staging areas.



2. When it is determined that weather conditions permit, rescue teams will be sent into areas designated for Last Resort Refuge to transport evacuees to designated shelters.



So recap the Failure of the State and City here:



People were directed there, but No Transportation from there was used apparently before the storm. The superdome was only to be used during the duration of the hurricane.



Where were the Staging Areas?
Where was the Required Mobilization of State Resources?



Now go to Page 36 of the Plan. Here it starts talking about specifically what is need to evacuate the population.



POPULATION AT RISK ANNEX C
RISK AREA POPULATION SUMMARY*
Ascension 73,667
Assumption 22,862
Jefferson 454,447
Lafourche 88,712
Orleans 462,761
Plaquemines 25,728
St. Bernard 66,903
St. Charles 47,606
St. James 21,362
St. John 41,664
St. Tammany 188,053
Tangipahoa 96,723
Terrebonne 104,317
TOTAL 1,694,805

* 1990 Census Data (as amended by the Louisiana Tech University estimates of Population) 01/00 C-1



CATEGORY 4 FAST HURRICANE - 15 MPH

PARISH EVACUEES VEHICLES

Ascension
Assumption 22,862 9,296
Jefferson 319,968 126,971
Lafourche 74,765 26,701
Orleans 334,192 111,397
Plaquemines 24,256 8,393
St. Bernard 60,539 22,094
St. Charles 41,904 15,718
St. John 15,869 5,491
St. James 7,175 2,307
St. Tammany 105,069 41,529
Tangipahoa
Terrebonne 104,317 37,199
TOTAL 1,110,916 407,096


TIME ESTIMATES FOR EVACUATION DECISIONS:

Depending on the speed and strength of a hurricane and the number of people who are at risk, the time at which decisions must be made to evacuate will vary. The attached tables give information on the times at which action to evacuate people must be taken if the total number of people in the risk area is to be evacuated in Category 3 (Slow), 4 and 5 hurricanes. A summary of information is given for each category. These times are for Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard and St. Tammany. The times for Terrebonne, Assumption, Lafourche, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, Ascension and Tangipahoa would be less.



Evacuees: Gives the total number of people assumed to evacuate in response to the threat of a hurricane (not always 100% of vulnerable population).



Vehicles: An estimate of the average number of vehicles that would be used by the maximum number of evacuees.



Cut-Off Hours: The number of hours before a hurricane reaches landfall at which evacuation must be stopped because gale force winds would be blowing over evacuation bridges, making travel dangerous. The number of miles from landfall is also given.



Clearance Hours: The number of hours needed to move 100% of the evacuating population, given smooth traffic flow, out of the risk area. In the larger category storms, figures are slower for clearance times in which traffic flows as it does normally, as well as for traffic flow if designated routes are converted to one-way outbound traffic. A 2+2-hour figure is included to accommodate two hours to begin the evacuation and two hours to bring the evacuation to a stop. Total Decision Hours: The total number of hours before hurricane landfall when the decision to call for evacuation must be made if an effort to move all risk area residents is to be made.



For The Record, President Bush declared the requested State of Emergency on Saturday, August 27,2005
For The Record, President Bush declared a Major Disaster on Monday, August 29, 2005


The Levees were known to be leaking on Tuesday, and newspapers that morning were downplaying the damage done to New Orleans.



The amount of Federal help that did arrive was being mobilized and sent starting Tuesday. It took the Feds two days to get help there. Pretty Good, I say.



It is my contention that due to the incompetence of the Governor of Louisiana as well as others, such as Mayor Nagin, and all affected Parish Presidents, as well as Governor Blanco personally downplaying the ramifications of this storm, and her inability to implement the Emergency Plan when she was given plenty of notice that potentially thousands of people have died.



How could a city that had foreseen this type of event failed so miserably to enact any plan at all. How could these Parish Presidents not have had people go door to door to evacuate them. Orleans Parish contains the City of New Orleans, and their failure to impress on their citizens in advance of this storm through community education the importance of leaving is a sad truth to this story.



Others can feel free to add timeline events or other information, but the Local and State Governments delay in following the plan has killed many. Why were all those buses sitting under water?



Regards,
Sonar5