New Orleans Mayor Interview

[TheMadCap]

What a ridiculous and uninformed response! A disaster of this magnitude is far beyond the scope of a City to provide the resources. That is why FEMA was created.

 

Under the current inept administration, FEMA was incorporated into the Dept. of Homeland Security and took a backseat to shaking down old ladies and children at airports.

 

I don't know for sure if the Mayor is an idiot or not, but I do know of a certain idiot at the highest level who has totally screwed up the priorities of a nation! 

 

Read the story here and maybe you'll be more informed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/ts_nm/...na_criticism_dc

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I have to say wow again. Another "Bush-Bad" parrot with 6 total posts taking on the CTM. This should be fun....

[Dan Gross]

Actually, combating WMD. A lot of terror-WMD related planning from the consequence management aspect is exactly the same. The events in NO are very similar to what one would expect from a terrorist WMD attack, except worse. Many of the same response packages that would have been energized for a nuclear bomb in the superdome are the same ones being activated now. As I've tried to point out a dozen times in various threads for anyone willing to listen, there are a lot of moving pieces to this. A lot of those pieces broke down, starting with the City Government before the storm ever hit. Now, no matter what gets said everyone is casting stones and calling blame, mostly on the Federal Response when they have ABSOLUTELY NO FRIGGING IDEA WHAT THAT RESPONSE IS OR WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE!!! There, did I say it loud enough this time? Turn off the TV and get ready for the football game. People aren't doing themselves any favors in a message board version of inner city anarchy.

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Folks, I strongly urge you to read everything here that relates to the Hurricane. For those who don't know, BiB has more info on this situation (especially with respect to how things are generally supposed to go from a logistics standpoint) at his fingertips than any insomniac here who has been watching CNN/Fox/whatever 24/7. Start down toward the bottom of the page with his link to the National Response Plan and work your way up from there....

[Ghost of BiB]

You have to keep in mind that FEMA, like any governmant agency, has layer upon layer of buracracy.  No one manager dares make a decision unless the one above gives their okay.  It's not good, or right, that's just what it is.

For anything to happen quickly in government, the directive has to come down from the top.  If a certain president was paying attention and ordered swift response BEFORE Katrina hit, I think things would be happening a lot quicker.

 

PTR

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Would you like to provide the organizational diagrams that explain and show this line of communication in an emergency response situation under the NRP and the Incident Command System? I'd like to see it, as this is news to me.

[JLO]

Does this mean there will be no Mardi Gras next year?

[Live&DieBillsFootball]

Please read CTM's posts in this thread.  (# 26,30,45 and 48). He is more eloquent  than I am but this is basically what I am saying.

 

A lot of times I disagree with him, but he is absolutely right. 

 

All I am hearing from the left on this board on this subject is how the Federal Govt (Bush) is bad. This is evident on the national level (MSM, RFK Jr. Al Sharpton playing the race card yesterday).  Can't you leave your bias and hatred and politics out of this and think?

 

The only thing that would please some of you would be if Bush stood on top of the Superdome and parted the waters in NO like Moses and led the people out that way.

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Well, even Bush is saying that the "results are not acceptable", which is the closest he has come to an apology since he wet his bed when he was 5 years old.

 

And I agree that CTM is absolutely right and you are even farther Right than he is.

[Crap Throwing Monkey]

What a ridiculous and uninformed response! A disaster of this magnitude is far beyond the scope of a City to provide the resources. That is why FEMA was created.

 

Under the current inept administration, FEMA was incorporated into the Dept. of Homeland Security and took a backseat to shaking down old ladies and children at airports.

 

I don't know for sure if the Mayor is an idiot or not, but I do know of a certain idiot at the highest level who has totally screwed up the priorities of a nation! 

 

Read the story here and maybe you'll be more informed

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050902/ts_nm/...na_criticism_dc

426937[/snapback]

 

FEMA was created for response. Preparatory planning is a local responsibility. The mayor's preparatory planning was nonsense, if only because he didn't have the resources to properly execute an emergency plan he should have requested aid. But FEMA was never going to walk into New Orleans and say "Here's what you have to do"...and if they did, you'd pitch a fit because the federal government would have been greatly overstepping its bounds.

[BB27]

I'm not pretending there is partisanship.  Yet you seem to go overboard in defending the Feds. 

 

Abandoned the NO Mayor?  That's grossly unfair and distortful.  An insult to the emergency service personnel who are doing what they can with almost nothing for a few days.

 

So the 9/11 went better solely because of Rudy??  Please.  Not even Rudy (who I like and deserves credit for his leadership in that situation) would ever say that the situation is remotely similar.  What would have happened if all of NYC was firebombed and in the process most of the emergency services were rendered inoperable?  Disaster, that's what.  But that's not what happened.

 

As it was, 9/11 was a big fire in comparison, confined to a very small area with fully operational emergency services.  It was horrible for a day or so but NOTHING incomparison to Katrina and you have no idea if the NO mayor would have matched Rudy in 9/11. 

 

Oh, I forgot, you have a magic ball.

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Having been involved in the 9/11 rescue efforts, the City of New York's EMS system was totally in disaray immediately following the attacks. The entire radio system for the FDNY and NYPD was inoperable. The radio antenae were on top of the towers. Many emergency responders were killed when the towers fell, and many more were injured, yet, they maintained thier posts, and did not surrender to panic. Having been to NO, and seen the NO PD in action, I am not surprised that officers were looting, and probably committing worse crimes. I believe that back in the 90's the NO PD was taken over by the USDOJ due to rampant coruption. Over 50% of the officers were convicted felons at that time. Rudy G. was a true leader during the events of 9/11, never leaving the city. He was a calming influence to thousands of emergency responders, and to millions of citizens. He could have immediately passed blame for the events to the federal government but did not. To describe 9/11 as a large fire confined to a small area of the city is a great embelishment on your part. How about a large fire of devastating consequences in an area inhabited by approximately 4 MILLION people. They evacuated manhattan south of Canal Street!!!!

 

The mayor of NO is an idiot. I heard an interview with this moron where he was condoning the behavior of the looters, and gangs of roving criminals because they were drug adicts and needed their fix. Maybe you think we should start airlifting in narcotics to keep them happy. Clearly this guy has no leadership qualities. He should be on the radio and TV telling people to remain calm, and reasure them that help is coming. He is an Idiot.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Wrong!  I'm sure that this was on every wish list sent to Washington for the past 40 years.   Everyone knew that the levees could only withstand a Cat 3.  I didn't know that the mayor has authority over the Corps of Engineers. 

 

 

Right.

 

That is my whole point... The USACE does what they want to.

 

Wrong. NOLA objection would go unheard.

 

1. It is at the mouth of the Mississsppi river

2. More traffic goes through NO than any other port in the country.

3. Through the years they keep dredging deeper.

 

You think the Goliath we call the feds coupled with the shipping interests are gonna concede this prime area?

 

No. Just build it on the cheap. Slash budgets, etc... Screw NO, it is the Big Easy!

 

Just enjory the economic benefits NOLA (still a very poor city considering), even know you are on a time bomb.

 

I find Fake's comments very poignant.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Only if he gave them all nice steak dinners first...and of course then the response would still be "what took so long...?" 

 

I am far from a Bush apologist, voted against him twice, but the problems that caused the levee breaches go much farther back than his, or even his father's term, as President.  It was 25 years ago when they established the guidelines for the levees to be able to withstand what is now classified as a Category 3 hurricane.  Even if the ACE had all the funds it had asked for this year, the work they would have done with the money would not have prevented the breaches.  And the problems that are are happening now are happening despite an unprecedented show of support so far by federal agencies.  There have been mistakes made all over the place in response to this, but I'd rather our government focus on saving lives and restoring order right now rather than blame-storming and spinning.

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I firmly believe we would have had prevented the breechs. We would have had our own people inplace to repair and fix it... They had to scramble to get contracts out in a very chaotic situation. They aren't gonna tell you that. They won't tell you that NO district was gutted of 70 million in one year. The won't tell you about the hiring freezes.

 

During 911 Corps boats helped ferry people across the river. In a few years, the Corps will be an agency of project engineers... The "doers" will all be out for contract... They will be paying a middle-man half way around the country to help fix a cluster eff... That takes time.

 

Things are changing and the lowest bidders are starting to the work on some of the most life/property critical projects. Couple that with the aging projects and we have a receipe for disaster.

 

All I ask is to just give me the tools with a straight face and help us manage our aging projects.

 

[Fires]

Crap Throwing Monkey, You are RIGHT ON.....

I live and work as a Fire Lt. in Fla where Jeanne and Frances hit last year.

1st of all, our County has a Special Needs list. When Hurricane warnings go out, off duty non essential personnel, Vol FF's, and Lifeguards man School buses and pick these people up and take them to shelters. Them and the general public are advised to bring: Food, Water and medications with them to the shelters. Granted there is some food and water available for them there also. We also provide EMS and Sheriffs Deputies at these shelters. I'm sure NO had a similar plan, but they probably didn't plan on as many people as they ended up with. These people had fair warning last Sat well before the storm was a Cat 5, that the storm was heading there way. As we all know, those who didn't evacuate then faced the flooding afterwards.

I was a Task Force Leader for S&R in some of the hardest hit areas in Frances and Jeanne last year. Damage was so widespread and we were the eye, the non damaged areas were 45 mi in either direction from us. The closest backup Fire Rescue units from non damaged areas would be an 1:30 drive on a normal day. Since there were some impassable roads, it took them 10-12 hrs to get here. But when they arrived, they sent 5 Engines, and Rescues from Broward Co., By then, there were also FHP and a strong Police presence from all over Florida, the National Guard was on the way. It was probably 2 days after Frances when FEMA arrived with Ice and water, and co-ordinated setting up portable Hospitals and getting power restored to the infrastructure.

Like I said, NO and LA might have had a plan. But It appears like they were overtaxed by the immensity and scope of this disaster. There biggest problem was no one evacuated and then when it flooded, they became trapped victims.

It looks like the NG and Army are now in NO with a large convoy of Food, water, supplies and eqpt.. I know everyone sees the images on TV and thinks help can get there overnight. It takes a couple days to organize and figure out the Logisitics. Have faith, the US has the best Logistics in the world.

[ExiledInIllinois]

Could you please explain to me why it is the federal government's responsibility to have levees that will withstand category 6 huricanes and nuclear explosions in New Orleans?  Why couldn't New Orleans or the state of Louisiana have done anything to upgrade the levees?  The residents and local governments (and yes the federal government as well) have know for a long time (perhaps ever since people started moving to New Orleans) that the area can, will, and does get hit with major hurricanes.  (There was a major near miss in the early 90's when Andrew came through and did a number on Baton Rouge ~70 miles down the road.)

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It is my firm belief that the federal governement has upped the anti in respect to what NOLA can handle. Then they lay up short.

 

It has finally caught up with NO.

 

NO has to play, like it or not. IMO, that being the case, they bare no blame engineering wise. The evac mess... I blame everyone.

 

Grant you they (US) have done this for the sake of the nations's ecomomy.

 

Did you know that Brazil will soon be in postion to replace us ecomonically when it comes to being a major exporter of grain to the world?. That is one of the reasons they are screaming for bigger locks on the Upper Mississpppi. Another case of upping the anti.

 

We do this to compete... Again, cities like NOLA have no choice in the matter... Just kinda go along with it and reap some of the benefit.

 

Their hands are tied, they are 8 feet below sea-level... Okay maybe even now.

 

Why not just let it be if they (US) are not going to take 100% responsibilty for making sure NO lives or dies?

 

[Ghost of BiB]

It's becoming interesting that anyone posting who has had experience in disaster response is basically saying one thing, while those that don't are saying another.

 

Wonder where this will lead?

[Gambler]

FEMA was created for response.  Preparatory planning is a local responsibility.  The mayor's preparatory planning was nonsense, if only because he didn't have the resources to properly execute an emergency plan he should have requested aid.  But FEMA was never going to walk into New Orleans and say "Here's what you have to do"...and if they did, you'd pitch a fit because the federal government would have been greatly overstepping its bounds. 

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Another uninformed response! Do you make this up as you go?

 

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the independent Federal agency responsible for leading America’s efforts to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters."

 

http://www.fema.gov

 

 

Four factors here: PREPARE, PREVENT, RESPOND, RECOVER!

 

Leadership,in a crisis of this magnitude, starts at the top. A key missing ingredient.

[BuffaloRebound]

Plus Bush didn't sign the Kyoto treaty which clealry would have prevented the hurricane. And Bush also has offended Allah who has been known to unleash his fury in the form of hurricanes.

[SilverNRed]

According to the mayor of New Orleans, it's ATTACK OF THE DRUG ADDICTS.

 

Link

 

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin went on WWL Radio Thursday night and spread the blame around from the feds to the drug addicted criminals wandering the streets.

 

The feds "don't have a clue what's going on." He added, "Excuse my French -- everybody in America -- but I am pissed."

 

Nagin said that there are many drug addicts who are searching for a fix. He said that's why they are breaking into drug stores and hospitals.

 

"What you are seeing is drug-starving crazy addicts that are wreaking havoc and we don't have the manpower that we can deal with it," Nagin said.

 

Seriously, this just keeps getting better and better....

[SilverNRed]

Then there's this......

 

Police outnumbered and outgunned

Overnight, police snipers were stationed on the roof of their precinct, trying to protect it from gunmen roaming through the city, CNN's Chris Lawrence reported.

 

One New Orleans police sergeant compared the situation to Somalia and said officers were outnumbered and outgunned by gangs in trucks.

 

"It's a war zone, and they're not treating it like one," he said, referring to the federal government. (Watch the video report on explosions and gunfire -- 2:12)

 

The officer hitched a ride to Baton Rouge Friday morning, after working 60 hours straight in the flooded city. He has not decided whether he will return.

 

He broke down in tears when he described the deaths of his fellow officers, saying many had drowned doing their jobs. Other officers have turned in their badges as the situation continues to deteriorate.

 

In one incident, the sergeant said gunmen fired rifles and AK-47s at the helicopters flying overhead.

 

He said he saw bodies riddled with bullet holes, and the top of one man's head completely shot off.

 

Lt. Gen Steven Blum of the National Guard said that as many as 2,600 National Guard troops were expected to arrive in Louisiana Friday to join the nearly 2,000 who went in Thursday.

 

My hometown has never been destroyed with me in it, but I seriously doubt the first thing I'd do if and when that happens is raid a gun store and assault the cops.

[Wacka]

Unless your crack or meth connection is dead.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Another uninformed response! Do you make this up as you go?

 

"The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the independent Federal agency responsible for leading America’s efforts to prepare for, prevent, respond to, and recover from disasters."

 

http://www.fema.gov

Four factors here: PREPARE, PREVENT, RESPOND, RECOVER!

 

Leadership,in a crisis of this magnitude, starts at the top. A key missing ingredient.

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Quick! Everyone! Come here, Gambler's blaming Bush!

[Wacka]

Crap Throwing Monkey, You are RIGHT ON.....

  I live and work as a Fire Lt. in Fla where Jeanne and Frances hit last year.

1st of all, our County has a Special Needs list. When Hurricane warnings go out, off duty non essential personnel, Vol FF's, and Lifeguards man School buses and pick these people up and take them to shelters. Them and the general public are advised to bring: Food, Water and medications with them to the shelters.  Granted there is some food and water available for them there also.  We also provide EMS and Sheriffs Deputies at these shelters.  I'm sure NO had a similar plan, but they probably  didn't plan on as many people as they ended up with.  These people had fair warning last Sat well before the storm was a Cat 5, that the storm was heading there way. As we all know, those who didn't evacuate then faced the flooding afterwards.

    I was a Task Force Leader for S&R in some of the hardest hit areas in Frances and Jeanne last year. Damage was so widespread and we were the eye, the non damaged areas were 45 mi in either direction from us. The closest backup Fire Rescue units from non damaged areas would be an 1:30 drive on a normal day. Since there were some impassable roads, it took them 10-12 hrs to get here. But when they arrived, they sent 5 Engines, and Rescues from Broward Co.,  By then, there were also FHP and a strong Police presence from all over Florida, the National Guard was on the way.  It was probably 2 days after Frances when FEMA arrived with Ice and water, and co-ordinated  setting up portable Hospitals and getting power restored to the infrastructure.

Like I said, NO and LA might have had a plan. But It appears like they were overtaxed by the immensity and scope of this disaster. There biggest problem was no one evacuated and then when it flooded, they became trapped victims.

      It looks like the NG and Army are now in NO with a large convoy of Food, water, supplies and eqpt..  I know everyone sees the images on TV and thinks help can get there overnight. It takes a couple days to organize and figure out the Logisitics. Have faith, the US has the best Logistics in the world.

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But, But, But... BUSH BAD!!

[BRH]

It's becoming interesting that anyone posting who has had experience in disaster response is basically saying one thing, while those that don't are saying another.

 

Wonder where this will lead?

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I don't think the people who posted below you have much experience in disaster response.

 

No, it seems to me that anyone who voted one way in the last election is basically saying one thing, while those that voted the other way are saying another.

 

And that's not interesting. That's appalling.