More New Orleans Good News

I was never under the impression that FEMA was suppose to be the first responders in an emergency. They are to provide and maintain help for the victims of a disaster after 72 hours have gone by.

The states are responsible for the initial disaster control - Jeb Bush, governor of Florida said he never had any problem with FEMA, and who has had more disasters than Florida?

This article show that we can respond to the emergency needs of victims of a disaster and do it well - the press had no intention of finding the real story - it always more fun and entertaining to make one up.

The Battle of New Orleans Part II

Powerline has a link to a very important and fresh story about the rescue of Katrina survivors in New Orleans by Lou Dolinar on Real Clear Politics. The gravamen of the story is that a massive rescue operation occurred on Monday - Thursday before the press really showed up i.e., that the important work occurred off-camera. That is why the death toll was so low.
Here are two points from the article:

1. The entire rescue operation operated under the concept of triage, whereby the truly desperate were air-lifted out of the area to facilities in the larger region while those who were in good shape, if still uncomfortable, were left in safe places for the next stage of the rescue. This was the situation of the people we saw on TV being left on the overpasses they were the rescued people, not the abandoned ones. Yes, they may have been in some discomfort, but they were healthy and not in current need. Those in real need were being tended to.

2. The National Guard performed heroically. It has its headquarters in the Superdome, well supported by several hundred soldiers trained in police operations and supplied with meals ready-to-eat and bottled water. There was no panic or desperation in the Superdome even though living conditions got unpleasant.

There were always food and water, although the Guard did quite properly ration them out rather than run an open kitchen. After the levees broke on Monday, the Guard in New Orleans called the National Guard Bureau in Washington, which mobilized the Guards in the 50 states through a mutual aid pact called EMACS (Emergency Management Assistant Compacts).

Additional helicopters started coming in as early as Monday afternoon. Thus, while FEMA was spinning its wheels, the Guard along with the Coast Guard was running a massive and effective operation, including things like dropping teams with power saws on roofs to cut free people trapped in attics.
There is a lot more. It is quite a story. Read the whole thing.

Greg Richards 5 24 06