Katrina info thread II

[Bosh]

And now we're starting to find out why FEMA has performed so badly. It seems that not only did their director was a political hack with no experience, but the same goes for the rest of the people high-up in FEMA:

http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/06/fema-deputies/

The Chief of Staff is a guy named Patrick Rhode. He planned events for President Bush’s campaign. Rhode has no emergency management experience whatsoever.

The Deputy Chief of Staff is Scott Morris. He was a press flak for Bush’s presidential campaign. Previously, he worked for the company that produced Bush’s campaign commercials. He also has no emergency management experience.

[Bosh]

This kind of spoils system is what leads to this sort of thing taking place:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050906/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/katrina_disaster_response

WASHINGTON - The government's disaster chief waited until hours after Hurricane Katrina had already struck the Gulf Coast before asking his boss to dispatch 1,000 Homeland Security employees to the region — and gave them two days to arrive, according to internal documents.

[Bosh]

And just when you thought that the news of horrific incompetance can't get any worse, it does. Welcome to the Bush administration in which PR-needs trump all:

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_3004197

Exerpts:

Many of the firefighters, assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers.
Instead, they have learned they are going to be community-relations officers for FEMA, shuffled throughout the Gulf Coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number: 1-800-621-FEMA.
On Monday, some firefighters stuck in the staging area at the Sheraton peeled off their FEMA-issued shirts and stuffed them in backpacks, saying they refuse to represent the federal agency.

"They've got people here who are search-and-rescue certified, paramedics, haz-mat certified," said a Texas firefighter. "We're sitting in here having a sexual-harassment class while there are still [victims] in Louisiana who haven't been contacted yet."

"It's a misallocation of resources. Completely,"

But as specific orders began arriving to the firefighters in Atlanta, a team of 50 Monday morning quickly was ushered onto a flight headed for Louisiana. The crew's first assignment: to stand beside President Bush as he tours devastated areas.

Firefighters: useful as props....

[Boris Godunov]

Hey, I just posted that exact thing in the thread where the political stuff is supposed to go...

[Jack_www]

edit post wrong place

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by Dr Strangelove
There's only one man who can save us from FEMA: JC Denton!

Actually, FEMA are the bad guys in the X-Files movie... I don't remember them being mentioned in Deus Ex.

[Tingkai]

Yet another screw up by FEMA. They've rented three luxury cruiseliners for six months to house the evacuees. Not surprisingly, few people want to spend the next six months stuck on a boat on the water.

Katrina refugees sink cruise ship shelter plan
BY Dale Brazao
Toronto Star

Houston—They just weren't in the mood for a cruise — on ships going nowhere.

A plan to move 4,000 Hurricane Katrina refugees from temporary shelter in the Astrodome to a pair of cruise ships anchored in Galveston was dry-docked yesterday when none of the refugees would agree to trade their cots on the floor of the aging stadium for beds aboard the luxury ocean liners.

"I'm too busy trying to find the rest of my family members to even think about another move," said Tracy Youngblood, 28, as she stood in line outside the Reliant Center here to apply for emergency housing. "If after we get settled they want to give us a two-week cruise to Jamaica, I might be interested."

Red-faced officials now admit they misread the mood and "psychology" of the evacuees when they hatched the cruise ship plan, saying their intent was the safety and well-being of the evacuees.
...
"Why would I wanna go on a ship of fools?" said Kimura Aubanks, when asked why he didn't snap up the offer of an air-conditioned room and three meals on board a luxury liner. "What I want, and what I need, is an apartment for me, my wife and my three kids, a job and a chance to make some money.

"If I was on my own, I might be tempted," said Aubanks, adding his home in the projects back in New Orleans is under seven metres of water. "A package of cigarettes a bottle of Hennessy and some time to groove and I'd be a happy man. But I gotta look after my babies."

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1126043418717&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes

[DRoseDARs]

Just had a thought:
Anyone heard from JohnT? He and his family are still in Atlanta right?

[Patroklos]

Yet another screw up by FEMA. They've rented three luxury cruiseliners for six months to house the evacuees. Not surprisingly, few people want to spend the next six months stuck on a boat on the water.

Excellent idea, can house up to 9,000 people with fresh water, hot water, shelter and food and while they are housing them they can move them to alternate locations.

Are you honestly critisizing them for this?

I guess we should send all the Navy ships home which have the ability to house 9,000 more.

[Patroklos]

Red-faced officials now admit they misread the mood and "psychology" of the evacuees when they hatched the cruise ship plan, saying their intent was the safety and well-being of the evacuees.
...
"Why would I wanna go on a ship of fools?" said Kimura Aubanks, when asked why he didn't snap up the offer of an air-conditioned room and three meals on board a luxury liner. "What I want, and what I need, is an apartment for me, my wife and my three kids, a job and a chance to make some money.

Something tells me refugees from Sudan or Aech province would be a little less whiny.

Freaking amazing.

So a week after a city leveling disaster you want a new job? How about a roof over your head, how about making sure your kids are fed?

[Tingkai]

Yeah, the nerve of the guy for wanting to find a home and a job to take care of his family. Doesn't he realize he would be better off stuck on a ship living off the taxpayer's money.

[Patroklos]

Yeah, the nerve of the guy for wanting to find a home and a job to take care of his family. Doesn't he realize he would be better off stuck on a ship living off the taxpayer's money.

Definelty something he should be worried about a week after the disaster, when several hundred thousand people are homeless, most living in auditoriums or tents. Another 10,000 without even that.

Or did I miss the part where they said that they would be on lock down, chained to benches pushing oars all day? What I did read was water, food, shelter and air conditioning.

He would be better off there than 90% of the rest of the peole who left that city, and still he *****es.

Amazing.

[Spiffor]

I ... agree with Patroklos

[Patroklos]

"A package of cigarettes a bottle of Hennessy and some time to groove and I'd be a happy man. But I gotta look after my babies."

I guess looking after you babies means a cot surrounded by 10,000 other people milling about bleachers in a sports stadium.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
Just had a thought:
Anyone heard from JohnT? He and his family are still in Atlanta right?

Knoxville, TN. He's been away from Poly for longer than the disaster.