Klarinet Archive - Posting 000146.txt from 2005/09

From: "R. Williams" <rwilliams@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Katrina: the first blame
Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 09:55:58 -0400


>From: "Forest Aten" <forestaten@-----.net>
>Subject: RE: [kl] Katrina: the first blame
>
>But taxation at what level? Local, State or Federal? Who is/was responsible
>for the design/construction/maintenance of the levee system from day one?

Simple enough question. The design, no matter who does it was approved by
the Corps of Engineers. Construction funding is typically joint
federal/state and local. Maintenance is joint federal/state and
local. More local than state. The New Orleans Levee Authority or
whatever it may be called would have the primary responsibility regarding
the levee. In principle they work with the state and feds to get what they
need in addition to local funding (taxes).

In the past three decades there have been at least three major proposal
made by the feds to improve the levee system in New Orleans and in each
case the state and local governments vetoed the projects. Meanwhile since
1970 more than $600 million in federal funds have been spent on it or was
supposed to have been spent on it because there are numerous reports that
Mayor Nagin and his administration diverted funds from the levee
maintenance to build a marina.

A few days ago, the Corps of Engineers person who was/is in charge of the
New Orleans levee projects on the federal side was interviewed on TV. When
pressed by some reporters who were actually doing their job he was asked if
their was anything this administration (President Bush) during its tenure
could have done to have prevented this disaster. The individual said
no. Next questions was; "Then what was the issue?" The answer was that
the levee wasn't built to withstand a storm of that magnitude. The follow
up question was;"How long would it take to fix or have fixed it?" He
answered; "20 years, but if I had unlimited money we might cut that in
half." Next question was;"How much money would it take?" He said; "If I
had a couple of billion dollars I could do it."

The real issue here is that the local and state governments had absolutely
no desire to fix the problem and they proved it time and again by vetoing
federal plans and proposals. If the federal government had come in an done
it anyway you would have heard state rights cries from one coast to another.

To clear up one other issue, FEMA is a post disaster relief
agency. Operative word here is 'post" as in after it occurs. Evacuation
and disaster planning for evacuation is the sole responsibility of local
and state government. Now can federal assistance be requested prior to a
disaster; yes. Was it offered; yes and repeatedly by President Bush but
Governor Blanco refused the help. Here is what happened,

Weds prior to the storm hitting President Bush had contacted all the
Governors of the expected areas to coordinate efforts. The first offer was
a Mutual Aid Pact sent to 15 or so Governors requesting authorization to
use National Guard Units in states outside their home. Fourteen Governors
signed it the only one who did not was Governor Blanco of Louisiana. This
would have allowed NG troops from other states to enter Louisiana. She did
not sign this until the following Weds. On Weds prior she did sign a
request for Federal Assistance limited to councilors for disaster victims.
Following this President Bush took the unusual step of declaring a Federal
Disaster Area prior to the Governor doing it so Federal Assistance could
start moving.

On Friday after the storm had built up, President Bush sat down with his
legal advisors and FEMA officers to discuss how they could get additional
resources into place, namely Army, Navy, Marine assets. Posse Comitatus
Act prevents such actions. One possibility discussed but rejected was the
Insurgency Act. Instead a document was drafted under Presidential
Emergency Powers that would allow Governors to request help by these
assets. Two governors agreed one did not, Governor Blanco.

On Friday afternoon Max Mayfield of the National Hurricane Center was
alarmed by the total inaction he was seeing in New Orleans. When a NOAA
buoy 250 miles south of New Orleans recorded 68 foot waves before being
destroyed, he called both the Governor of Louisiana and Mayor Nagin and
begged them to order a mandatory evacuation. They ignored him.

Mayor Nagin who had the primary responsibility of evacuating his citizens
did not implement his disaster plan.

Friday night President Bush called Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco and
asked them repeatedly to order an evacuation as well as asking Governor
Blanco to sign the Mutual Aid Pact and Federal Assistance
Authorization. Mayor Nagin partially agreed by ordering a non-mandatory
evacuation and Blanco did nothing. The next day Fema and President Bush
made repeated requests to both Nagin and Blanco which were
ignored. Following President Bush's phone call on Friday, Governor Blanco
met with her advisors and decided not to accept the Presidents offers
because it would make the Governor and the state look as though they were
incapable of handling the situation.

From Weds thru Monday, resources were stagged around the country waiting
for orders to move. FEMA nor the President or any other agency has the
authority to act unless authorized to do so by the Governor of the state.

Initially when the storm hit it looked as though New Orleans may have
dodged the bullet, but as the levees breached and the situation became more
serious President Bush met personally with Nagin and Blanco and repeated
his offers. Governor Blanco said she needed 24 hours to think about it;
this according to Mayor Nagin in a TV interview.

Finally after all other options had failed President Bush took the
extraordinary step of Federalizing the rescue and disaster relief
efforts. In other words and non PC terminology, he declared martial
law. In effect he removed the locally elected Governor and Government from
control. I have to repeat that this is an absolutely extraordinary step
and one I never expected to see in my lifetime and it was due to the fact
that the Governor of Louisiana was blocking all reasonable efforts to help
save her citizens. Within 8 hours of this happening 25,000 people had been
evacuated and many of those resources were available to do it "before" the
storm hit.

People could argue that President Bush should have taken this step earlier
but our laws and history speak against it. Yes FEMA in many ways could
have done a better job in Mississippi and Alabama but it is hard to blame
them for Louisiana when they didn't have to legal right to do what needed
to be done. You can also blame President Bush for putting two lawyers with
no disaster relief or large organization experience in charge of FEMA, but
that wouldn't have changed one thing that happened in New Orleans.

"The First Blame" In my other posting on this I blamed lack of will and
still do for the levee but the actions of Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco
transcend anything I would have imagined. Also don't let any Senator or
Congressman or woman sit on their lofty chair and act innocent. We elect
them to oversee these things for us and they share First Blame as well.
Best
RW

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