What are you, brain dead?
Ahem. I received a few emails referring to my September 4 article, refuting my opinion and stating that Louisiana and New Orleans do (and did) indeed have emergency plans. I suppose the chowderheads who wrote me never read the word "effective" that began each plan item for which I chastised the state and city.
Of course they have plans, you idiots; they're called Comprehensive Emergency Management Plans (CEMPs) and are required of state and local governments. No plan, no federal emergency grant money.
But having a plan on the shelf to placate federal agencies is quite different from having a usable plan. It's different from not having the resources as stated in the plan and required to implement the plan. Different from not having a responsible command structure in place to implement the plan. Different from not having standard operating procedures that mandate responsibilities to critical personnel to ensure its feasibility when implemented, and tested beforehand to ensure they work. In other words, it's so different that they might as well NOT have had any plans.
Blame FEMA for failings of others
Bash the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) all you want, but the simple fact is that FEMA is not a first response agency. State and local governments must prepare to be totally self-sufficient in the first 72 to 96 hours of any emergency, anywhere in the country. Period. End of story.
Only after a local disaster is declared, then a state disaster is declared, can federal resources be used to provide assistance to disaster areas. It's all set up this way in part because of a pesky little thing called the Constitution of the United States of America. The governor of Louisiana and Mayor of New Orleans had very pretty, very lengthy, but very unusable CEMPs, thus were therefore not prepared. So they resorted to whining on TV and blaming the president and FEMA for gross negligence. Here's some excerpts from the New Orleans plan:
Introductory message from Mayor C. Ray Nagin:
Dear Parish Residents, the safety and well-being of the citizens of New Orleans is my greatest priority. For this reason, our Office of Emergency Preparedness has prepared this Guide to help individuals during times of natural or man-made disaster . . . Our City, due to its central gulf location, is one of the most vulnerable in America to the furies of a hurricane. Heavy rains, because of our topography, can and do cause severe flooding ...
Emergency Plan Responsibility:
... The Office of Emergency Preparedness is responsible for the response and coordination of those actions needed to protect the lives and property of its citizens from natural or man-made disasters as well as emergency planning for the City of New Orleans. Our primary responsibility is to advise the Mayor, the City Council and Chief Administrative Officer regarding emergency preparedness activities and operations. We coordinate all city departments and allied state and federal agencies which respond to city-wide disasters and emergencies through the development and constant updating of an integrated multi-hazard plan. All requests for federal disaster assistance and federal funding subsequent to disaster declarations are also made through this office ...
... Hurricane protection levees have been built in many coastal communities, especially the New Orleans area, to protect life and property from storm surge. While these levees do a very good job in protecting communities during minimal hurricanes, sophisticated computer modeling of storm surge effects indicate most levees in southeast Louisiana would be overtopped from the storm surge generated by a direct strike by a major hurricane. The result would be widespread flooding...
Special Needs Shelter Plan:
... The shelter is intended for individuals who have no other resources and who need assistance that cannot be guaranteed in a regular shelter, i.e. medication that requires refrigeration, oxygen equipment, etc. The Special Needs Shelter (SNS) will only be activated by the Mayor of New Orleans or his designee. Entrance into the SNS does not relieve any individual of the responsibility for their own care. Admission into the Shelter is NOT TO BE INTERPRETED AS A GUARANTEE OF SAFETY, and the City of New Orleans is not assuring anyone protection from harm within the facilities that are being offered or opened for this purpose ...
... It is critical that everyone understands that this shelter will not be able to substitute for the comforts of the individuals' homes, and that all equipment and special furniture, which are normally used, may not be able to accompany them. It is recommended that all persons with special medical needs and/or their responsible family members develop a viable plan for transportation out of the community to a community that will be able to give long term assistance. The potential exists that New Orleans could be without sufficient supplies to meet the needs of persons with special considerations, and there is significant risk being taken by those individuals who decide to remain in these refuges of last resort ...
Pretty, very pretty, but to paraphrase just one section above -- it basically tells residents: "Hey, you're on your own." The plan lists all of the resources available, how things are supposed to be done, and delineates responsibility. The State of Louisiana and City of New Orleans are designated as having ultimate responsibility for all actions required to prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters - UNTIL LOCAL RESOURCES ARE FOUND TO BE INSUFFICIENT OR SUCH TIME AS MUTUAL AID AGREEMENTS AND FEDERAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUESTED.
Incompetent governor, mayor
None of this was done. Disaster declarations were overly delayed (President Bush had to practically beg Governor Blanco to declare, and then she STILL needed 24 more hours to make up her mind). No plan elements were brought into play like they were supposed to be, so the plan didn't work because it wasn't implemented. It couldn't be implemented because there was no leadership and little of the resources in place that were listed in the plan. Why were those two incompetents, the governor and mayor, whining and placing blame on others?
Because Old Media let them get away with it. Because Old Media enables them by ignoring the real stories. Because Old Media loathes conservatives and President Bush.
Listen up, boneheads, I'll say it again: Those two whining, incompetent Louisiana fools should be impeached and criminally prosecuted.