Libertarian Librarian

The blame can be spread to all levels on this one, but it is disturbing to hear the President say that the response was "unacceptable" in one sentence then praise "Brownie" for the "hell of a job he's doing" in the next.
 

Before we all start calling for resignations of officials and re-organizations of existing agencies, keep in mind that this is only the tenth day after a category 4 hurricane slammed into the gulf coast (it is Sept. 8th as I write this). The scope of this natural disaster is immense, so we should probably let the dust settle a bit before focusing on any of the successes and failures of the relief efforts.

FEMA did know that this was coming, but they did more than cross their fingers and wait. Within the first 24 hours of the hurricane hitting land, according to the Times-Picayune, FEMA did the following:

"FEMA deployed 23 Disaster Medical Assistance Teams from all across the U.S. to staging areas in Alabama, Tennessee, Texas, and Louisiana and is now moving them into impacted areas.

Seven Urban Search and Rescue task forces and two Incident Support Teams have been deployed and propositioned in Shreveport, La., and Jackson, Miss., including teams from Florida, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Three more Urban Search and Rescue teams are in the process of deployment.

FEMA is moving supplies and equipment into the hardest hit areas as quickly as possible, especially water, ice, meals, medical supplies, generators, tents, and tarps."

That doesn't count the coordinated efforts, also listed in the news item at the above link, with and by the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Transportation, the National Guard, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Defense, the Department of Labor, and the American Red Cross. The feds had preliminary resources in the area and moved them into the impacted areas as quickly as possible.

You noted in this post that the "worst-case scenario happened," but that is not correct. In a previous post regarding this hurricane, you stated that "[a]pparently, it could have been much, much worse for the home of the 'Aints." Remember that, before landfall, Hurricane Katrina went from a category 5 to a category 4 hurricane, and it also shifted to the east before landfall, avoiding a direct hit on New Orleans.

I can't say that any of the relief agencies (municipal, state, federal, or independent) did or didn't do everything possible. I'm not sure what occurred between all the agencies to coordinate activities in the impacted areas. No one else can really say for sure about all of that at this point, either. Again, we are only ten days into this. With the blame games flying before today, it has left all agencies with two options: Appoint people to deal with allegations of ineffectiveness, or say nothing at all regarding any allegations of ineffectiveness until later on in the relief efforts. Either option will get criticized. If you answer allegations, then you are guilty of spin and finger-pointing. If you say nothing, then you are presumed guilty of the allegations since you don't have the courage to speak about or challenge them.

And even when an agency does something quickly or provides pre-emptive information, that agency usually catches grief and sarcasm for their efforts. When the administration declared disaster areas in Florida last year, shortly before Hurricane Charley had even hit, it was met with accusations of overstepping by the feds and attempting to affect votes in a swing state before the 2004 elections. When Homeland Security provided information about what individual citizens should have on hand to prepare for disasters following the September 11th attacks, the department was laughed at for the "duct-tape and plastic" advice while the rest of the suggestions were ignored in the press. No good deed goes unpunished.

Cities and states (as well as individuals, if you check out the Ready.gov site) are told to prepare to be self-sufficient for the first 72 to 96 hours after a disaster. FEMA's role is to support (not supplant) local first-responders and emergency teams and, since local agencies are going to be much more aware of the local relief needs and logistics, the local agencies are the ones that need to be ready to let FEMA know what they require so that FEMA can direct the delivery of the necessary aid as soon as possible. When the local agencies don't implement their own emergency plans and provide the necessary information, then FEMA's efforts grind to a halt until they can get their own people in the area to determine what aid is necessary and where.

There will be plenty of time in the near future to scrutinize the initial relief efforts. There will probably be plenty of blame to go around at all levels. For example, why did it take Congress five days to reconvene to create a relief bill to send to the president for his signature? Who knows? I just think that, until all the facts are in, we should hold off on demands for resignations and instant repercussions for those responding to a natural disaster of this magnitude.
 

Wow.. what a level headed, insightful, common sense reply backed up with actual facts... that was more informative than anything else I have read or heard on the subject
 

More than 300,000 residents remained without power Monday and some areas had yet to see aid workers nearly a week after the storm, a fact not lost on some local authorities.

"We haven't seen FEMA. They haven't been here," said Jaime Green, a spokeswoman for the emergency operations center in Lyon County.

Federal authorities insisted they responded as soon as the state asked for help and promised to keep providing whatever aid was necessary.

The governor raised the state's death toll to 24 on Monday, meaning the storm has been blamed in at least 55 deaths nationwide. It also knocked out power to more than a million customers.

The governor asked the president for a disaster declaration to free up federal assistance Thursday, two days after the storm hit, and the president issued it hours later. Trucks loaded with supplies began arriving at a staging area on Friday morning, said Mary Hudak, a spokeswoman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

By Monday, FEMA officials were checking in on supply distribution points in some rural areas. FEMA official Don Daniel stopped by to ask emergency management officials in Grayson County, who had criticized FEMA's absence late last week, what they needed.

More generators, they told him, to keep essential services such as hospitals and water supplies running.

Brocton Oglesby, director of emergency management in Hopkins County, said he has seen virtually no contribution from FEMA in the county, where more than half of the 27,000 homes remained without electricity.

"They need to be here -- at least a presence, a liaison to work with us, to start feeding information and gearing up for the next stage," Oglesby said. "That's where they're going to be needed the most."

Oglesby's seen FEMA show up after other disasters to assess the damages and write checks. The governor asked for FEMA to have a role on the front end this time, though, and Oglesby said that hasn't happened.

Oglesby said he would like FEMA to bring in outside electricians to help go door to door to make sure the electricity is operational in each house once it comes back on.

"Right now, mom and pop are going to have to fend for themselves and find an electrician," Oglesby said. "This is where we're needing FEMA's presence."

Hurricane Katrina 2005? Nope. Kentucky Ice Storm 2009.

All of that is in the AP article, but the title is, 300,000 Still Without Power, But Some Praise Obama’s FEMA for Ice Storm Response, and all of the above is interspersed with "Obama and FEMA are getting praise."

Different president; different coverage.