Storms 411

Report Spreads Blame for Katrina Failures

Poor Planning, Apathy Led to Slow Response to Hurricane Katrina, House Probe Finds

WASHINGTON Feb 12, 2006 (AP)— Unheeded warnings, poor planning and apathy in recognizing the scope of Hurricane Katrina's destruction led to the slow emergency response from the White House down to local parishes, a House investigation concludes.

The 600-page report by a special Republican-dominated House inquiry into one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history concluded the federal government's response to Katrina was marked by "fecklessness, flailing and organizational paralysis."

It said President Bush received poor and incomplete counsel about the crisis unfolding on the Gulf Coast and that late state and local evacuation orders added to the confusion at the federal level. [Read more - ABCnews]

White House knew early of levee breaches

Documents show failures reported Aug. 29; ex-FEMA chief to testify Friday

WASHINGTON - The earliest official report of a New Orleans levee breach came at 8:30 a.m., hours after Hurricane Katrina roared ashore. Word of the possible breach surfaced at the White House less than three hours later, at 11:13 a.m.

In all, 28 federal, state and local agencies reported levee failures on Aug. 29, according to a timeline of e-mails, situation updates and weather reports that Senate Democrats say raise questions about whether the government moved quickly enough to rescue storm victims from massive flooding.

The documents were released in advance of a Senate hearing Friday at which Michael Brown, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, was set to testify. [Read more - MSNBC]

Day 107 – 12/6/05, Victims: Racism was factor in slow Katrina response

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Black survivors of Hurricane Katrina said Tuesday that racism contributed to the slow disaster response, at times likening themselves in emotional congressional testimony to victims of genocide and the Holocaust.

The comparison is inappropriate, according to Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Florida.

"Not a single person was marched into a gas chamber and killed," Miller told the survivors.

"They died from abject neglect," retorted community activist Leah Hodges. "We left body bags behind." [Read more - CNN]

Day 58 – 10/18/05, E-mails show FEMA infighting, frustration

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Internal Department of Homeland Security e-mails -- requested by a House select committee investigating the government's response to Hurricane Katrina and obtained by CNN -- show infighting, gaps in communication and general frustration.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff is scheduled to testify before the committee on Wednesday.

There were immediate signs of chafing at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the aftermath of the Gulf landfall of the storm on August 29. FEMA is a division of Homeland Security. [Read more - CNN]

Day 51 – 10/11/05, Bush makes 8th trip to storm-ravaged N.O. region

'Out of this devastation will come a new city'

Underscoring his pledge to rebuild the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina, President Bush wrapped up his eighth trip to the storm-wracked region Tuesday by hammering nails in Covington and meeting with federal representatives on the West Bank.

Bush's flurry of visits follows widespread initial criticism of the federal relief effort as woefully tardy and inept. Since then, however, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and other local officials have

avoided attacks on Washington or the White House, and their comments Tuesday were unvaryingly positive. [Read more - NOLA]

Day 37 – 9/27/05, FEMA Hands Out Rent Aid Checks, 253,000 in La. Eligible for Money

BATON ROUGE - With the help of satellites spotting storm-damaged areas in New Orleans, the federal government has determined that 253,000 applicants for federal aid in Louisiana are eligible for a newly announced $2,358 cash advance toward three months rent to assist people displaced by Hurricane Katrina.

Ron Sherman, the housing coordinator for the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Louisiana, said Monday the agency is expecting to shell out $600 million of rental assistance in the next two weeks to people across the nation who left the New Orleans area because they no longer can live in their homes.

The money is supposed to be mailed or electronically transferred automatically to qualified evacuees who have registered with FEMA. However, agency letters being sent to applicants warn that they must complete and return an additional FEMA form within 14 days or they will not be eligible for additional benefits.

FEMA Form 90-69B, a document called a Declaration and Release that is supposed to be included with the agency letter, must be sent to FEMA or the applicant may be required to return the money already received, according to the agency. The form is a declaration that the person receiving the benefit is telling the truth.

FEMA relief programs can give an evacuee up to $26,200 for the emergency needs of food, shelter, clothing, personal items and medical conditions. Soon after Katrina, FEMA expedited evacuee checks of $2,000 as an initial emergency payment. Most of the people who received the $2,000 checks also will get the new rent payment, Sherman said. [Read more - NOLA]

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Day 35 – 9/25/05, Generals Recommend National Plan for Emergencies

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AP) -- Military officials told President Bush on Sunday that the U.S. needs a national plan to coordinate search and rescue efforts following natural disasters or terrorist attacks.

Bush said he is interested in whether the Defense Department should take charge in massive national disasters.

"Clearly, in the case of a terrorist attack, that would be the case, but is there a natural disaster -- of a certain size -- that would then enable the Defense Department to become the lead agency in coordinating and leading the response effort?" Bush asked. "That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to think about." (President Bush talks about the military's role in large disasters -- 0:59)

Bush got an update about the federal hurricane response from military leaders at Randolph Air Force Base. He heard from Lt. Gen. Robert Clark, joint military task force commander for Hurricane Rita, and Maj. Gen. John White, a task force member, who described search and rescue operations after Hurricane Katrina as a "train wreck." [Read more - CNN]

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Day 36 – 9/26/05, Bush Eyes Bigger Military Role in Disasters

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said he wants to make it easier for the military to take charge after a disaster like Hurricane Katrina, but the White House acknowledged Monday the proposal raises "a lot of issues" that need resolution.

Critics argue that putting active-duty troops on American streets would violate a long-standing tradition that keeps the military out of domestic law enforcement.

But Bush said he wanted to improve the federal response to a "catastrophic" event like Katrina, which left more than 1,000 people dead after it struck last month. (Watch Lt. Gen. Honore in action -- 2:35)

"I want there to be a robust discussion about the best way for the federal government, in certain extreme circumstances, to be able to rally assets for the good of the people," he said.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 bans the armed forces from participating in police-type activity on U.S. soil. [Read more - CNN]

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Bush Pledges Nation's Help for Gulf Coast

Federal government to lead rebuilding, president says

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (CNN) -- President Bush pledged Thursday night to put the full might and money of the federal government behind the reconstruction of the Gulf Coast and vowed to its people that "in the journey ahead, you are not alone."

In a nationally televised address from Jackson Square in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Bush outlined his plans to assist recovery efforts and to prevent bureaucratic errors of the sort that slowed the response to Hurricane Katrina.

The president said the federal government will pay for most of the costs to fix damage during and after the storm -- the most destructive hurricane ever, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- struck August 29.

Watch President's Speech Part 1, Part 2

"Federal funds will cover the great majority of the costs of repairing public infrastructure in the disaster zone, from roads and bridges to schools and water systems," he said. [Read more - CNN]

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Day 23 – 9/14/05, Ex-FEMA Chief Tells of Frustration and Chaos

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14 - Hours after Hurricane Katrina passed New Orleans on Aug. 29, as the scale of the catastrophe became clear, Michael D. Brown recalls, he placed frantic calls to his boss, Michael Chertoff, the secretary of homeland security, and to the office of the White House chief of staff, Andrew H. Card Jr.

Mr. Brown, then director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said he told the officials in Washington that the Louisiana governor, Kathleen Babineaux Blanco, and her staff were proving incapable of organizing a coherent state effort and that his field officers in the city were reporting an "out of control" situation.

"I am having a horrible time," Mr. Brown said he told Mr. Chertoff and a White House official - either Mr. Card or his deputy, Joe Hagin - in a status report that evening. "I can't get a unified command established."

By the time of that call, he added, "I was beginning to realize things were going to hell in a handbasket" in Louisiana. A day later, Mr. Brown said, he asked the White House to take over the response effort. [Read more - New York Times]

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