FEMA Memo Proves Brown Delayed Aid

This just on CNN latest news. An interview and briefing with Michael Brown to ask why the delay. This could effectively be another dead end to Mr. Brown's career. They are calling for his resignation, but apparantly George Bush isn't budging yet, even when confronted by reporters. What is it going to take for this guy to get fired for incompetence and gross negligence???

The memo told employees, among other duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations, and the public in general."

Brown proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours, and 2,000 within seven days.

This is PROOF he didn't act quickly. That he waited five hours before asking for helping, that he only asked for 1000 men and oh by the way guys... feel free to take your time.




[edit on 7-9-2005 by nikelbee]

Here's a link to an article about that memo.

Scroll down to: 1,000 Homeland Security workers who'd be dispatched to the region two days later to lend their support to localized rescue efforts and "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations and the general public."

Would 'conveying a postitive image to.....and the general public' mean make us think that they were doing a good job, whether it was so or not??

[edit on 7-9-2005 by frayed1]

Thanks for the link. This is serious business indeed. Why the delay? What was he waiting for? Was he told to wait? How did he think 1000 people would be sufficient?

Originally posted by nikelbee
...

The memo told employees, among other duties, they would be expected to "convey a positive image of disaster operations to government officials, community organizations, and the public in general."

Brown proposed sending 1,000 Homeland Security Department employees within 48 hours, and 2,000 within seven days.

...

First, I wish more workers, in EVERY part of government and private industry were told by their bosses to "convey a positive image."

But seriously, this whole thread, and the dozen-odd others in the same category, highlights the fact that Americans just don't understand what FEMA is.

It's Emergency management, not emergency response!


Emergency Response is properly the task of local elected officials, using equipment that your local tax dollars provide for.

Emergency management Is supposed to be the people with radios and maps and a spreadsheet showing which counties need which goods, and who is on the "missing and presumed dead" list. (Notice, I'm not saying that FEMA doesn't suck at this job, too. Just point out what their job actually is). They are supposed to manage and coordinate the relief effort.

Why not response? Because the states were scared to death that the government would use FEMA as a New World Order tactic to set up a global police state that would crush your liberties until the end of time when the antichrist shows itself . . .

So, fema is not supposed to own scores of trucks and warehouses full of donated blood and barns full of crated-up power generators, plus dozens of helicopters with thousands on their payroll.

They are supposed to manage.

Now, tell me, if there is a disaster, do you seriously need more than about two thousand managers on hand, getting in everybody's way?

No.

You need the US army. And that is a thread of a different color.

Emergency management Is supposed to be the people with radios and maps and a spreadsheet showing which counties need which goods, and who is on the "missing and presumed dead" list. (Notice, I'm not saying that FEMA doesn't suck at this job, too. Just point out what their job actually is). They are supposed to manage and coordinate the relief effort.

Well they blew this one especially. The 'manage and coordinate' part is what we are talking about. What is the point of being an emergency anything if you can't be counted in on to act in an emergency??

What happen to FEMA is an example of what happen when you take an once independent office and put it together with another one to fall under their command.

FEMA falls under HLS what that did was to add more bureaucratic BS to their operations.

A dozen governors were interviewed for this story, and most had a bureaucratic horror story about Hurricane Katrina.

In Arkansas, state officials were first told to expect 300 evacuees. Nobody came. Then the state was told to prepare 4,000 meals for a fleet of buses. No buses arrived. Suddenly, in the wee hours of Sunday, more than 9,000 refugees showed up at a National Guard post. ``It rained people on us,'' said Gov. Mike Huckabee, a Republican.

In West Virginia, Gov. Joe Manchin dispatched several planes to the South to ferry refugees to his state. Most of the aircraft sat empty until he ordered them back home in frustration. ``The waste that goes on because of a lack of coordination ... ,'' he said. Too angry to finish that sentence, Manchin spit out a new one: ``To bring five planes back empty is a crying shame.''

In New Mexico, Gov. Bill Richardson said he authorized National Guard troops to leave for New Orleans early last week, but paperwork delayed their departure for days.

www.guardian.co.uk...

Originally posted by nikelbee
What is the point of being an emergency anything if you can't be counted in on to act in an emergency??

A very poignant thought.

On whom can you really count, in this world?

Expecting someone to be ready for ANYTHING is bound to lead to disappointment.

Here, put this bucket over your head, and prepare to ward off my flurry of pummels and kicks, while giving simultaneous interviews to the media, and responding to a congressional probe. Let's begin.

Part of FEMA's job is to manage other people's stuff. And other people, particularly in times of danger, may not want to let go of all the stuff they promised when the sun was shining and the birds were singing.

Have you heard them talking about how many first responders blew off their posts and saved their families? I had trouble with this in the two disasters I was responsible for ( one flood, one toxic waste spill). I stayed at my post--but that was back before I was married and a parent.

Now, the mayor of Nawlins wants the ARMY to forcibly remove people from the Big Uneasy. Wisely, the guys with guns aren't about to start taking orders from the local burgermeister.

I posted elsewhere about how many man-hours and how much equipment it takes to get even a civilian helicopter ready for a sortie; and I was basically laughed at for saying it was any more complicated than gassing up a three-wheeler.

I think the ulitmate answer to emergency RESPONSE is the Army. They are the ONLY agency with the capability of mobile bases, and operating with absolutely NO infrastructure. Everyone else is just a clerk.

I'm sure that when you carry a AR, fewer people ask for receipts when you "borrow" their assets.

To me emergency response has alway been a vision of national guard troops taking over the situation.

But we all know where our national guard troops has been in the resent months.

FEMA and HLS are nothing that two empty shells posing as agencies.

I heard about this on the radio and I was fuming. However, not surprising from a guy who oversaw judges of Arabian Horse shows...and he was fired from that job.

Where are all the Brown lovers now?

Originally posted by marg6043
To me emergency response has alway been a vision of national guard troops taking over the situation.

The national guard has the organization, but not the mobile equipment needed to set up multiple bases in a remote location, with no infrastructure at all.

Did anyone else notice, that the NG units in New Orleans were often driving civilian vehicles, and had some members without complete uniforms? The people definitely dropped everything and CAME, in true militia fashion.

They share something with FEMA and HLD; as you pointed out, they are paper organizations, without any assets--or in the case of the Guard, without enough mobile assets to do a job as big as Katrina's Wake.

There is another thread on here about how former FEMA officials had conducted tests in the past and they were succesful. How is it that this gets screwed up so badly? If their primary job is to provide emergency management and they practice and train to do that very thing, it isn't inconceivable that we should expect them to be able to carry it out in real time efectively.

All that data they collect is to practice these scenarios in order to plan for any eventuality. NOLA was as another poster said, one of those practice scenarios down to the T except I think it was a Cat 3. It didn't just hit them out of the blue, they planned for this.



[edit on 7-9-2005 by nikelbee]

Originally posted by nikelbee
How is it that this gets screwed up so badly?

FEMA is NOT nor has the agency ever been a first responder nor was FEMA established to fill the roll of 'first responder'..

State and local agencies are your first line of defense against a disaster, meaning if you live in the US your first responders are via your state, support, source of information, evacuation etc etc etc…that is their job to initially facilitate, prepare and implement.

In the case of LA, the state and local government did not follow their own guidelines, statutes, plan and procedures beginning the failure at step one. Many people died because of the abosolute lack of local leadership.

The reference to ‘ex-FEMA’ employees and the dismay for current conditions based upon their respective historical rehearsals, not much to brag about; of course it’s going to be smooth because there is no real crisis and the fat state/local leaders want to go to the next meeting and talk about how good things are...........................



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Originally posted by cjf
The reference to ‘ex-FEMA’ employees and the dismay for current conditions based upon their respective historical rehearsals, not much to brag about; of course it’s going to be smooth because there is no real crisis and the fat state/local leaders want to go to the next meeting and talk about how good things are...........................

Yes!

I almost posted before about a disaster drill I was involved in w/ a local volunteer fire dept. we staged two cars head-on collision, with one up against a utility pole.

We had rigged a rope burried in the dirt to represent where the extent of the live electrical wire would zap any first responder to step too close to the pole before power was cut . . . there had been deaths in our state from responders getting zapped when they ran in with the "jaws of life," only to be electrocuted by a loose power line.

The plan was, for us to film the responders, and tag each one who was 'dead' and thus became a casualty. Then, his friends go to grab him . . . and the chain goes on.

Imagine how p***d we were, seeing the spectators watch us set this up in what we were told would be a surprise location. Then the responders run up to the car, raise their face shields, and are looking at the ground for the buried rope.

Yeah.

Disaster drills.

And then the local Chief bragged to the papers about their sterling performance!

Why are there not qualified and skilled people on these kind of posts, if you are pro bush then you get the Job???
What the hell kind of criteria is being used for federal posts in the US???

This is legal corruption imho.

dr_strangecraft

I don't agree, but if 'managment' is their primary purpose, then they have utterly failed.

And on your second point concerning whether its reasonable to count on them... I then say end the funding...What a colossal waste of money.

Originally posted by motionknight
Why are there not qualified and skilled people on these kind of posts, if you are pro bush then you get the Job???
What the hell kind of criteria is being used for federal posts in the US???

This is legal corruption imho.

Emergency management is a second job (volunteer at best) to almost all persons involved. Among the most qualified inside the US are part of the team(s). The political posts are there for all to review. What is failing is involvement by communities, states and regions at the individual level.

States and local governments are the first line of disaster defense in the US, this is where the individual has a recognizable influential role. Collectively, on the individual level, perhaps this is where the failure first began.


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Originally posted by dr_strangecraft

So, fema is not supposed to own scores of trucks and warehouses full of donated blood and barns full of crated-up power generators, plus dozens of helicopters with thousands on their payroll.

They are supposed to manage.

Now, tell me, if there is a disaster, do you seriously need more than about two thousand managers on hand, getting in everybody's way?

No.

So then can you tell us what exactly is FEMA spending 500 million dollars
a day on? Their 2000 managers?

Frankly, I'm tired of the relentless drone that local and state governments are primarily responsible for the response to disasters such as Katrina...

Why is NO ONE asking if that MAKES sense???!!???

Originally posted by TruthCanHurt
So then can you tell us what exactly is FEMA spending 500 million dollars
a day on? Their 2000 managers?

On September 2, 2005, the US appropriations passed both houses. The language is the disaster has cost and is costing FEMA US$500-750 million per day. The US Congress is appropriating and spending the money. (tax and spend and all that constitutional stuff) US$500 million initially just to activate the necessary National Guard units made payable to the Dept. of Defense.

Do the math: Approx—1.2 million displaced at US $400-500 per day, this includes engineers, rescue, levy reconstruction, state reimbursement, fees for post evac, medical care, housing vouchers, food, etc etc etc etc….etc etc etc….etc etc etc....all of the effort will be categorized under the FEMA expenditures, just as in the past. The initial bill was US$10 billion, again passed by both houses and is necessary for disaster accounting.

These are initial emergency funds and is basically 'flippin the bill' for what you are wathcing every on the tube day and reading in the papers.

FEMA is spending more than $500 million a day as it struggles to respond to devastating flooding in New Orleans and severe destruction that spans the length of the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida.
That requires an immediate infusion of cash, said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Thad Cochran, R-Miss., with at least two subsequent bills to follow. He said a second bill would be needed in two or three weeks at current spending rates, with another bill to follow that one after better damage estimates are in hand.

"We can expect three separate appropriations bills as we go through this recovery process," Cochran said. "Over half a billion dollars a day is being spent by FEMA."
(link)

Ok, but if this is a concern…..how specifically is it not being currently appropriated correctly, what do you know both houses do not?



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