FEMA bashed for Hurricane Ike response
by Frank James
It’s starting to sound like federal, state and local officials didn’t have all their plans and responsibilities ironed out before Hurricane Ike hit the Gulf Coast.
Government officials are evidently blaming each other for snafus in the delivery of food, water and other supplies to evacuees and even rescue officials themselves.
This is from the Houston Chronicle:
It didn’t take long for the finger-pointing to begin.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency came under fire Sunday as emergency workers were left undernourished and dozens of trucks of water and food had yet to be set up at distribution centers around Houston and surrounding communities.
And no sooner had the agency — widely condemned for its glacial response to suffering after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — drawn sharp criticism as its leaders and spokesmen began to say it was someone else’s fault.
Earlier in the day, a FEMA spokesman said delays in setting up staging points to hand out needed provisions had been caused by blocked roads.
By the evening, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said it was the fault of state officials who handed his department the “unexpected challenge” of having to prepare distribution points in addition to delivering supplies.
Taking sides
State officials said that was a local responsibility, which came as a surprise to Houston Mayor Bill White and Harris County Judge Ed Emmett.
“If I could have known something 18 hours ago, we could have made plans to pick up something a lot quicker, that’s a fact,” White said.
But he added: “Whatever the little drama was is only a matter of hours, not days.”
Emmett agreed, calling the flap “much ado about nothing.” The state could not set up the centers because it was overwhelmed in other areas, he said.
Several local and federal elected officials from opposing parties had a different take.
“I disagree with the leadership of the state in not participating in the (point of distribution) program going on tonight,” said state Sen. Mario Gallegos, D-Houston. “I saw it in lines today at Galena Park. People are frustrated, they’re scared, they’re upset.”
U.S. Rep. Nick Lampson, D-Houston, said he was told before the storm by FEMA officials that there was food and water already staged at the Ellington Air National Guard base.
“Now it’s on the way? That doesn’t make any sense to me,” he said. “I don’t know what happened … The storm’s been over for 30 hours.
“I hope some heads will roll in this,” he said later, adding that the efforts of local mayors, judges and emergency responders should be applauded.
U.S. Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, said he was “outraged” at the agency because first responders at two staging areas are without food and water.
After a massive disaster such as the one now playing out in the Gulf States, there are bound to be disruptions to the best laid plans since communications and transportation are tenuous at best.
But it appears that a little more may be at play here since the the feds, state and locals are all pointing fingers at one another about who was responsible for distributing food, for instance.
This seems like an obvious weakness in the response plan that will no doubt get some scrutiny after the rescue phase of the response effort enters the recovery phase. There shouldn’t be any confusion about this.
Of course, with Election Day less than two months away, the response has a political dimension. Anything that reminds voters of the federal government’s inept performance during, before and after Hurricane Katrina in 2005 could create blowback beyond the Bush Administration that hits Sen. John McCain who hopes to be President Bush’s Republican successor.
McCain has tried to distance himself from Bush on Katrina, blasting the administration’s response during visit to New Orleans.
Even so, given the political implications, Republicans who are local and state officeholders will have to walk a tightrope, advocating for their constituents without bashing the Republican administration too much and thereby adding to the Democrats’ levitra talking points about the need for a change from Republican control of the Executive Branch.
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